Apple rejects developer's horoscope app, says App Store has enough

App Store
App Store (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Apple has rejected a developer's horoscope app because there are already too many in the store.
  • The company told a developer "we simply have enough of these types of apps" and that they are considered spam.
  • The disgruntled developer says they lost a year of work and have since pivoted to making it on Android.

Apple has rejected a horoscope app from a developer because it says the App Store simply has too many of them.

Developer Night Cat Productions took to Twitter recently stating:

I have some bad news. Apparently, there are too many horoscope apps on the App Store, so WTFuture has been rejected (twice). I'm really sorry. If you have any idea how to make it "not a horoscope app" let me know. I'm the mean time, I'll continue porting it to Android…

https://twitter.com/nightcatprod/status/1440861613163094026?s=20

Sure enough, the post includes a rejection notice stating the app "primarily features" astrology, horoscopes, palm reading, fortune telling or zodiac reports and as such "duplicates the content and functionality of many other similar apps currently available in the App Store."

Apple goes on to say that while these apps might be "useful, informative or entertaining we simply have enough of these types of apps on the App Store and they are considered a form of spam."

The cited portion of Apple's developer guidelines, section 4.3, states:

Also avoid piling on to a category that is already saturated; the App Store has enough fart, burp, flashlight, fortune telling, dating, drinking games, and Kama Sutra apps, etc. already. We will reject these apps unless they provide a unique, high-quality experience.

The developer has since pivoted to making WTFuture for Android instead.

Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design. Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9