Apple posted an update this evening for its App Store review guidelines—a set of instructions for third-party developers on what iOS apps may or may not contain. Tonight’s refresh adds rules for upcoming iOS 8 features such as extensions, HealthKit and HomeKit.
Most of the changes are only pertinent to developers, but there are a few things worth mentioning. Perhaps the most important item, in light of recent events, is that Apple says apps using the HealthKit framework that store user health data in iCloud will be rejected.
Over the weekend, several nude celebrity photos were leaked as the result of an alleged iCloud hack. Apple denies that any of its cloud services were breached, but the incident has left many users feeling uncertain about sharing further personal data with the company.
Additionally, Apple says that apps may not share user data acquired via HealthKit with third parties without user consent. They also can’t gather data from HealthKit for advertising or other data-mining purposes, and they must give users access to a privacy policy.
The last item we wanted to share comes from the introduction, which has been tweaked to include the following: “if your App doesn’t do something useful, unique or provide some form of lasting entertainment, or if your app is plain creepy, it may not be accepted.”
If you’re interested, you can read the full App Store review guidelines here. iOS 8, HealthKit and HomeKit are expected to launch later this month alongside the iPhone 6. Apple has sent out invitations for a media event, scheduled for next Tuesday, September 9th.