{"id":52866,"date":"2026-08-07T17:25:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=52866"},"modified":"2026-08-14T10:59:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T14:59:51","slug":"dark-hours-rejected-from-the-app-store","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2026\/08\/07\/dark-hours-rejected-from-the-app-store\/","title":{"rendered":"Dark Hours Rejected From the App Store"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Update: See the retraction below<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

Terry Godier<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

On the web, if I build something that works within the standards, it works. Whether people use it is up to them. On iOS, there is another question entirely: whether Apple decides it should exist.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

In the past couple of years I’ve built three apps that were rejected from the App Store on various grounds.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

A while ago I tried to submit an iOS app for Dark Hours<\/a>, my astronomy website for normal people. It was rejected on the grounds that it was astrology.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

I see countless ChatGPT wrappers with nearly identical icons and eye-watering subscriptions. I see astronomy apps requesting permissions that have nothing to do with looking at the night sky. My kids download games that interrupt play every few minutes to advertise the developer’s other subscription apps, each with their own $20–50 yearly plans.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Via John Gruber<\/a> (Mastodon<\/a>, Hacker News<\/a>):<\/p>\n

\n

But if you actually look at Godier’s Dark Hours<\/a>, for even just a few seconds, it is instantly obvious that it pertains to the science of astronomy and has absolutely nothing — zero, zilch, nada — to do with astrology.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Godier proceeded through a series of escalations up to the App Review Board and the Review Board responded that they determined the original rejection was valid<\/em> because, I shit you not, “We understand that the app includes a live tarot reading feature.” Which isn’t even about astrology. It’s straight out of Kafka.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

This isn’t just contrary to the benefit of developers, like Godier. It’s obviously contrary to the benefit of Apple itself, which should not just accept<\/em> an app like Dark Hours, but celebrate<\/em> it as an exemplar of the platform.<\/p>\n

Mistakes happen. But in a functioning system mistakes get corrected, and mistakes as obvious as this one get corrected almost instantly and include a quick apology for the conflation. The App Store is not a functioning system.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n