Apple’s Revised App Store Guidelines Provide Peace of Mind for Event Apps
Apple’s Revised App Store Guidelines
Good news, just in time for the holidays! Apple’s latest amendment to its App Store guidelines confirms event app providers will continue to be able to serve planners with custom event apps. TechCrunch broke the news late on December 20 that the controversial update to section 4.2.6 of Apple’s Review Guidelines has been revised to clarify Apple’s intentions.
This clearly confirms that EventMobi’s event app options remain well within Apple’s guidelines, as we continue to innovate within our event technology and drive the evolution of our industry.
Initially, this guideline read “4.2.6 Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected.” The new text clarifies the conditions under which event apps will be accepted in the App Store.
“4.2.6 Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected unless they are submitted directly by the provider of the app’s content. These services should not submit apps on behalf of their clients and should offer tools that let their clients create customized, innovative apps that provide unique customer experiences. Another acceptable option for template providers is to create a single binary to host all client content in an aggregated or “picker” model, for example as a restaurant finder app with separate customized entries or pages for each client restaurant, or as an event app with separate entries for each client event.”
Your Event App Options with EventMobi
Here at EventMobi, we pride ourself on creating unique, customized and branded event apps that enhance the attendee experience. We’ll continue to lead the industry by providing event planners with comprehensive options for creating and sharing their apps with attendees.
Whether you’re hosting a single event or multiple events, you have three choices with EventMobi:
- Customized Branded App: We’ll work with you to design a unique branded event app or multi-event app for your organization that meets Apple’s app store guidelines while walking you through the submission process.
- EventMobi App: Your event app will be delivered through EventMobi’s new universal app, easily accessed by your attendees with either an event code or our Smart Launch link.
- Web App: Bypass the App Store entirely and direct your attendees to access your event app through any web browser.
Apple’s revised guidelines enable us to have more transparent and well-informed conversations with our customers about what they can expect from the process of submitting their event app to the App Store.
What Should You Look For in an Event App Provider in 2018?
These changes to Apple’s app store guidelines have prompted many valuable conversations this year, and we’ve learned a lot in the process about what’s important to our customers. Two themes have stood out to us.
Branding and Customization
The number one concern we heard from customers in response to these guideline updates was their desire to reinforce their company brand and event brand with their event app. Luckily, that’s something EventMobi does very well! Our ability to deliver native event apps with an outstanding on-brand experience is one of the reasons many event planners choose EventMobi.
With EventMobi, your event theme and corporate branding can be prominently showcased throughout your event app, with imagery, colours and logos that can all be tailored to suit your style. Tools like our Advanced Designer make it possible to maintain unprecedented levels of creative consistency between your online and offline presence. If you can imagine it, you can make it happen!
EventMobi’s simple to use editing interface made it relatively easy to build a professional looking, user friendly app. I especially liked the degree to which our app could be customized, as this allowed us to apply our conference brand across all aspects of our app.”
– Matthew Duncan, Canadian Institutional Research and Planning Association (CIRPA)
Exceptional Support
Another thing that will be increasingly important for event planners looking at native event apps in the new year is the ability of their app provider to also be a reliable technology partner and support provider. If you choose to go with a customized branded app, you need to be confident that your event app provider can walk you through the App Store submission process.
We have an unmatched Support team – in fact, EventMobi received a Stevie Award this year at the 11th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, beating out more than 2,300 nominations from organizations of all sizes and industries. It’s one of the world’s top honors for customer service and contact centers, and we see it as a big vote of confidence. But of course, what matters most is our customers’ feedback.
I could sit here and share how easy the software was to use or how much personalization the software was able to provide, but I think EventMobi’s biggest strength is their customer service. Building an app is a big undertaking and having a customer service team where you can immediately get help makes all the difference. I would recommend EventMobi without hesitation.
– Erica Leyko, Michigan Health & Hospital Association
We may be a little biased (okay, a lot biased), but with our reputation for providing above-and-beyond Support and branding options, we think EventMobi is the perfect partner for event planners evaluating their event app delivery options in 2018 and beyond!
We look forward to helping event planners execute on many more amazing events in the year to come. In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns you can always reach out to us.
Talk to your account manager or schedule a demo today and let us show you what your event app could look like!