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Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free<\/p>\n
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.<\/span><\/p>\n Apple\u2019s handling of \u201cvibe coding\u201d apps is drawing complaints from start-ups and investors who say the tech giant is applying App Store rules erratically as AI tools make it easier to build software. <\/p>\n Replit, valued at $9bn and backed by venture capital group Andreessen Horowitz, said Apple was blocking updates to its iPhone app, while start-up Anything said its app had been repeatedly blocked and had twice been removed after initially being approved.<\/p>\n Their accounts, alongside Apple communications reviewed by the FT, offer a window into how the iPhone maker is responding to the surge in apps that allow users to generate and test software with AI.<\/p>\n Apple said its review process was designed to protect users\u2019 privacy and security and denied a surge in AI-generated apps had slowed approvals. <\/p>\n But start-ups suggest the company is struggling to apply existing App Store rules to a new class of AI tools that can generate, preview and launch software almost instantly.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in the dark,\u201d Anything founder Dhruv Amin said. \u201cEither they should stop enforcing the rules in this weird way, or they should update the guideline to let this use case emerge.\u201d <\/p>\n The dispute centres on a longstanding App Store rule that bars apps from downloading or installing code that changes their functionality, a restriction Apple says is designed to prevent unvetted software from running on iPhones.<\/p>\n In communications seen by the FT, Apple repeatedly told Anything that features allowing users to preview apps built with AI-generated code breached that rule, under a catch-all prohibition against \u201cdownloading code\u201d.<\/p>\n After the company removed the preview feature and resubmitted its app, Apple rejected it again on separate grounds, saying it now offered \u201cminimum functionality\u201d, according to the correspondence.<\/p>\n Apple briefly restored Anything to the App Store in early April before removing it again within a day, citing the original code-downloading restriction. <\/p>\n When contacted by the FT, the iPhone maker did not explain the reversal or say why the app had been approved in the first place.<\/p>\n Other developers have reported similar issues. Replit said it was \u201csurprised and disappointed\u201d at the move to block updates to its app, \u201cgiven that we have been on the platform for years abiding by their rules\u201d. The start-up said it was \u201cin discussions with Apple\u201d and hoped to resolve the issue. Another app, Vibecode, has also had updates held up.<\/p>\n Other leading vibe-coding companies, such as Lovable and Cursor, have yet to launch their own apps on the iOS mobile platform. Apple polices the software on its mobile store more closely than apps for Mac computers.<\/p>\n Recommended<\/p>\n According to Sensor Tower, the number of iOS apps released globally in 2025 rose 30 per cent year on year, a sharp acceleration compared with 2024.<\/p>\n There had been a \u201cbig upsurge in vibe coding\u201d driven by AI agents that can write and run code, said Anastasios Angelopoulos, chief executive of Arena, an open platform for evaluating AI models. \u201cThe barrier to entry for building an app is getting extremely low.\u201d<\/p>\n Apple is embracing the same technology elsewhere in its ecosystem. In February, it updated its developer toolkit, Xcode, to include AI coding agents from groups including Anthropic and OpenAI.<\/p>\n Andreessen Horowitz partner David George said moves to \u201cpump the brakes\u201d on some vibe-coding apps \u201cunder the banner of security\u201d risked stifling innovation and competition.<\/p>\n \u201cMore surgical enforcement of [the App Store\u2019s] terms should be the priority,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Apple\u2019s handling of \u201cvibe coding\u201d apps is drawing complaints from start-ups and investors who say the tech giant is applying App Store rules erratically as AI tools make it easier to build software. Replit, valued<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[3198,5930,662,5557,16008,14005,13100],"class_list":{"0":"post-49043","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-apple","9":"tag-apps","10":"tag-challenge","11":"tag-coding","12":"tag-curbs","13":"tag-startups","14":"tag-vibe"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/49044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}