Apple updates guidelines for developers; does not support Face ID for children, antivirus apps and more

Because of its new products and systems, Apple has updated its App Store Review Guidelines, that is, the App Store Review Guidelines. Now, there are also rules regarding ARKit, Face ID, among other new features that they painted, as noted by Hacking with Swift.

From now on, developers will need to pay attention to some new rules of what they may or may not have in their applications, which can be accessed on this page.

One of the changes was in rule 2.3.1, which states that developers should not include hidden or undocumented features in their applications, citing as an example the apps that look for viruses or malware on iOS, to prevent problems with them from continuing to occur. She further claims that "exaggerated or repeated reason for removal from the Developer Program", reinforcing that Apple always tries to keep its app store very safe.

Another change in the guidelines makes it clear that children under the age of 13 will not be allowed to use Face ID on the iPhone X. Therefore, in rule 2.5.13 it is recommended that there is a different authentication for users under the age of 13.

ARKit, which has already seen incredible uses of virtual reality technology and reaching the general public with iOS 11, also needed some rules to maintain the Apple standard of quality. This, in section 4.2, the company talks about the “minimum functioning” that the apps need to have. So, in addition to mentioning that an app needs to “look like an app” and not just be a website within an app, they also address the use of their frameworks.

Applications must use APIs and frameworks for the intended purposes, indicating the integration in the application description. For example, the framework HomeKit must provide home automation services; and HealthKit should be used for health and fitness, and integrate with the Sade app. Applications using ARKit must provide rich, integrated augmented reality experiences; simply put a model in AR view or play enough animation.

There are also several additions made in the section that explain content that definitely cannot appear in apps, such as defamation, discrimination of ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, among others. In addition, if any app facilitates human trafficking or the exploitation of children, the appropriate authorities will be notified.

If you are a developer, you can now submit your app for review, following all the rules on this page.

For us, users, these changes imply much more safety and care than is really necessary.