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by lxgr 720 days ago
> apps have to be self-contained and can’t execute code “which introduces or changes features or functionality of the app, including other apps.”

Meanwhile, on the very same app store:

iSH – runs unmodified x86 Linux binaries and even supports custom APK repos: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ish-shell/id1436902243

a-Shell – runs WASI binaries (via Apple's native out-of-process runtime, so it even gets to JIT, I believe!) and comes with a C compiler, as well as Python: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/a-shell/id1473805438

LibTerm – compiles and runs arbitrary C via lldb: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/libterm/id1380911705

But yeah, sure these are all somehow self-contained in a way that a DOS emulator can't possibly be in a way only App Store reviewers are enlightened enough to grasp.

2 comments

Apple has been well known to be absolutely obtuse, random, and not reliable when it comes to approvals for over 12 years now[1], at least unless you're a big company and can hound someone in upper management about it.

It's a good reason why, for a lot of people, claims about Apple walled garden being such a privacy and security boon fall flat[2].

For all purposes, it's as capricious as other companies inscrutable "AI" systems.

[1] Back in 2011, when I tried my hand at the startup roulette, I remember meeting companies which due to bad experience decided that Apple market is not worth possibility of going bankrupt because approvals might suddenly get denied so late in the process to kill the project

[2] I remember how, before MS started submitting their own applications to AppStore/MAS, searching for certain microsoft products like a naive user got you a ton of scams that might be threading the needle on Apple rules - but not on intent.

Meanwhile, every RN app uses CodePush to dynamically update its code
What is a RN app?
React native. the code of the app is in javascript, and so updates can be downloaded dynamically by the app itself, without the need to submit another version to the app store