Apple has updated its App Store Review Guidelines to warn developers that existing apps in well-established categories may be removed if they are not updated, improved, or fail to attract users. The updated guidelines expand the list of low-value app categories — now including wallpaper apps, simple timers, and sound effects alongside dating, flashlight, and fortune-telling apps — and explicitly state submissions in these categories will be rejected unless they offer a meaningfully different experience. Developers who repeatedly submit low-quality apps risk losing access to the Apple Developer Program entirely. The change coincides with WWDC announcements around personalized app recommendations and new merchandising tools aimed at improving app discovery.
