When LearnWorlds announced launching an App Builder back in September, we got very excited here at recertCRNA. We thought that an app where our learners can access all their courses would be excellent. I have been thinking for years that adding an app to my business would be great, but I quickly learned that app building is not easy. Or cheap!
In October, LW opened the App Builder, and we immediately jumped on their launch special. We spent the month of October populating our app inside the backend of our website and submitted the app for Google and Apple review in early November.
Google quickly approved the app, and it is available in the Google Play Store.
Apple is another story. Apple has stringent policies on what they approve on their platform, which is not bad. But, sometimes, it is challenging to decipher what they are thinking.
Shortly after submission, Apple rejected our app. In part due to crash issues, which is understandable. Not sure how LW missed that one, but at least LW immediately accepted responsibility and have worked hard to fix the problem. Now they feel it is corrected, and we can again submit the app to Apple.
The other concern Apple had was our medical content inside the app. They feel our courses are a kind of medical advice, which they believe must be approved by physicians only. They have a hard time understanding what continuing education in the medical industry is.
They never checked the course content but instead relied upon our images advertising the courses. These images tell what the course is about, eg, Tonsillectomy with or without Adenoidectomy, and Apple felt this would be medical advice, which must follow a stringent algorithm for approval.
Do we understand that medical advice can be dangerous to the general public? Yes, we do. But, we do not give medical advice to the general public. We provide current and referenced information to board-certified anesthesia practitioners, CRNAs, and student CRNAs; not the general public. Furthermore, learners must purchase our courses to view the content, limiting who will see the information. Thirdly, all content is fully referenced, and a bibliography is provided, either on the actual page or at the end of the course.
Well, Apple's guidelines state that any medical information must link to a medical source so the viewer can confirm the data, which is not practical for our courses. Our contributors do a fantastic job referencing all the information either right on the page or as a bibliography at the end of the course. Additionally, most, if not all, the information is not accessible as a link to a website. Most of the data is either the contributor's personal view and experience or from medical textbooks or articles that are not accessible on the web.
Hopefully, we can convince Apple about this point.
Our app went back into Apple review this morning, and we are crossing our fingers that it will be approved.
