Apple is once again facing scrutiny over the consistency of its app policies. As MacRumors reports, the company has reversed a decision that would have removed William Gustafson’s keep-awake utility Amphetamine from the Mac App Store on January 12th. Apple had claimed the name violates policies forbidding the encouragement of some drug use despite the app being available since 2014 and even promoted in the store.
Gustafson had stressed that amphetamines were legal in the US (with a prescription) and that there was no attempt to glorify the medication — the name was the only real reference. The developer took advantage of Apple’s appeals process to win the reversal, with Apple recognizing that Gustafson was referencing amphetamine “metaphorically” and in a “medical sense.”