Apple revised its App Review Guidelines twice in 2026, on February 6 and again on June 8, and one of the changes now lets Apple remove long-standing apps from the store simply for not attracting customers. Both updates are posted on Apple’s developer news page in Apple’s own wording, without a redline showing the previous text.
Guideline changes rarely get a plain-English explanation from Apple beyond the bullet points it publishes, and this is the first time this year both 2026 updates have been read side by side. The guidelines apply to every app submitted for iOS 27, and to apps built for iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo this month.
Key facts
| Update | Date | Headline change |
|---|---|---|
| First 2026 revision | February 6, 2026 | Random or anonymous chat brought under the User-Generated Content guideline |
| Second 2026 revision | June 8, 2026 | Spam guideline 4.3 rewritten with removal criteria; wide Developer Program License Agreement update |
| Translation timing | Both updates | Apple says translated guidelines follow within one month |
The February 6 change, in Apple’s words
Apple’s February note is a single sentence: the guidelines were “revised to clarify that apps with random or anonymous chat are subject to the 1.2 User-Generated Content guideline.” That guideline requires a content filter, a reporting mechanism, the ability to block abusive users, and published contact information. Apps that end up used primarily for anonymous or “Chatroulette-style” experiences, among other listed categories, “may be removed without notice.”
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The June 8 change that lets Apple remove quiet apps
The June update rewrote guideline 4.3, Spam, and added language that was not there before. Apple’s current guideline text reads: apps in categories it calls “well established,” including dating, flashlight, sound effects, wallpaper, simple timers and fortune telling, will not be accepted as new submissions “unless they offer a meaningfully different or improved experience,” and Apple states it “may remove these apps from the App Store going forward if they are not updated, improved, or do not attract customers.” A separate line in the same guideline targets “mediocre, low-quality, or low-effort” apps by name, including drinking games and novelty apps, warning that repeated submissions of that kind can lead to removal from the Apple Developer Program itself.
| Guideline section | What changed on June 8 |
|---|---|
| Introduction | Revised kid and teen safety guidance |
| 1.2 User-Generated Content | New paragraph on developer responsibility for violating content |
| 4.3(a) and 4.3(b), Spam | Clarified basis for the guideline and added examples, including the removal-for-low-engagement language |
| 4.5.3 | Clarified that Live Activities may not be used to spam, phish, or send unsolicited messages |
The Developer Program License Agreement moved further than the guidelines
The same June 8 update revised more than a dozen sections of the separate Developer Program License Agreement, most of them tied to newer frameworks: Sensitive Content Analysis, the Suggested Actions API, the Trust Insights framework, the Foundation Models framework, Customer Engagement APIs, and Apple’s own AI models. It also added terms on developer identity for export compliance and on protecting minors in App Store Connect. None of these sections were part of the App Review Guidelines proper, which is why a developer checking only the guidelines page could miss them.
What Apple has not said
- Apple has not published a change log or redline comparing the new guideline text to the version it replaced.
- Apple has not said how many apps, if any, have already been removed under the new low-engagement language in guideline 4.3.
- Apple has not defined a specific time window for what counts as an app that is “not updated” or “not attracting customers.”
- Apple has not said whether further guideline revisions are planned before the end of 2026.
As of September 13, 2026, both revisions remain the current App Review Guidelines text, and Apple has not announced a further update since June 8. Developers preparing submissions alongside this month’s Apple event coverage are working under this version of the rules.
