apple faces pressure from 17 app makers who say they can track screen time without invading privacy creditjason henry for the new york timesmay 30 2019san francisco last year apple announced that it had created tools to help people limit the time they and their children spent on their iphones around the same time apple began purging from its app store a number of apps that offered similar servicesnow 17 companies affected by that purge say they have a technical answer to the privacy concerns that apple cited for dropping themthe companies on thursday proposed the creation of an application programming interface or api a common bit of software that enables computer programs or apps to work with one another the companies said the api could tap apple technology that would allow them to track screen time without invading privacyright now technologically only apple has the right to do it on their devices and we believe apple should let everybody get a go said viktor yevpak the head of kidslox a parentalcontrol app that has been targeted by applethe companies move puts added pressure on apple ahead of its annual developers conference next week when the iphone maker interacts with thousands of app makers and lays out its vision for the yearapple is increasingly on the defensive over its tight control of the app store the high fees for selling services in the app store and competition from apples own apps are drawing accusations that the tech giant is abusing its powerspotify recently complained to european regulators that apple used the app store to give its apple music service an unfair advantage dutch regulators are investigating whether apple abused its control of the app store this month the supreme court allowed an antitrust class action to move forward saying consumers have the right to try to prove that apple used the app store to raise apps pricesand kidslox and another parentalcontrol app qustodio filed a complaint with european competition officials over apples forcing changes to their apps another parentalcontrol app complained to russias antitrust authoritiesapple declined to comment on thursdayapple has frequently created apis to encourage app developers to use its technology while the 17 app makers released a technical proposal on how it could work a new api would have to come from apple itselfthis week apple published a web page explaining its approach to the app store saying it strives to create a safe and trusted place for customers and a great business opportunity for all developersimagecreditchristophe morinip3 via getty imagesapple said it reviewed about 100000 apps a week and rejected roughly 40 percent typically for minor bugs or privacy concerns security experts say the approach has made iphones safer than android devices apple stressed that it welcomed competition in the app storeandrew armour a developer whose screentime app was rejected by apple said he and the other developers had begun to collaborate after the new york times reported last month on apples purge he and mr yevpak