In 2017, Apple disrupted many businesses in the school communication space with changes to their guidelines regarding the publishing of apps based on a common template. The result of these changes left many businesses either unable to offer new apps, or unsure if they could even continue offering their existing apps.
At the beginning of 2018, Apple opened the door a little to allow stand-alone apps to be provided, albeit with certain caveats.
What does this mean for schools?
The most recent change Apple made to their store guidelines is that stand-alone apps based on an existing app template will require their own developer account. This means each school would need to setup and maintain their own developer account even when another company is developing their app.
To set up a developer account requires going through an application process that can be lengthy, sometimes taking months to complete, with no guarantee that the app will be approved at the end. Once successful, a school would then need to learn how to submit their app and subsequent updates, whether due to new app features or updates to Apple’s iOS, for approval through their developer account.
This is a time-consuming process that also includes monitoring feedback and writing store content that schools may not have the resources to handle easily.
What school leaders and management teams need to know
Once again we reviewed our position and, after careful consideration, stood by our previous decision to offer our platform only as a container app for all schools.
With the School Stream platform, we remove the complexity involved in setting up and managing a developer account, as well as having the ability to get schools up and running in under 24 hours with no risk of rejection.
The platform is a proven technology, having 4 years of continual development and trusted by hundreds of thousands of people.
If you’d like to speak with someone about these changes and how it may affect your school, call us on 02 8074 5633 (Australia) or 04 889 4144 (New Zealand).
Some of the great feedback from schools
“We have been using School Stream for a number of years and it is fantastic. Easy to send an alert. Easy for parents to use. We recommend it to all schools”
Dom Poppa, Principal
“Very fast getting information out, positive feedback from parents and newsletter savings”
Anne Wallace, Administration Manager
“Excellent app, it has made an incredible difference to our school community.”
Mary D’arcy-Liston, Teacher
“Our parents and the school just love School Stream. It is a fantastic way to communicate with the school community and can be used in so many different ways eg. alerts, school events, attaching documents, a click to send an email reply, school absences, ability to ‘add to your calendar’, and so much more.”
Jane Ianoco, Administrator
“Excellent! A great way to communicate important messages to our community.”
Rebecca, Principal
