In Apple’s most recent changes to its App Store Review guidelines, it added a rule that says, “Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected.” That change was concerning to mobile development firms who use tools like PhoneGap and TapJet. However, Apple appears to be using the new rule only to kick clone and “junk” apps out of the App Store.
A report in TechCrunch says, “It’s my understanding that this cleanup has resulted in hundreds of thousands (yes, multiple hundreds of thousands) of apps being removed from the store over the past year.” So far, apps created using legitimate mobile development tools that help reduce the amount of code that needs to be written seem to be safe, but apps that duplicate the functionality of other apps are not.