Rule 4.5.4 of the App Store Review Guidelines should be properly enforced, or removed

Originator:dave.verwer
Number:rdar://46872674 Date Originated:2018/12/20
Status: Resolved:
Product:Other Product Version:N/A
Classification:Bug Reproducible:Always
 
Rule 4.5.4 of the App Store Review Guidelines states:

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Push Notifications must not be required for the app to function, and should not be used for advertising, promotions, or direct marketing purposes or to send sensitive personal or confidential information. Abuse of these services may result in revocation of your privileges.
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The issue is with this part of that rule "should not be used for advertising, promotions, or direct marketing purposes".

Even Apple do not comply with this rule, for example: https://www.macrumors.com/2018/12/18/apple-unsolicited-notifications/ but for years 3rd party developers have also been ignoring this and frequently use push notifications for direct marketing and promotion. 

That part of the rule should either be removed, or it should be properly enforced. Users should be able to report notifications that break the rule and there should be punitive measures for developers who repeatedly ignore it.

Comments


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