It was reported in August that Apple has filed a lawsuit against a company just because it thought that a pear logo was too similar to its own Apple logo. That company is Prepear and it is basically a recipe app and it helps the users prepare various meals and also to create a shopping list for those meals. This was so Apple like, because times and again Apple hits out at various small and medium sized  companies without having any solid justification. 

This time Apple has given a new year surprise to another app known as Amphetamine. It is a free app available on Mac App Store. This app has a very simple functionality where it stops the Mac from sleeping if a certain user defined app is running. It has been listed in the App Store for more than 6 years and has been downloaded more than 432,000 times. It is a very well reputed app with 4.8 average rating with 1400 reviews. 

Apple sent a warning to this app developer that it is violating App Store Guidelines on 29 December, 2020. It has been given until 12th January 2021, to amend its name or face expulsion from the App Store. 

What could possibly be this simple app doing wrong. Well it is probably its name Amphetamine and its icon. Apple believes that it encourages consumption of tobacco and vape products in some way to its users.

Below is the Apple guideline (extract) which this app is believed to be in violation of;

1.4.3 Apps that encourage consumption of tobacco and vape products, illegal drugs, or excessive amounts of alcohol are not permitted on the App Store. Apps that encourage minors to consume any of these substances will be rejected. Facilitating the sale of marijuana, tobacco, or controlled substances (except for licensed pharmacies) isn’t allowed."

Apple further specified: “Your app appears to promote inappropriate use of controlled substances. Specifically, your app name and icon include references to controlled substances, pills.”

Although the developer will challenge Apple’s verdict but at the same time he will start working on rebranding its app, in case Apple decides to remove this app from the App Store.

If you believe that Apple is unjustified in its attempt to remove this app from the Mac Store, kindly perform below mentioned tasks to support this developer, who is in dire need of your help and support.

• Retweet this tweet
• Upvote this Reddit post
• Sign this Change.org petition

Update: Apple will keep the app in its App Store after wrongly telling the developer that it violated its App Store guidelines.