Apple on a “Seek and Extinguish” Mission for All the “Cookie Cutter” Apps

I don’t blame them! Seems like Apple is cracking down on some of the applications on the App Store that¦really¦serve no purpose as a native app (which I won’t hesitate to mention some, and they are from major groups), by which much of the function of those apps can be overachieved as a web-app. According to TechCrunch and the recent reports they have been receiving from devs, they have been putting the pieces together and coming up with the concurrence that Apple doesn’t mind the companies that appear to be “app generators”, so to speak, however, they don’t want people downloading applications that a basic web-app could more than suffice for.

Between the developers I spoke to, the consensus was this: Apple doesn’t appear to be opposed to ‘app generators’ and templates per se, but in the last month or so it has started cracking down on basic applications that are little more than RSS feeds or glorified business cards. In short, Apple doesn’t want people using native applications for things that a basic web app could accomplish.

Reading through the rest of the report, some extended input from Medialets CEO Eric Litman presents itself stating that Apple is looking to provide a high-quality experience on the App Store that other devices can’t provide (being that Apple’s iPhone SDK is unique to the iPhone OS and only the iPhone OS).

Apple wants iPhone apps to be superior to Web experiences because they are extremely sticky and drive people specifically to buy the iPhone over competing smartphone platforms. Apps that are too simple or largely indistinguishable from the Web, other apps or particularly other apps on other platforms send the message to end users that the iPhone app ecosystem might not be particularly special.

More specifically, Apple is targeting those applications that appear to be using the mere basic templates to generate a buzz for their products, which much of these applications are nothing more than a re-rendition of Web material that is already available and presents no physical or functional difference and apps from quality providers that do not deliver a unique and gripping experience. For instance, The Bank of America application on the App Store and the web-app presented in Safari has no difference whatsoever other than one can be obtained through the App Store and the other simply by typing bofa.com or bankofamerica.com in the address field in Safari. Or the Wikipedia app on the App Store that, again, has very little contrast to its web-app counterpart which is more responsive than the native one.

Some of the groups who fall under Apple’s recent extermination requirements have began to take the shift in quality. One group in particular, Appmakr, are making the adjustments by annexing the In-App Purchase, offline access and Push Noti services to their apps, providing the fruitful experience that Apple wants associated with the App Store, striving to become a “trusted” developer that could pass the review process of the App Store with flying colors.

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