File this one under “precise words matter”. Remember the whole thing a few weeks back, where AltStore PAL — an EU alternative app marketplace for iOS — published Hot Tub, a hardcore porno app, and billed it as “approved” by Apple because that’s the word Apple used for apps that were merely notarized for distribution? I wrote then:
If we want to get nitty-gritty over verbs, I’d argue that Apple
accepts apps — like Hot Tub — for notarization, not
approves. Begrudging acceptance is more of a thing than
begrudging approval.
AltStore’s Riley Testut today noted a change in Apple’s notarization confirmation emails.
- February 11: “The following app has been approved for distribution”
- February 19: “The following app is ready for distribution”
I only wish I’d thought of ready as an even more neutral-in-terms-of-conveying-approval word than accepted. I’d have bet my house that Apple would change this language in some way. Ready is perfect here — in no way a euphemism, but in no way conveying approval.