Apple's New Store Guidelines Allow Apps to Send Ads as Push Notifications

Apple has put out new guidelines that now allow App Store apps to send ads as push notifications. The apps can do so only if the user authorises the app to do so. This essentially means that customers will see ads as push notifications along with breaking news alerts, text messages, and other notifications. Apple also states that fortune telling, flashlight, dating, and other such apps will only be allowed on the App Store if they provide a unique experience.

The updated guidelines for developers, in section 4.5.4, states, “Push Notifications should not be used for promotions or direct marketing purposes unless customers have explicitly opted in to receive them via consent language displayed in your app's UI, and you provide a method in your app for a user to opt out from receiving such messages.” This means developers can promote their apps and services through push notifications but they will need to provide an option in the app that lets users opt-out of receiving such messages.

The company has also updated its App Store Reviews guidelines (section 5.6.1), and asks developers to use Apple's provided API to ask users for reviews - Apple will also block custom review prompts. According to the guidelines, this will save users the hassle of leaving the app for rating or reviewing it.

Apple in section 4.3 has also advised developers against piling on similar apps as the some categories in the App Store are already saturated. It states that there are already plenty of fortune telling, flashlight, dating, and other such apps on the store and moving forward, all applications in this category will be rejected “unless they provide a unique, high-quality experience.”

9to5Mac also notes Apple has asked developers to build their apps and app updates with the iOS 13 SDK starting April 30. This will make sure that the apps have support for Dark Mode, Core ML 3, ARKit 3, and other features.