Apple has reportedly decided to remove all WhatsApp stickers from its App Store. Not because they’re competeing with its own iMessage platform, but because Apple thinks they’re apparently violating certain AppStore gudelines.
Apple has not one, but three reasons as to why they’re violating its AppStore guidelines. First, Apple beleives there are too many apps that exhibit the same behaviour. Now, this essentially implies that there are far too many stickers available for download, which Apple thinks isn’t a good thing.
Secondly, Apple thinks WhatsApp need to be installed in order to download these stickers. And the company doesn’t allow apps that need other apps to perform downloads.
Finally, Apple thinks the design of these stickers are too similar as they lack enough creativity. As a result of this move, WhatsApp stickers can no longer be downloaded on your iPhone.
WhatsApp hasn’t yet issued an official statement on how it plans to deal with this restriction. However, it appears the platform could rectify this issue is by building a dedicated store for stickers, something like what Facebook offers for Messenger users.
It’s also worth noting that at this point, Google hasn’t laid down any such restrictions for stickers on its PlayStore.
