Lex Friedman (Mastodon):

Though allegedly focused on benefiting users (through better safety and compliance), App Store review in its current form mostly frustrates the people it claims to protect.

[…]

Those are all scammy apps that got through. Apple’s review capacity isn’t infinite. Every hour a reviewer spends poring over a bug-fix update to an app that’s been in the store for years is an hour not spent catching the fake LastPass app.

[…]

And the review process is fundamentally flawed anyway: It works best with developers who are trying to do the right thing. Plenty of apps pull their content, features, and behavior from servers their developers control. Feature flags, remote configuration, and web views mean an app can behave differently the day after approval than it did the day of vetting. A determined bad actor can get past App Review. An honest developer just waits in a slow, nebulous line.

[…]

At WWDC 2020, the company announced that bug fixes for apps already in the App Store would no longer be held up over guideline violations (except for legal issues); developers could address those problems in a subsequent update instead. That’s a good policy! Based on developer complaints I’ve seen, Apple hasn’t honored that agreement.

He suggests a Trusted Developer Program.

Previously:

• Not Muse in the App Store
• Ternus and the App Store
• TabControl Scam and the App Review Queue
• Small Ways the App Store Could Be Improved for Developers
• Mac App Store Review Times Increasing
• Allowing Bug Fixes and Challenging the Guidelines

App Review App Store App Store Scams iOS iOS 27 Mac Mac App Store macOS 27 Golden Gate