Filed under: iPod Family, Apple, iPhone, App Store
Update: Promo codes again allowed for 17+ apps
Recently, we reported that developers were not able to request promo codes for their iPhone apps if the app had received a 17+ rating due to having an embedded web browser, unfiltered 3rd party content, or contained excessive violence or sexual content. This restriction severely limited the ability of the developers to distribute promotional copies of their software to generate publicity and awareness of the app.Several other outlets picked up on the story, and developers sounded off as well. Luckily, it seems that Apple has been listening: over the past few days, we have received word from a number of developers stating that they are now able to request promo codes for their 17+ apps. While Apple has not made any official comment on the issue, it appears that they have quietly conceded this battle to the developers, once again enabling them to distribute promo codes as needed for all of their apps.
Considering the many other issues developers have faced with the App Store, it's obvious that the process is far from perfect. And given the sheer volume of apps and developers that Apple has to deal with, even the smallest of hiccups can become quite frustrating for those developers out there who invest significant amounts of time and money into their apps and then hit a roadblock at full speed. There are still a number of issues with -- as well as improvements to -- the development process that need to be addressed, however, I believe it is an good sign to see that Apple is indeed listening and willing to make some changes to the process. It may only be one small step in the long road ahead, but I think many of the affected developers will agree that it was a step in the right direction.
Thanks to the developers who sent this in!
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Benjamin Ragheb said 10:25PM on 7-26-2009
Maybe they only disabled promo codes for 17+ while they plugged the hole which allowed under-17 users to redeem them? In other words, perhaps the people to thank are the iTunes infrastructure engineers, and not the media that circulated the story?
It might be no fun to conclude that your coverage made no difference, but it would be interesting if you conducted a test (try redeeming a code from a restricted account) to see if anything had changed.
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ars_workerbee said 11:32PM on 7-26-2009
I read it reported elsewhere that the broken promo code issue was being treated as a bug, had been reported thusly, and a fix was being worked on.
You go out of your way to pat yourself on the back and link to places that repeated your story, yet offer no named sources for your information and no basis for your assumption that it was a policy decision that was reversed.
Just another reminder of the difference between blogging and journalism.
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Michael Jones said 11:57PM on 7-26-2009
There may have been an associated bug report to this, but Apple does not typically make their bug reports available to the public.
With regards to the source, our original report was based on information from a developer, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid possible NDA complications. He did, however, provide communication that he received from Apple explicitly indicating that promo codes were not available for applications with a 17+ rating, and his report was corroborated by other developers who were unable to obtain codes for their applications as well.
I agree that there is the possibility that this was simply a bug and not a policy change, due to the oversight of iTunes and the iPhone OS not being able to display the content warning when a promo code is used. However, were that the case, I believe we would have seen a software update coincide with these reports in order to add that missing functionality. Instead, we have simply seen developers confirm that they now have the ability to request codes, although the software has not changed to correct the problem described originally by Apple.
Michael Rose said 1:04AM on 7-27-2009
"Just another reminder of the difference between blogging and journalism."
And, conveniently enough, another reminder of the difference between constructive comments and trolling.
ars_workerbee said 3:19PM on 7-27-2009
@Michael Jones: So why, pray tell, would a software update be needed to resolve a bug in iTunes Connect, or the back-end iTunes systems? That's just more baseless assumptions made to justify your "reporting."
@Michael Rose: Sorry, I didn't realize pointing out the repeated shortcomings of the so-called reporting here on TUAW makes me a troll. I suppose you'd just rather live in a world where nobody criticizes you or your coworkers when they publish a hack job of a story.
Michael Jones said 3:32PM on 7-27-2009
"So why, pray tell, would a software update be needed to resolve a bug in iTunes Connect, or the back-end iTunes systems?"
It wouldn't... because if this were a bug, the required change would not be in iTunes Connect, but in iTunes itself. The issue at hand was that Apple was choosing not to provide promo codes for 17+ apps, because iTunes does not display parental warnings when using a promo code to purchase the application.
So, if Apple were considering this to be a bug, they would need to change iTunes and the iPhone OS to display warnings when downloading a 17+ app with a promo code. They may very well do this in a future update, but for the present, they simply chose to allow the codes without displaying a warning... hence, a policy change.