Apple Is Quietly Terminating Developer Accounts, And We Had No Idea

I've been building apps since 2014. That's over a decade. But something happened recently that left me feeling genuinely disheartened, and I want to talk about it.

The Silence in the Review Queue

For some reason, my apps stopped getting reviewed. I'd submit an update, and it would just sit there. No response.

Then one day, all of my apps entered the "In Review" state at the same time. Weeks went by. Still no news.

I reached out to Apple's App Review team. They told me everything was normal, that they just had a large backlog, and asked if I wanted to request an expedited review.

I didn't want to abuse the expedited review system, so I decided to wait.

Then Users Started Complaining

Recently, some of my users started reporting bugs. I had no choice. I submitted an expedited review request for the app that needed an update the most.

That's when I found out. My account had been terminated.

The Whole Process Is Broken

I think the entire management process has some serious problems.

First, I never received any communication from Apple telling me my account was about to be terminated. I checked my email. Nothing. Not even in spam. Even Apple's own developer support team didn't know about it.

Then Apple told me I could appeal. But the appeal link they gave me was actually for an App Review rejection appeal, not an Account Termination appeal. These are two completely different things. One is about disagreeing with a single app's review outcome. The other is about my entire account being shut down. I have no idea why they mixed these up.

It All Happened in Silence

What makes this really scary is that it all felt like it happened in silence, with no public announcement whatsoever.

I searched Reddit. Nobody was discussing this. I searched Twitter / X. Nobody was discussing this either. No news, no statements. It just happened quietly.

I'm Not an App Factory

I'm not one of those makers who ships a new app every week or every month. My apps have real revenue. Real users. I've been maintaining them since 2014, over a decade.

I have no idea why Apple would do this to me.

Nobody Will Help

I've tried reaching out to various higher-level members of Apple's developer relations team. Nobody seems to care.

The frontline support staff don't seem to know anything about account terminations either. They can help you check a review status, but when it comes to something like your account being terminated, they're completely lost.

I Remember My Days at Microsoft

Speaking of Apple's review process, this actually reminds me of my time working at Microsoft.

Back then, Microsoft's apps would also get unfairly treated by Apple's review team. Sometimes it was really nitpicking, rejecting apps for the most bizarre reasons. But Microsoft is a big company. They had dedicated Apple PMs as points of contact. All we had to do was forward the rejection email to Apple's PM, and Apple's PM would apply pressure directly, and Microsoft's app would sail through review.

Big companies get that kind of treatment. Do indie developers? No.

Are Small Developers Just Not Valued Anymore?

Honestly, what I'm feeling right now is: are small developers just not valued by Apple anymore?

Every year at WWDC, Apple says "we love developers." But when you actually run into a problem, you realize nobody is there to help. Nobody tells you what happened. Nobody gives you a proper appeal channel. Nobody replies after you've reached out repeatedly.

I'm not writing this for sympathy. I just think more people should know about this. If you're also an indie developer, if you've experienced something similar, let's talk.

It's just... disheartening, I guess.