Apple â??approves 95% of dev submissionsâ??

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has claimed that “95 per cent” of all apps submitted on the App Store are approved within seven days.

The suggestion comes after intermittent complaints from across the App Store development sector – some of which have accused Apple of an ‘iron fist’ approach to its mobile platform.

Speaking at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco today, Jobs refrained from citing such accusations when talk turned to the App Store approval process.

“Sometimes when you read all these articles you think something different is going on,” he said, “but 95% of these get approved within 7 days.”

Jobs wet on to ask the packed auditorium: “what about the ones we don’t approve?”

He said there are three main reasons why there’s a 5 per cent disapproval rate for App Store submissions.

The primary reason is that the item “doesn’t do what the developer said it would”, Jobs said – a phrasing that could in its ambiguity raise more questions that it answers.

“Secondly, if the app uses private APIs,” he said. “We are very clear on this. Developers can’t use private APIs. When we change the iPhone OS, those private APIs are not guaranteed to change and the app will break”

The third reason, he said, is when Apps crash.

Apple has faced numerous accusations regarding its App Store approval policy. Many developers have publicly complained of Apple declining their game submissions for an allegedly draconian attitude towards political correctness. In one instance, a developer went as far as accusing Apple for banning his game as retribution against his own public rant against the company.

Apple was in San Francisco today primarily to unveil its latest product, the iPhone 4.