The former director of the App Store, responsible for accepting or rejecting applications from the App Store, harshly criticizes Apple's policy and ensures that it acts at its own discretion with very ambiguous guides.
Phillip Shoemaker was the director of the App Store and the person most responsible for allowing an application to enter the App Store during the years 2009 to 2016, working with Steve Jobs in the creation and development of the iPhone application store, the App Store. His departure from Apple did not happen in a very friendly way, and that is why it is no coincidence that in a recent interview with Bloomberg he was comfortable with the company and its policy when it comes to allowing or rejecting applications from its store.
The former Apple executive says that the App Store review standards should be "black or white", but nevertheless they are intentionally made in a very "grey" way to be able to accept or reject applications at the whim of the company. "The idea was to start like this and then refine the guides," but according to Phillip this never happened, quite the contrary, they became more and more ambiguous.
It also goes into the controversial issue of the 30% fee that Apple charges developers: «That rate made sense in 2009, because Apple was creating a new platform and offered tools never seen before. But things have changed a lot since then. Apple could lower that fee and still make a lot of money."
When it comes to pointing out the culprits, Phillip is very clear about the name: Phil Schiller. Although he is nearly retired, Shiller remains a consultant to the company and helps run the App Store. "You should get your big hands off the App Store. If Phil Schiller does not step aside, it will be the courts that impose the changes ».
Very harsh words from a former Apple executive who, curiously, was characterized during his time at the company by his controversies by openly criticizing developers who complained that their applications were rejected on social networks, even to those media that dared to criticize the company. When Joe Hewitt, responsible for the Facebook application for iPhone, left the project due to the restrictions that Apple imposed on the applications of his store, Phillip Shoemaker criticized him harshly, calling him a "mediocre developer and no reference". The passing of the years seems to have made him change.