Now we know better the process of reviewing an app to get to the App Store

The approval process for Apple applications is one of the strictest, the company has many rules that you must comply with if you want your app to reach the company's devices. In a recent interview published on Bloomberg , Mark Gurman has been able to speak with Phillip Shoemaker, the head in charge of app approvals in the App Store between 2009 and 2016.

Thanks to this interview we have been able to know how the app review process in the Apple store has evolved . At first Apple had three workers per application, currently have a specialized group that work collaboratively in more adapted spaces with many Apple devices.

The decision was not always easy
The App Store came to the iPhone in 2008 and at the beginning Apple was overtaken by the avalanche of applications created by the developers. Each application had to be reviewed by three people, so the revisions took a long time to be approved . However always kept the people in charge, Phil Schiller, senior vice president of marketing at Apple and in charge of overseeing the App Store, pressed for people and not algorithms or tools to review all applications.

" In the early days, Apple had three reviewers looking at each application. That led to long review times, which eventually diminished when the process changed to "just a couple of eyes." Phil Schiller pushed for people to review all applications , rather than just automated tools, to limit inappropriate or defective applications. However, there are many things in the store that should not be there . "



The review process is carried out in days in which app reviewers have iPhone, iPad, Macs and other devices . Each day they test between 30 and 100 applications , downloading them to Apple devices and testing them for hours.

According to Shoemaker, Apple treats everyone equally , regardless of whether you're a large company or a small developer. Even large companies like Facebook or Google continually sent applications that did not pass the controls.

" I was calling Facebook all day, even though they had privileged developers had one of the worst codes of the time ."

However, the biggest problem for Shoemaker was the time to reject applications from small developers , not large companies.

"It is you who prevents an application from entering the App Store and possibly earns money for that developer to put food on the table and send their children to school. It broke my heart every time I had to make those calls. "

Shoemaker also talked about the concern that had Apple within that some of these large companies to take an app to replace Apple own , was something that happened with Google Voice, but in the end they end up approving. Also asked about the future sees a good option the alleged App Store that will reach the Apple Watch with watchOS 6 in the impending WWDC 19 where we will see many new features .