Over the past few weeks, Apple started banning and blocking updates for vibe coding apps on the App Store under Guideline 2.5.2. Numerous similar apps were affected, including a few other YC cos (Replit, Expo, a0, etc). Our iOS app was approved and shipping updates for months before Apple reversed course with limited explanation and no clear path to compliance.
Instead of waiting it out, we launched early access for Bloom on Android and made two funny Anthropic-ad style videos about the situation.
If you're building anything that generates or previews code on iOS, heads up. Guideline 2.5.2 is broad enough that it could apply to a lot of apps beyond vibe coding tools. Worth being aware of.
If you've dealt with sudden App Store rejections that contradicted previous approvals, we'd love to compare notes. We're still figuring out the best way to handle this.
If you think this story is worth sharing, it helps. A repost of the video or blog goes a long way.
Happy to answer any questions about what the review process looked like from our side.
David from Bloom
lpcvoid•1h ago
Apple is on the good side here, IMO. I hope they continue blocking slop.
davidoort•1h ago
I have nothing against quality control for what gets published to the App Store, but this change also blocks developer tools like Expo Go and Bloom where the main benefit is to be able to test apps natively on your phone without needing to go through a TestFlight build.
lpcvoid•58m ago
IMO, from looking at the Bloom website, it's not a devtool, it's a Vibecoding tool. And as such, output from it should be blocked from the Appstore in my view. Not sure if that's what you were going at, I may have misunderstood you.
davidoort•50m ago
Apple is not necessarily blocking vibecoded apps, they are blocking vibecoding tools like Bloom. So it doesn't prevent people from submitting vibecoded apps to the App Store, but it does prevent people from being able to build personal apps from their phone through something like the Bloom mobile app.
TheDaniel166•1h ago
or just let the user have full control over thier product they bought. freaking Apple
davidoort•1h ago
exactly, kinda makes you wonder what the "i" in iphone stands for...
davidoort•2h ago
Instead of waiting it out, we launched early access for Bloom on Android and made two funny Anthropic-ad style videos about the situation.
1. "Everyone can build apps now. Just not on iPhone." https://x.com/CreateWithBloom/status/2036072867738071114
"Software is becoming yours. Just not on iOS." https://x.com/CreateWithBloom/status/2036435705438642408
We're sharing this here for a few reasons:
If you're building anything that generates or previews code on iOS, heads up. Guideline 2.5.2 is broad enough that it could apply to a lot of apps beyond vibe coding tools. Worth being aware of.
If you've dealt with sudden App Store rejections that contradicted previous approvals, we'd love to compare notes. We're still figuring out the best way to handle this.
If you think this story is worth sharing, it helps. A repost of the video or blog goes a long way.
Full breakdown on our blog: https://bloom.diy/blog/apple-is-banning-vibecoding-apps-we-r...
Happy to answer any questions about what the review process looked like from our side.
David from Bloom