Homescreen Sharing App Rejected From App Store
Apple executives explained to us that we cannot showcase a homescreen springboard image within the app — stating that the springboard was Apple’s IP and it was against Apple’s Brand guidelines.
The rejection was not only disappointing and heart-breaking for us, as we had put several months of hard work into the app, but we also found the reason very hard to believe.
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Homescreen.me is merely a platform that showcases user submitted content, something that other apps like Twitter, Facebook, Reddit etc. already do. Example — what if someone shares a homescreen image on Twitter? Is that a violation too?
Unfortunately, Apple just wouldn’t budge. A work-around, we were told, was to offer users a simple text area where they can type which apps they use on their Homescreens.
Update (2016-06-27): Nick Heer:
Betaworks launched a similar app called “#Homescreen” which, though it had app review issues of its own, was never sanctioned for intellectual property issues.
Update (2016-06-29): Hwee-Boon Yar:
I built an app that simulates homescreen for testing icons. Similar problem.
