In surprising news - certainly in terms of the coverage and comment PocketGamer.biz has been running this week - we've been told Apple hasn't rejected any apps or games purely due to their use of the unique device identifier (UDID).
Speaking off-the-record, an industry insider told us they had been in contact with Apple and had been categorically told the news it was rejecting apps over UDIDs was a rumour.
Instead, apps and games had been rejected for the subtly different reason that aren't securely transferred data (for example using SSL) or they didn't give users the option to opt in (or out) from use of UDIDs.
This climes with the fine print of the feedback from developer Tapbots.
Be open, be honest
It's something that demonstrates the complexity of the situation.
The mobile industry in general, and Apple in particular, is under scrutiny by the US and various European governments over privacy issues, notably personally identifiable information.
In this context, any company that provide a platform which assumes users will opt into providing personal information is likely to find itself in a difficult situation.
Hence, from what we've been told, the use of UDIDs to track a device (basically a user) is presently allowable as long as the practice is overt; something a number of promotional platforms are believed to be adding to their SDKs.
News
Contributing Editor
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.
Top Stories
Feature
May 17th, 2024
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from a battle royale to a console classic remake
Feature
May 16th, 2024
Behind the scenes: How adding sandwich offers to an idle merge game boosted three metrics at once
Events
Digital Dragons | Europe | May 19th |
GamesBeat Summit 2024 | North America | May 20th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Nordic Game Spring 2024 | Nordic | May 21st |
Impact 2024 - Indie Games | May 23rd | |
Morocco Gaming Expo | Africa | May 24th |
MomoCon 2024 | North America | May 24th |
Unreal Fest Gold Coast 2024 | Australasia | May 29th |
Popular Stories
Feature
May 14th, 2024
53 top mobile games in soft launch: Squad Busters, Battle Guys: Royale, Plants vs. Zombies 3, LEGO Hill Climb Adventures, and more
Feature
May 13th, 2024
Hot Five: Dubai's new Gaming Visa, April's mobile game charts, and Xbox studio closures
Interview
May 13th, 2024