Apple rejecting Electron apps from Mac App Store due to private API usage

guest · Nov 4, 2019

Apple rejecting Electron apps from Mac App Store due to private API usage
November 4, 2019
https://9to5mac.com/2019/11/04/electron-app-rejections/

On iOS, all apps must go through the App Store. On macOS, the Mac App Store is just one method of distribution and developers are free to publish their apps independently on their own website. This means app rejection policies on macOS are not as painful as with iPhone or iPad, but they are nevertheless significant.

Developers are reporting that apps made using Electron (which is a framework that allows companies to ship web apps in a native app wrapper) are now being rejected by the automated Mac App Store review process.
The apps in question are getting flagged because of their usage of private API calls. These API calls are not in the app itself, but part of the underlying Electron framework.

Individual Electron app makers are a bit helpless as the issue can only really be fixed by pushing changes in the Electron code itself.
Click to expand...

The rise in Electron rejections is being interpreted by some as a crackdown against Electron in the wake of the introduction of Apple’s Catalyst framework, which helps developers quickly port native iPad apps to the Mac. It’s a nice conspiracy theory but it doesn’t really make sense. Apple doesn’t really have an incentive, financial or otherwise, to force developers to use Catalyst.
Click to expand...

You Cannot Submit an Electron 6 (or 7) App to the Apple Store

Allright, as a follow up to the previous chapter in this odyssey I can now state that, apparently, you cannot submit an electron 6 or 7 app to the apple store: [...]

So to summarise, it appears that there is no way out of this. I did even try re-packaging using Electron 7.0.1, 6.0.12, 6.1.3. Now, anecdotally, another app that was not approved yet didn't name this "Your app app links against the following non-public framework(s):" issue so I cannot claim that all electron apps will be rejected but this is certainly worrying.
Click to expand...

Log in or Sign up

Apple rejecting Electron apps from Mac App Store due to private API usage

guest Guest

Log in or Sign up

Apple rejecting Electron apps from Mac App Store due to private API usage

guest Guest

Useful Searches