Apple has reportedly let Amphetamine app remain on the App Store after accusing it of guidelines violation.
Apple ruled that the developer of the Amphetamine app, William C. Gustafson, violated App Store rules that prohibit the promotion of the use of tobacco, e-cigarettes, drugs or alcohol.
According to Gustafson, Apple contacted him on December 29 and told him Amphetamine "appears to promote inappropriate use of controlled substances. Specifically, your app name and icon include references to controlled substances, pills."
At the end of December 2020, the Cupertino company warned the Amphetamine’s developer that it would remove the app from the App Store in two weeks, if the developer did not change the name and remove the pill image from the logo. However, the utility has nothing to do with drugs and is meant to prevent Mac computers from getting into sleep mode. Amphetamine has been on the App Store since 2014 and has been downloaded over 432,000 times since then.
Frank Stich
At the same time, Apple previously mentioned the application in a Mac App Store story, and Gustafson talked to the company's employees many times about updating Amphetamine, but no one had ever objected to the name and logo of the utility.
On January 1, the developer shared his issue on GitHub and Reddit, and also filed an appeal in the App Store, claiming that the name change would affect app recognition and make it difficult for users to find future updates.
However, Apple soon granted Gustafson's appeal. He said that he received a call from the company with the decision:
Just got off a call with @Apple. Appeal accepted and Amphetamine will remain on the @AppStore. Thank you all for your comments, opinions, and action. We may not all agree, but I am happy we all still have the freedom to express ourselves today. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/PV7eB9aUfn
— William C. Gustafson (@x74353) January 2, 2021
Gustafson did not expect the company to reverse its decision and let Amphetamine stay on the App Store, since Apple usually adheres to the rules and does not forgive mistakes.
Because of this, the Cupertino company has faced pushback from various developers in recent months. It even resulted in several companies such as Tile, Epic Games, and Spotify forming the Coalition for App Fairness, which is committed to "create a level playing field for app businesses and give people freedom of choice on their devices."
Last summer, Basecamp co-founder battled with Apple over the design of his company’s email client Hey, and Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Apple this summer after Fortnite was removed from the App Store.
