iMessage also comes with support for stickers

Nov 19, 2018 05:40 GMT  ·  By

One of the most recent WhatsApp features, and which users seem to really enjoy, brings stickers to conversations on both Android and iOS.

And just like on iMessage, users can download other sticker packages from app stores, in addition to several that are offered by default.

But as it turns out, Apple has recently decided to remove all WhatsApp sticker packages from the App Store, not because they compete against its own iMessage, but because, and we’re citing the company here, they violate the guidelines.

According to WABetaInfo, Apple is now removing these WhatsApp stickers and does not allow new ones to be added to the App Store, and the company apparently gives not one, not two, but three different reasons to support their decision.

Apple pointing to three store violations

For example, there are too many apps that boast the same behavior. In other words, there are just too many stickers available for download, and because this is a bad thing apparently, Apple has decided to pull the plug on them.

Then, stickers need WhatsApp, and Apple doesn’t allow apps that require other apps to be listed for download. That’s certainly a strange requirement, and the only way WhatsApp could solve this is create its own sticker store.

And third, Apple says the design of these stickers is too similar because, you know, they are all stickers. So right now, WhatsApp stickers can no longer be downloaded on an iPhone.

For now, WhatsApp has remained tight-lipped on how it plans to deal with this restriction, but as said above, making more stickers available built-in is one way to go. Building a dedicated store for stickers could also do the job, though needless to say, this requires more work on WhatsApp’s side.

It remains to be seen how this works out, but at this point, Google doesn’t seem to be bothered at all by stickers available for download on the Play store.