Yesterday Apple made a number of changes to the rules for publishing applications on the App Store (App Store Review Guidelines). One of the most significant changes concerns the mislids. Their use when promoting an application even outside the App Store can now threaten to delete the developer’s account.
The new rule is fixed in the guideline number 2.3.1. It sounds completely as follows:
“There should be no hidden, inactive and undocumented functions in the application. The functionality of the application should be clear to both end users and the editors of the App Store at the stage of its consideration. All new features, features and changes should be described in detail in the Notes for Review section in the App Store Connect (general descriptions will be rejected) and be available for review. The promotion of the application should also not mislead the user. This includes advertising through the demonstration of content or services that the application does not actually provide (for example, virus scanners and malware for iOS), or use to promote a fictitious price. Such promotion should not be made either outside or inside the App Store. It can become the basis for the removal of the application and termination of the developer account. Blatant and regular violation of the provision threatens to be excluded from the Apple Developer Program. We are working hard to ensure that the App Store is trusted and expect developers to comply with the rules. If you are a fraudster, we don’t want to work with you.”
Recall that in recent years, the practice of promoting games using content that is not in the game has become widespread on mobile platforms. For example, commercials of a number of Chinese strategies demonstrate graphics and mechanics that do not correspond to similar ones in the projects themselves. In part, this also applies to some domestic projects. For example, Homescapes and Gardenscapes were promoted at one time with the help of mechanics that were not the core gameplay of these games. It got to the point that the British Advertising Standards Committee (ASA) banned the display of this advertisement.