Apple details App Store approval process
Published: 24 Aug 2009 15:50 BST
Apple has broken its silence over how its App Store approval process works, in answer to queries from the US Federal Communications Commission.
The company has not publicly discussed in detail how developer-created applications are approved for the iPhone and iPod, but the US government forced it to do so by sending an official query regarding the store's apparent rejection of Google Voice several weeks ago.
On Friday, Apple published its answers to a series of questions posed by the FCC regarding the App Store and its evaluation policies.
Apple said the Google Voice application was not rejected; rather, it has not been approved. It also said AT&T, the carrier with exclusive rights to sell the iPhone in the US, was not consulted in that decision. AT&T told the FCC the same thing in its own response to the agency's questions on Friday.
However, while AT&T is not consulted regarding submitted applications, that has not stopped AT&T from complaining about apps it does not like, Apple said in its response letter.
"From time to time, AT&T has expressed concerns regarding network efficiency and potential network congestion associated with certain applications, and Apple takes such concerns into consideration," the company told the FCC.
Apple has started in recent weeks to acknowledge frustrations caused by the App Store submission process for developers and consumers. However, the FCC response letter is the first real look at how the process works.
"We're covering new ground and doing things that had never been done before. Many of the issues we face are difficult and new, and while we may make occasional mistakes, we try to learn from them and continually improve," Apple said.
Apple said it receives 8,500 new applications and updates to existing applications every week. There are 40 people responsible for reviewing applications, and each one gets reviewed by two people. Eighty percent are approved as submitted with no changes necessary, and 95 percent are approved in two weeks or less.
In total, Apple has evaluated 200,000 apps and updates since the App Store was opened last year, it said.
If those 40 people have looked at 8,500 applications and updates during a regular five-day work week, that translates to approximately 212 applications reviewed per person, per week. As each submission is evaluated by two people, the load is doubled to 424 applications per week, or about 85 applications per day.
Assuming a standard eight-hour workday, each member of the App Store team has reviewed an application every six minutes.
For controversial or otherwise special cases, Apple has established an App Store 'executive review board'. This is made up of senior management responsible for the App Store who meet weekly to determine the review process policy and to take a look at applications that "raise new or complex issues", the company said.
Submissions are evaluated for buggy software, too-frequent crashes, use of unauthorised APIs, privacy violation, inappropriate content for children, and anything that "degrades the core experience of the iPhone", Apple said.
Under its contract with AT&T, Apple is also obliged to weed out software that allows iPhone owners to make VoIP calls without AT&T's express permission and any software that violates the carrier's terms of service.
Credit: Apple sheds light on App Store approval process from CNET News
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