Developers recently took to the Dropbox forums to discuss the rejections, as highlighted by The Next Web. Apple had taken issue with a new version of the Dropbox SDK that included a link to the "Desktop version" of its website on the page for creating accounts that could allow users to purchase additional space outside of the app.
Dropbox, which has more than 50 million users across 250 million different devices, released a statement about the issue to AppleInsider on Tuesday.
"Apple is rejecting apps that use the Dropbox SDK because we allow users to create accounts. We're working with Apple to come up with a solution that still provides an elegant user experience," the statement read.
A Dropbox employee appeared to have issued a temporary solution on the company's forums with a new version of the SDK that removed the offending link. The employee promised to share next week information about a "better solution."
Source: Dropbox.com
Apple began banning links to out-of-app purchases last year with the introduction of its App Store subscription service. The policy has been controversial and has affected several prominent app publishers, including Amazon, The Wall Street Journal and Barnes & Noble.
Dropbox founder Drew Houston revealed last year that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs offered a nine-figure sum for the startup in late 2009. After Houston and his partner declined, Jobs reportedly warned them that Apple would enter their market. Apple went on to unveil its iCloud service last June. Though iCloud and Dropbox are different in many ways, the two services are seen as overlapping in their efforts to provide seamless syncing and storage solutions.
22 Comments
DropBox knows the rules.
Remove the offending link. Period.
There is no excuse for it.
DropBox knows the rules.
Remove the offending link. Period.
There is no excuse for it.
Heil!!
Lets hope this issue gets resolved soon
To me this is nitpicking. Dropbox is only offering extra storage beyond their free option which is the default.
Is it only Apple that is allowed to make money? This does not conflict with any revenue stream from Apple as the iCloud service is integrated into the OS.
Apple's policy of nickel and diming everything is outrageous.. I don't know why people who want to sell subscriptions don't just boycott the store.
They want a 30% cut from someone who makes a subscription even though Apple never does anything to assist in that subscription at all... a 30% cut of something completely handled outside of Apple... which is ridiculous.
They should just put a note with it not being a link saying "this is for current users of dropbox.com only, you cannot sign up for a new account in this app" then people will be smart enough to figure out how to go sign up for their own account.