The social media giant says that it has been forced to release an "inferior" version of its Facebook Gaming app in order for Apple to accept it onto the
App Store.
Following Microsoft's
similar criticism, Facebook says that Apple has forced it to launch a new games app — without any games. The
Facebook Gaming app is currently being rolled out on the App Store after around six months of the social media company trying to persuade Apple to allow the same features found on the Android version.
"Unfortunately, we had to remove gameplay functionality entirely in order to get Apple's approval on the standalone Facebook Gaming app," Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said
in a statement to
The Verge, "meaning iOS users have an inferior experience to those using Android."
"We're staying focused on building communities for the more than 380 million people who play games on Facebook every month," she continued. "whether Apple allows it in a standalone app or not."