14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has denied the approval for Valve’s Steam Link app after it was originally allowed, citing conflicting business interests.
A new story about Apple blocking a particular app from their store come on a monthly basis, and most of the time the company provides a proper explanation or at least a satisfactory one. What we don’t usually get conflicts between Apple and another major company, but in this case it's Valve.
The Steam Link app was recently announced for both iOS and Android, and it would allow users to stream games from the PC to another device, using only the LAN network. Valve already has a physical device that can do this, so it’s not something entirely new. The Android Beta version seems to be going well, but Apple says that it’s not going to let it exist on their platform.
Business interests? What business interests?
Valve put out a communique explaining why the app was blocked from the store, but the reason is not at all transparent. The truth is that Apple reasons rarely are transparent.
“On Monday, May 7th, Apple approved the Steam Link app for release. On Wednesday, May 9th, Valve released news of the app. The following morning, Apple revoked its approval citing business conflicts with app guidelines that had allegedly not been realized by the original review team. Valve appealed, explaining the Steam Link app simply functions as a LAN-based remote desktop similar to numerous desktop applications already available on the App Store. Ultimately, the appeal was denied, leaving the Steam Link app for iOS blocked from release.”
As you can see, Apple is saying pretty much nothing, with the exception of business interests. Since the app is pretty much a very advanced remote, there are no in-app payments being made. On the other hand, users can use the app to log-in into the main platform and buy apps from Steam.
Since Apple want’s 30% of any in-app payments, the company might consider that it’s not getting its fair share. One thing is certain. Out of this debacle, Apple is getting something, which is the opposite of a profit, and that it lots and lots of bad publicity.
