Dropbox fixes app rejection issue, complies with Apple's rules

Applications using the Dropbox development kit for iOS are no longer being rejected from the App Store by Apple after links to an external purchase option were removed.

Filip Radelic, developer of the Cambox application for iPhone, informed AppleInsider on Friday that his software was accepted into the App Store. The approval came after Dropbox modified its development kit with a temporary fix removing the "Make account" feature.

Dropbox also officially confirmed the changes made to its SDK in its developer forums. Brian Smith, who works on the iPhone and iPad versions of Dropbox, said the issue with Apple was resolved after "the worst game of telephone you've ever played."

Using the new SDK, applications no longer offer an option to create an account with Dropbox. If a user attempts to use an application that relies on Dropbox and the official Dropbox application is not installed on their iOS device, the SDK will open a login view for the service directly within the third-party application, rather than opening the Safari Web browser.

The issue stemmed from the fact that Dropbox offers users the ability to purchase more cloud-based storage for their files. By linking to the Dropbox website to ask users to login, they could also follow a link to register for a Dropbox account and pay for additional storage if they so chose.

Apple's official rules for App Store developers explicitly ban links to out-of-app purchases. That's because transactions made through a browser can be used to bypass the App Store and cut Apple out of its 30 percent share of transactions.

The enforcement of that rule has affected some of the biggest names on the App Store, including Amazon, The Wall Street Journal, and Barnes & Noble. Their applications were updated to remove links to out-of-app purchases in order to remain available on the App Store.

With services like Dropbox or Amazon Kindle, users can still open a browser and make a transaction, like additional storage, that will be reflected in the official iOS application. But developers cannot allow users to make that purchase with a link from the iOS application without using Apple's in-app purchase tool for developers, which gives Apple its 30 percent share.