Mac App Store Sandbox Leaves Developers Frustrated

Apple's sandboxing rules for the Mac App Store are pinching developers, forcing some apps out of the store entirely, and leaving many frustrated, reports Andy Ihnatko.

One big problem is that since the discontinuation of MobileMe, developers looking to transition to iCloud face a new set of rules.

An app does syncing through MobileMe. Now, it needs to do it through iCloud. Fine. But Apple won't let an app use iCloud unless it's sold in the App Store. Fine. But Apple won't approve an app for the App Store unless it's sandboxed. And for many developers, sandboxing means that half of their app's features will either no longer work at all, or will need to be dumbed way, way down. Selling your app there also means being cut off from any kind of simple and direct line of communication with your users.


Another issue is that some apps just can't function sandboxed. Today we received an email from Tao Effect stating:

"If you purchased Espionage 3 from the Mac App Store, please read on, otherwise ignore this email. It turns out that Apple's June 1st sandboxing deadline applies to us even though Espionage was in the store before the deadline hit. Because of this, we're forced to remove Espionage from the Mac App Store, and if you purchased Espionage on the store you will need to follow the instructions in this blog post to switch to the non-store version."

These issues are understandably upsetting to developers. While sandboxing is forcing developers to quit the Mac App Store or seriously handicap their applications, Apple continues to offer its own applications on the store without any sandboxing limits imposed.

Ihnatko writes, "This is bad hoodoo. Very, very bad hoodoo. It doesn't mean that MacOS is doomed. But it means that many apps aren't going to be as good as they can possibly be. I worry that many of the best and most Mac developers are going to start to ask themselves if this is all worth it."


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