Apple Extends Mac App Store Sandboxing Deadline to June 1

Apple has extended the deadline for developers to sandbox their Mac apps out to June 1st, 2012. The deadline applies to developers who want to sell their apps on Apple’s Mac App Store, and it had originally been set for March 1st. The new deadline gives developers an additional three months to get their apps in line with Apple’s goals.

Sandboxing Deadline Extension

Notice to Mac Developers

Sandboxing is the name given to the concept of keeping apps from doing anything outside of their own space or with other apps. Sandboxing makes both the apps and the computer as a whole more secure and stable, but it also limits functionality, and Apple’s move to Sandbox the Mac has raised a fierce debate amongst its users and developers. For more on the subject, read Ted Landau’s editorial on the subject.

In the deadline extension, Apple also clarified some of its policies on existing apps that aren’t sandboxed. According to Apple’s current documentation, apps that are in the Mac App Store before June 1st, 2012 that aren’t sandboxed can remain there. In addition, developers will be able to continue to submit bug fixes for those apps.