Developer insight: Apple throws industry a bone in granting app compliance extension

Earlier this month, Apple pleasantly surprised the industry in announcing that it would allow existing real-money applications in its iOS App Store an extra six months to comply with new restrictions on HTML5 games.

The update – contained in guideline 4.7 – spouted major concern for operators when it was announced in June, with doomsayers fearing that failure to comply with the original and somewhat unrealistic deadline of 3 September would cause the casino sector’s very own AppExit.

Although those fears were somewhat overstated – existing apps would not have to prove compliance with the guideline until undergoing the next review – the extension has brought a huge sigh of relief. An allowance of six more months is a generous one and should provide enough time for operators to either embed content that has previously been sideloaded or build games into the native code. For now, the storm has calmed.

Apple also gave a welcome clarification in confirming that guideline 4.7 is not a wholesale prohibition on HTML5 games – the tech giant will accept this format as long those games are embedded in the application.  Being able to bundle HTML5 content will significantly ease the burden on developers since casino apps will continue to offer numerous different games in a single application. Changes will have to be made to integration rather than the code, and the structure of games will have to be modified so that they are listed on the file system of a player’s phone. Compliance with the guideline, therefore, does not demand significant re-engineering of games.

Voicing concerns

The decision to give leeway no doubt comes after an intense lobbying effort from major brands and industry groups, but it demonstrates that the technology giant is willing to take concerns on board and offer clarity. Ultimately, the decision to narrow the guidelines was taken not – as many had assumed – as a direct attack on the industry, but rather to prevent fraud and abuse. There was a huge amount of consumer harm being committed by people putting out heavily HTML5-driven apps and then changing their nature once they were available on the App Store. It is not therefore surprising that Apple has urged developers to update their code urgently to crack down on this activity.

There are still an unlucky group to which the deadline extension will offer no respite. In complying with an earlier update to guideline 4.2 – which demands iOS applications offer more than a repackaged website – some operators have changed their code so drastically that Apple considers it a new application. As the extended deadline for guideline 4.7 only applies to existing apps and new applications must comply immediately, there have been instances of casino apps being removed from the App Store. The cost implications – not to mention the loss of marketing visibility – for these unfortunate few will likely be eyewatering. Developers have also faced pushback against applications that try to imitate Apple’s own store: an application that tries to replicate or copy the App Store interface will too be rejected – it has to not only look but also behave significantly differently.

For most operators, however, the additional six months offers ample time to get their house in order. An olive branch has been extended by Apple and given its priority in fighting fraud and consumer harm developers should strive to update apps as soon as possible. It is rare that the technology giant allows for an extension and unlikely that a further delay will be granted. Those that continue to push ahead with compliance will be in a strong position come March next year.

Stuart Godfree is managing director and co-founder of mobile technology specialist mkodo. He started the company in 2001 together with Sue Yoxall and has decades of experience from working with mobile and information technology services