Ann Thai, senior product manager of the
Apple App Store, speaks at the Steve Jobs Theater on the Apple Park campus in
Cupertino, Calif., March 25, 2019. (Jim Wilson/The New York Times)
They
all tell a similar story: They ran apps that helped people limit the time they
and their children spent on iPhones. Then Apple created its own screen-time
tracker. And then Apple made staying in business very, very difficult.
Over the past year,
Apple has removed or restricted at least 11 of the 17 most downloaded
screen-time and parental-control apps, according to an analysis by The New York
Times and Sensor Tower, an app-data firm. Apple has also clamped down on a
number of lesser-known apps.
In some cases, Apple forced companies to remove features
that allowed parents to control their children’s devices or that blocked
children’s access to certain apps and adult content. In other cases, it simply
pulled the apps from its App Store.
Some app makers with thousands of paying customers have
shut down. Most others say their futures are in jeopardy.
“They yanked us out of the blue with no warning,” said Amir
Moussavian, chief executive of OurPact, the top parental-control iPhone app,
with more than 3 million downloads. In February, Apple pulled the app, which
accounted for 80 percent of OurPact’s revenue, from its App Store.
“They are systematically killing the industry,” Moussavian
said.
The screen-time app makers are the latest companies to
suddenly find themselves both competing against Apple and at the mercy of the
tech titan. By controlling the iPhone App Store, where companies find some of
their most lucrative customers, Apple has unusual power over the fortunes of
other corporations.
Executives at the app makers believe they are being
targeted because their apps could hurt Apple’s business. Apple’s tools, they
add, aren’t as aggressive about limiting screen time and don’t provide as many
options.
“Their incentives aren’t really aligned for helping people
solve their problem,” said Fred Stutzman, chief executive of Freedom, a
screen-time app with more than 770,000 downloads before Apple removed it in
August. “Can you really trust that Apple wants people to spend less time on
their phones?”
Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said at a conference
this month that Apple had added screen-time tools to help people monitor and manage
their phone use. “We don’t want people using their phones all the time,” he
said. “This has never been an objective for us.”
On Thursday, two of the most popular parental-control apps,
Kidslox and Qustodio, filed a complaint with the European Union’s competition
office. Kidslox said business had plummeted since Apple forced changes to its
app that made it less useful than Apple’s tool.
Apple is facing other accusations that it is abusing its
dominant position to lift itself and bury rivals — an issue that has become
more important as the iPhone maker expands into new markets like television,
news and gaming.
Spotify complained to European regulators last month that
Apple used the App Store to give its Apple Music service an unfair advantage
over Spotify’s competing app. Dutch regulators announced this month that they
would investigate whether Apple abused its control of the App Store.
In the United States, Sen Elizabeth Warren of
Massachusetts, a Democratic candidate for president, recently suggested separating
the App Store from Apple as part of her proposal to rein in the American tech
giants.
‘NO REASON, NO DETAIL’
The app makers said they were most
frustrated by the process of meeting Apple’s sudden demands. In many cases,
Apple alerted them that their apps would be removed — and their businesses
crippled — via a short note, according to correspondence viewed by The Times.
When app makers asked for more
information, responses were often perfunctory and slow in coming.
“As a developer who’s been on the
App Store for 10 years, I would expect some courtesy from Apple of at least a
phone call to explain what we’re doing wrong,” said Suren Ramasubbu, the head
of Mobicip, a parental-control app that had about 2.5 million downloads this
year, about 70 percent of them on iPhones.
On Jan 19, Ramasubbu received a
message from Apple that said he had 30 days to change the Mobicip app or it
would be removed from the App Store. “If you have any questions about this
information, please reply to this message to let us know,” the note said. “Best
regards, App Store Review.”
Over the next 27 days, Ramasubbu
responded four times seeking more information. He eventually resubmitted the
app with changes he hoped would satisfy Apple’s demands.
Then, with Mobicip’s deadline just a
few days away, Apple responded three times to his earlier detailed questions —
with virtually the same message: “Your app uses public APIs in an unapproved
manner, which does not comply with guideline 2.5.1 of the App Store Review
Guidelines.”
“We hear you loud and clear,”
Ramasubbu responded on the morning of Feb. 19, Apple’s deadline. He begged for
answers: Could Apple tell him what he needed to do to keep Mobicip on iPhones?
“Any general direction, clue or
specific guidance will be deeply appreciated. We have been one of the pioneers
among parental control apps on the App Store over 10 long years and have always
been playing by the rules,” he wrote. “Please point us in the right direction
and we can take it from there.”
Five hours later, Apple responded
with a 14-word message: “Your app has an unresolved issue and has been removed
from the App Store.”
“No reason, no detail,” Ramasubbu
said. “Suddenly we don’t have a business anymore.”
© 2019 New York Times News
Service
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