News alert app Breaking [Direct Link], which feeds topical news stories via a widget into the Today portion of the Notification Center, has faced a bit of blowback from Apple due to the mention of the term "Android" within a screenshot on the app's store page (via iPhoneHacks).

The app was denied its newest update, version 1.3, due to the Android mishap, which is only mentioned within the screenshots for the app and not anywhere in its actual description. As a few fellow app developers voiced on Twitter, the screenshot in question doesn't overtly promote the rival's brand, either.
breaking app

A few similar stories have emerged so far this year, including a copyright issue Apple had with GIF curating app GIF Finder and creator Matt Cheetham's heavy usage of copyrighted characters, despite his adherence to the individual terms of service for both Tumblr and Imgur. Prior to the Apple Watch launch, the Cupertino company also rejected boating app SeaNav US for citing Pebble support in its App Store description.

While the future of both apps was initially foreboding, both GIF Finder and SeaNav US returned to the App Store, with developer Cheetham documenting in detail his experience with facing Apple's app review board. Today's rejection of Breaking lies in a similar rejection field compared with SeaNav US, both appearing to violate App Store review guideline 3.1, which prohibits the mentioning of competing platforms.

Most developers haven't faced such strict stonewalling on the issue before, which made SeaNav US' rejection - due to the use of "Pebble" - a day before the Apple Watch launch particularly interesting. Today's rejection of Breaking appears to be a bit of a fluke, but no doubt Apple will allow the app's 1.3 update once the particular screenshot in question is removed.

Tags: App Store, Breaking

Top Rated Comments

gibbz Avatar
gibbz
137 months ago
Petty for Apple to do this? Yes.

Petty for developers to complain on twitter instead of just changing the screenshot? Yes.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmChimera Avatar
cmChimera
137 months ago
Well Apple is pretty clear about this. Not a hard problem to fix for the developer.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
starnox Avatar
starnox
137 months ago
I had an app rejected by Apple yesterday because in the companies terms of service they mentioned Android... I mean come on.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Quu Avatar
Quu
137 months ago
Petty.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nuckinfutz Avatar
nuckinfutz
137 months ago
Is the developer "really" shocked by this?

Clean up your artwork and resubmit. There's nothing shocking about this at all.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mdridwan47 Avatar
mdridwan47
137 months ago
What's even more sad is how people are defending Apple in this thread.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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