Apple Inc. No Longer Excluding Calculator Widget From App Store

Updated on

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is now no longer rejecting the calculator widget PCalc, a popular iOS app, which was previously to be removed from the iOS store, says a report from Techcrunch. Recently, the iPhone maker threatened to pull the popular app and widget from the app store alleging that widgets in iOS cannot perform calculations.

Reasons still unknown

After this warning from Apple, PCalc creator James Thomson went on Twitter to reply to queries about the matter, saying that it was really very sad. The iPhone maker’s spokesperson has confirmed to Techcrunch that PCalc will stay in the iOS app store, and all other calculator-type widgets will also run.

“From our understanding, the calculator use case was not one that Apple had anticipated,” says the report. Previously, an App store reviewer told Thomson that he would need to adjust the app or risk the exit from the App store.

According to the reviewer, he was given a time frame of two-three weeks to remove the widget from the app, and then bring back a version with improved calculation functionality. But the calculator in the widget was the core, so he had to pull out the widget entirely.

PCalc is a handy calculator app that has become quite popular, and the credit for that goes to iOS 8. With the help of the widget, the user can access a calculator in the Notification centre for doing quick calculations, and also can switch the widget’s display to the full app.

Apple known for quick changes

Removing the app solely due to widget functionality was unusual for Apple as the company currently featured PCalc in the “Great Apps for iOS 8” section under “Notifcation centre Widgets.”

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is known for policy changes from time to time as it is quick to react to how its developer community brings new changes of iOS into applications. For instance, just last month, Apple pulled out a useful app called Launcher that assisted users in quickly launching an app or performing custom actions from the widget. The problem cited by Apple was that “launcher” app in general is known for misuse of widgets, but Apple has not mentioned this in its policies.

However, there was definitely not a security concern over which Apple rejected the calculator widget because the widgets are sandboxed, which means that they are as secure as any other standalone app of iOS.

Leave a Comment