Apple today announced some changes to its Apple Developer Program agreement, which are the terms that developers are required to agree to in order to offer their apps on the App Store. The new terms clarify the use of Swift Playgrounds, Xcode Cloud, and more.
Ahead of the Swift Playgrounds 4 launch, Apple has updated its terms to mention the platform as one of the alternatives for creating iOS apps. This is because one of the main new features of Swift Playgrounds 4 is the ability to create and submit apps to the App Store directly from an iPad, so now the app is considered an “Apple SDK,” just like Xcode.
The new agreement also mentions Xcode Cloud, which was announced at WWDC 2021 as a platform that will let developers accelerate the development process by running automated tests and other tasks in the cloud. Xcode Cloud is currently available as a private beta and is expected to become available to more developers next year.
“Apple SDKs” means the Apple-proprietary Software Development Kits (SDKs) provided hereunder, including but not limited to header files, APIs, libraries, simulators, and software (source code and object code) labeled as part of iOS, watchOS, tvOS, iPadOS, or Mac SDK and included in the Xcode Developer Tools package and Swift Playgrounds for purposes of targeting Apple-branded products running iOS, watchOS, tvOS, iPadOS, and/or macOS, respectively.
There are also mentions of the new Legacy Contacts feature introduced with iOS 15.2, clarifications on the requirements for using the HealthKit and Fitness APIs, and the inclusion of gender-neutral language.
“Xcode Cloud Content” means the software, tests, scripts, data, information, text, graphics, videos, or other content that You post or make available when accessing or using the Xcode Cloud Service (including any software residing in source code repositories to which You provide log-in credentials), excluding any Apple materials licensed to You.
You can find all the details on the Apple Developer website.
