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Why Apple Temporarily Blocked Popular Vibe Coding Apps (neowin.net)

(Sunday March 22, 2026 @06:55PM (EditorDavid) from the bad-vibes dept.)


An anonymous reader shared this [1]report from the tech-news blog Neowin :

> Apple appears to have temporarily prevented apps, including Replit and Vibecode, from pushing new updates. Apple seems bothered by how apps like Replit present vibe-coded apps in a web view within the original app. This process virtually allows the app to become something else. And the new app isn't distributed via the App Store, but it still runs on the user's device... [S]uch apps would also bypass the App Store Review process that ensures that apps are safe to use and meet Apple's design and performance standards...

>

> According to the [2]publication (via [3]MacRumors ), Apple was close to approving pending updates for such apps if they changed how they work. For instance, Replit would get the green light if its developers configure the app to open vibe-coded apps in an external browser rather than the in-app web view.

>

> Vibecode is also close to being approved if it removes features, such as the ability to develop apps specifically for the App Store.



[1] https://www.neowin.net/news/report-apple-goes-after-vibe-coding-apps-by-silently-blocking-new-updates/

[2] https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-cracks-vibe-coding-apps

[3] https://www.macrumors.com/2026/03/18/apple-blocks-updates-for-vibe-coding-apps/


Evolve or die (Score:3)

by Kernel Kurtz ( 182424 )

Should simply generating your own apps become cheap and effective it is going to break the entire central app store model. I don't know if this will happen or not, but if these people believe their own AI hype they are right to be afraid.

Re: Evolve or die (Score:2)

by topham ( 32406 )

Already broken. Time to move forwarded.

I was asking for a proof of concept yesterday and accidentally got a functional implementation of asteroids.

Yeah, welcome to the future.

If they could, they would (Score:2)

by Somervillain ( 4719341 )

> Should simply generating your own apps become cheap and effective it is going to break the entire central app store model. I don't know if this will happen or not, but if these people believe their own AI hype they are right to be afraid.

Well...if it could, it would....so it's safe to conclude the technology just isn't there yet. Otherwise, instead of the news stories about endless pick and shovel vendors, it would be about how pioneering companies are relying on AI to move everything in-house, overhaul their legacy systems, etc....and consumers would see it as well. If AI really lived up to a fraction of the hype, you'd see a flood of amazing indie titles and mind-blowing remakes of classics...like Duke Nukem 3D and similar games rendere

So, kind of like web apps? (Score:2)

by Tony Isaac ( 1301187 )

Web apps run on your device. They can be updated without Apple's knowledge or review.

Also, a large percentage of apps use the WebView component to show some content that changes without Apple's knowledge or review. You know, like apps that contain ads. Nobody reviews the individual ads to see if they are "harmful" and very many of them actually are.

The Apple (and Google) review process is a farce.

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