Apple has updated its App Review Guidelines with multiple new rules, including one targeting the misleading use of other developers’ branding. Here are the details.
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Earlier today, reporting emerged of Apple and WeChat owner Tencent coming to an agreement that will earn Apple a 15% commission on revenue from mini apps.
Now, it seems that this is actually tied to a newly announced Mini Apps Partner Program wherein Apple offers that reduced 15% commission to all developers.
Tencent, like all developers, will first need to apply to take part in the program.
Here’s how it all works.
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a billion-dollar lawsuit filed by UK app developers accusing the company of abusive commission levels.
The company last month lost the case and a hearing today is deciding how the damages are calculated. If the ruling stands, it is expected to end up costing Apple anywhere between £1B and £2B ($1.3B to $2.6B) – but Apple is expected to counter this with four arguments …
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the law should be repealed. It also suggested that more new features would be delayed for EU customers, and perhaps even new hardware.
The company is now claiming a new study proves that the DMA fails to live up to one of its core promises: reducing app prices …
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App Store there to comply with a government order.
The company gave the usual statement it makes in such circumstances, but did provide little more detail in this particular case …
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Apple’s monopoly on the sale of iPhone apps is set to be further eroded according to a new tweet showing third-party app stores in the iOS 26.2 beta in Japan. This follows a ruling by Japan’s Fair Trade Commission in August that both Apple and Google must allow alternative app stores.
This will make Japan the 29th country to get third-party app stores for the iPhone, with others set to follow as courts and antitrust regulators continue to issue rulings …
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Apple has released new APIs and sandbox tools to help developers comply with the new requirements for apps available in Texas. Here are the details.
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Update, November 8, 9:46 a.m. ET: The GitHub repository and its forks have been taken down. The original story follows below.
Just hours after Apple launched a revamped web interface for the App Store, a GitHub project was released with the site’s entire front-end source code. Here’s how that happened.
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Apple has launched a dramatic new web interface for the App Store. You can now get the full App Store experience right in your browser, with dedicated pages for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision, Watch, and TV app libraries.
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Update, November 1, 10:59 a.m. ET: Apple has removed the sketchy ChatGPT clone app mentioned below. I’ve also received unverified claims that many other copycats have been taken down too.
Around this time two years ago, OpenAI’s incredibly popular GPT-4 API was spreading like wildfire all over the App Store. It wasn’t long before AI-powered productivity apps, chatbot companions, nutritional trackers, and basically anything else you could think of dominated the charts, garnering millions of downloads. Fast forward to today, many of those vibe-coded, opportunistic apps have disappeared, partly due to cooling hype but also Apple’s tougher stance against knockoffs and misleading apps.
However, this week, security researcher Alex Kleber noticed that one misleading AI chatbot, impersonating OpenAI’s branding, managed to achieve top marks in the Business category. Albeit on the less popular Mac App Store, this is still significant and warrants a brief PSA to be cautious when sharing personal information with these apps.
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Today, Apple informed developers that prices for apps and In-App Purchases will be adjusted in Poland, Switzerland, and Türkiye starting next month. Here are the details.
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Apple is rolling out a round of enhancements that will make it easier for developers to submit, manage, and market their apps on the App Store. Here’s what’s new.
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When Apple dropped App Tracking Transparency (ATT) prompts in iOS 14.5 back in 2021, it was a watershed moment for user privacy within third-party applications. Nothing like it had existed prior. The initiative gave iPhone users control over whether their in-app data could be aggregated and shared with third parties for advertising or other various purposes.
Still, today, I often find comments online from people who don’t really know what it does and find the wording very taboo. Like, why “Ask” the app? And is it still effective? Let’s briefly look at App Tracking Transparency in 2025…
A landmark case in the UK concerning Apple’s App Store practices has just been decided, with a London tribunal ruling against the company in a move that could cost Apple up to $2 billion.
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Remember Tea, the dating safety app that leaked private chats and photo IDs in July? Months later, Apple has removed the iPhone app from the App Store.
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App Store age verification law in Texas, and it will now face a similar requirement in California.
Apple found a privacy-respecting approach to the Texas law, and it seems that it will be able to adopt a similar one here …
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A new state law in Texas will soon require apps to enforce a form of ‘age assurance’ with users, and in response, Apple has announced changes coming for apps available in Texas.
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Although antitrust regulator.
In public, the two have engaged in a pretty fierce war of words, but a new report claims that they are close to reaching a behind-the-scenes agreement …
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The controversy over Tim Cook on the company’s human rights values.
Wiley Hodges worked for Apple for more than 20 years, the last 15 of them as a director of marketing and product management, and he’s written an open letter to Cook expressing his dismay at the decision …
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ICEBlock, an app that alerts people to sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in their area, has been removed from the App Store at the request of the US Attorney General Pam Bondi. Here are the details.
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Apple was unable to convince a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit accusing it of promoting, hosting, and profiting from illegal casino-style apps in the App Store. Here are the details.
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A new study says there has been a dramatic rise in the number of fraudulent mobile AI tools.
So far in 2025, there’s been a 300% increase in fraudulent apps on iOS, and a 600% increase on Android …
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Numerous reports, however, have found that there is no shortage of scam apps making it through Apple’s app review process, and the company is now under fresh legal scrutiny in the EU over this issue …
Update September 23, 2025, 10:41am PT: Apple has issued the following statement to 9to5Mac:
“As digital threats have evolved in scope and complexity over the years, Apple has expanded its antifraud initiatives to address these challenges and protect users. Every day, teams across Apple monitor and investigate fraudulent activity and utilize sophisticated tools to stop bad actors. Unfortunately, the European Commission is undermining our efforts by forcing Apple to allow alternative app distribution and payments, despite warnings that this puts users at greater risk of fraud and scams. While the regulator focuses on issuing misguided and counterproductive threats of investigation and fines, we will continue to advocate for the safety and security of our users.”
Apple says that in the last five years, the App Store has prevented over $9 billion in fraudulent transactions, including over $2 billion in 2024 alone.
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We last month learned that Apple in Australia, with the court ruling that the iPhone maker must permit side-loading and third-party payments.
The full reasoning for that decision has now been published – all 900 pages of it – and Apple has accused the judge of underestimating the privacy and security risks to users …
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