Apple has started blocking developers from promoting their apps by using a price in the app's name, reports VentureBeat. For approximately the last month, apps that use "free" or other pricing information in their metadata have been blocked in iTunes Connect submissions.
Apps that use "Free" in their titles are receiving the following rejection notice after being submitted for review:
Your app's name, icons, screenshots, or previews to be displayed on the App Store include references to your app's price, which is not considered a part of these metadata items.
Please remove any references to your app's price from your app's name, including any references to your app being free or discounted. If you would like to advertise changes to your app's price, it would be appropriate to include this information in the app description. Changes to your app's price can be made in the Pricing and Availability section of iTunes Connect.
An Apple spokesperson VentureBeat contacted confirmed the changes but declined to offer any additional information.
Given that there are still dozens of apps in the App Store that use "Free" in their title, such as Disney's "Where's My Water? Free" or "Doodle Jump FREE," it appears this is a new policy that will affect app submissions going forward. It's not clear if Apple will make apps that are already in the App Store implement a title change.
In related App Store news, Apple appears to have mistakenly approved Metadata, an app that sends a notification when a U.S. drone strike is reported in the news.
The app, which had previously been rejected a dozen times before, was approved this morning and then pulled just hours later, suggesting its temporary approval was an accident. Previously, the app was approved in 2014 and was in the App Store for almost a year before being removed.
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past.
The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent.
A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect.
The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design.
It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information.
Relocated Charging Port
While the Magic Mouse switched from...
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect.
There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things.
Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC.
It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
One of the reasons I don't browse for apps is all of the junk titles that I see. It's like a cess pool of uncertainty.
A developer should release ONE app, a good app, and then have upgrade options within it. Not 10 different variations of the same app at different price points!
In related App Store news, Apple appears to have mistakenly approved ('https://theintercept.com/2017/03/28/after-12-rejections-apple-accepts-app-that-tracks-u-s-drone-strikes/') Metadata, an app that sends a notification when a U.S. drone strike is reported in the news.
The app, which had previously been rejected a dozen times before, was approved this morning and then pulled just hours later, suggesting its temporary approval was an accident. Previously, the app was approved in 2014 and was in the App Store for almost a year before being removed.
So why doesn't Apple just block every major news app for reporting violent crime or attacks because someone may find it "objectionable"? Probably because this has more to do with censorship than objectionable content...
One of the reasons I don't browse for apps is all of the junk titles that I see. It's like a cess pool of uncertainty.
A developer should release ONE app, a good app, and then have upgrade options within it. Not 10 different variations of the same app at different price points!
I really wish Apple had a better way to search apps. I mean, the process of searching for apps could be improved SO easily it is just baffling to me that they have not implemented any improvements to searching for apps. So much junk and app pollution it's almost like spam these days.
Years ago the Mac had a good "search" function, then they had "Sherlock" and now "Spotlight", and it's like the idea of searching for files has become a totally lost art - it's incredibly dumb how poorly Apple has implemented "find" and "search" functions in iOS, Apple OS, and the App Store, and even the friggin music store! I mean dang it's stupid how poorly ANY apple search function works. I mean finding stuff DOES NOT work with Apple these days - nobody has noticed? Anyone out there remember Eudora for Email? It was awesome and it had a search function that worked. With Apple Mail app and Spotlight I cannot find anything anymore (for the last 10 years).
Sorry to rant, but I just got to thinking how much better search functions were back in the 1990's. The world has gotten dumber in some ways. Or maybe I am just old?
I think this idea of "top 40" music, or the "top grossing movies" is stupid. Who cares what music or movie is making the most money? Same for apps. I mean I will glance at what is trending popular, but if I come to look for a calculator app that has some spreadsheet type functions in it, I want to get some relevant results from the App Store - instead I get crap. Meta data that is searchable would be nice. I think Apple collects meta data for apps, but then their stupidly designed search engine misses the point entirely. Just a gut feeling. Hope I'm not wasting your time with my rant.