On 16 October 2026, Apple updated its App Review Guidelines, adding rules on AI-generated intimate imagery, hidden app features and the creative assets developers use on the App Store. In a separate note, Apple said that last year it stopped more than 150,000 apps with safety issues from reaching customers and terminated more than 193,000 developer accounts for fraud and abuse.
What changes
Guideline 1.2 now says content moderation must cover nonconsensual intimate imagery, including images made with AI tools, which apps must proactively prevent and remove. Developers who lack adequate safeguards, or do not fix violations after notice, risk breaching the Developer Code of Conduct and removal from the store. New guideline 2.5.19 sets out the long-standing ban on hidden, dormant or undocumented features, including adding functions after approval that were not in the version Apple reviewed. New guideline 2.3.14 covers creative assets in product page headers and search results: they must relate to the app or brand, suit all audiences, and avoid unverifiable claims or specific or discounted prices. Section 5 now says apps that facilitate human trafficking or child exploitation will also be blocked from alternative distribution.
Separately, Apple’s single set of EU business terms took effect on 1 October 2026. They replace the per-install Core Technology Fee with a 5% Core Technology Commission on digital sales in apps distributed outside the App Store.
What it means for founders
Any app that lets users upload or generate images now needs working filters, a reporting route and a way to block abusive users, or it risks removal. Teams that use remote configuration or feature flags to switch things on after approval should make sure those features were visible in the build Apple reviewed. Marketing teams designing App Store headers and search assets can no longer show discount prices or claims they cannot back up.
What to do now
- Audit any image upload or generation feature for filtering, reporting and blocking tools.
- Describe features controlled by remote flags in your App Review notes.
- Check new creative assets against guideline 2.3.14 before you submit them.
- If you distribute in the EU, work out how the new commission affects your margins; our app team can help review a build before submission.
Sources: Apple Developer, Updated App Review Guidelines now available; Apple Developer, Strengthening App Review Guidelines against nonconsensual intimate imagery and bait-and-switch apps; Apple, App Review Guidelines; Apple Developer, Changes for apps in the European Union