webview app on app store, will it be accepted? [closed]

Question

I keep seeing various reports on this. On some answers, people state that they have had their webview app (simple app that only displays a website via webview) approved on app store. On some other answers, they say it's been rejected.

What is the actual status on this?

Trait

hi, did you try webview app submission? – Nowak

Answer 1

You yourself have summarized the actual status, which is that there is inconsistency.

The Apple app store submission guidelines says:

Apps that are not very useful, unique, are simply web sites bundled as Apps, or do not provide any lasting entertainment value may be rejected

So according to Apple themselves apps which are just web sites bundled as apps may be rejected, but as you yourself have discovered, in practice some people do apparently get this type of app approved, but it is probably prudent to assume it has a high chance of being rejected.

So the actual status is that if you have an app which is nothing more than a web site, you simply don't know if or not it will or will not get accepted.

I know that's not the answer you were hoping for, but the situation is there are no exact black and white hard rules that can be stated as fact and nobody can say for certain if an app will or will not be accepted or rejected.

If you are planning on turning a web site into an app, you won't know if it will be accepted or not, so you should plan accordingly i.e. try to think of some additional unique features if possible that could be added to differentiate and extend it over the pure web version, so that if it got rejected you could make some changes and re-submit.

Consistory

Interesting. So basically, it a matter of luck? I would love further feedback from developers who've submitted web apps like these and what their experiences are. – Trait

I would't say luck, I'd say gray area, with the grayness being known only to Apple. If the app is a single view app with a web view with a url hardcoded to a web site it'll probably get rejected. If it repackages the web site pages in a highly iOS native way (i.e. making high use of iOS GUI idioms for navigation between web pages and presentation on the content, maybe it has a much higher chance). If you app doesn't look like a web site, how would Apple know it actually is a web site bundled as an app? – Consistory

There definitely is a degree of "luck" in that you may get a reviewer who sees it differently than another one. When it comes to App Store grey areas there isn't really much you can do. – Biennial

@GaryWoods what did you end up doing regarding this matter?? did you succeed uploading a webview app to the appstore?? – Teishateixeira

@GaryWoods would you mind updating us on whether your submission was successful? – Impeachment

@Impeachment Of course he wld mind. This is the internet... – Garnishee