Two developers claim unjust account termination by Apple

Developers say that their account was terminated despite following Apple’s guidelines. Meanwhile, Apple describes the account as using “dishonest and fraudulent” activity.

Two developers, who create iOS and iPadOS Apps via the company App Stun Digital Solutions, have had their accounts terminated. The issue with Apple stems from an app that allows users to switch Apple Watch faces.

“A month ago, Apple identified a problem with our app and asked us to comply with their guidelines. We responded transparently and collaborated with Apple to ensure our app doesn’t violate any guidelines,” says developer Batukan Karababa in a post on X.

“However, as the process continued, we began to face rejection for the issue we thought we had already resolved in previous submissions.”

According to the post, each time Apple rejected their solution, the developers came up with a distinctly different one.

After three rejections, their account was terminated. In a termination notice shared by the developers, Apple claims that the account was used for “dishonest or fraudulent activity.”

“Despite our best efforts to comply, the decision to terminate our account feels overly harsh, especially given that the issues come from repeated rejections rather than any intentional violation,” the post reads, asking Apple to reconsider the termination.

The developers’ website states that over three years, the company has built over 50 apps, which have been downloaded eight million times. Apps listed include an iPhone app for recording and saving phone calls, an iPad app for fixing blurred images, and an iPad app for switching watch faces.

Apple Watch face issues

In a separate website created to explain the termination, the developers detail the exact steps they took and the answers they received from Apple.

The issue came from an app for the Apple Watch face. Specifically, they created a tab called Custom Animation, allowing users to choose their own Apple Watch face.

“We created a special app within the Apple Watch that users could open and leave it running. This allowed our app to take over the entire screen, creating a high-quality image similar to a watch face,” the website explains.

However, Apple stated that users might mistakenly think the “Custom Animation” feature was a built-in watch face and might feel deceived when purchasing, accusing the developers of misleading users.

The developers claim that they implemented several solutions, the last one being an alert informing users that they weren’t Apple’s watch faces.

After this solution, the developers received an account termination notice from Apple.

Apple didn’t immediately respond to a Cybernews request for comment.