The developer of Amphetamine, an app that prevents Macs from going into sleep mode, says Apple told him it violated App Store guidelines, even though it’s been in the App Store since 2014, and has nothing to do with drug use.
Developer William Gustafson was so surprised when Apple got in touch in late December to threaten Amphetamine with removal from the Mac App Store.
A representative cited App Store Guideline 1.4.3, which states: “Apps that encourage consumption of tobacco or vape products, illegal drugs, or excessive amounts of alcohol are not permitted on the App Store. Apps that encourage minors to consume any of these substances will be rejected. Facilitating the sale of marijuana, tobacco, or controlled substances isn’t allowed.”
Apple told Gustafson that to avoid removal from the Mac App Store, he’d have to rebrand Amphetamine completely; Apple was unhappy with both the app’s name and its icon, which takes the form of a small pill. This not only meant a lot of work for the developer, but it also posed serious risks to Amphetamine’s current brand awareness something Gustafson had built up over years.
The specific App Store guideline Gustafson was accused of violating is this one, which states “Apps that encourage consumption of tobacco or vape products, illegal drugs, or excessive amounts of alcohol are not permitted on the App Store. Apps that encourage minors to consume any of these substances will be rejected. Facilitating the sale of marijuana, tobacco, or controlled substances (except for licensed pharmacies) isn’t allowed.”
Gustafson says Amphetamine does none of these things, and said changing the name of the app would have wrecked its brand recognition and potentially made it harder for users to find future updates.
Gustafson initially said he didn’t expect his appeal to be successful, and indeed, Apple typically hews pretty closely to its App Store rules in most cases. The company has faced pushback from developers on several fronts in recent months, with big industry companies including Spotify, Tile, and Epic Games forming a group called the Coalition for App Fairness. It says Apple’s rules create an uneven playing field in its App Stores.
