Apple quietly updated App Review Guidelines, including its definition of spam apps. Under them, Apple can remove some 'spam' apps already on the store. Better check if your category is affected 馃憞
Image from Vitaly Davydov (@iwitaly)
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A few weeks ago, most new astrology apps became unsubmittable. Apple started rejecting them under 4.3(b), the saturated categories rule. No formal announcement, so developers found it out when their apps got rejected.
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Apple expanded the list with: - timers, - wallpaper, - and sound effects apps. Dating, flashlight, and fortune telling were already on it.

Jun 9, 2026 路 4:01 PM UTC

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The bigger change: Apple formalized its right to remove apps in saturated categories if they go stale or stop attracting customers. That means both new and existing apps in these categories need to offer 'a meaningfully different' experience to be listed on the App Store.
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Apple also reclassified some categories. Drinking games, Kama Sutra, fart, and burp apps moved from 'saturated' to 'low-effort' by definition.
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And repeated submissions of these 'low effort' apps can get you removed from the Apple Developer Program entirely.
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The apps feds are cracking down hard!
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