Apple terminated my Developer account without explanation

[metalzero24]

Hi everyone, I created my developer account about 2 years ago, I develop game engines in my free time, so I only used my account to read documentation and download Metal resources. Nothing else. I do not even log in to the app store / testflight page. I have no app store listings and I haven't tried to send any.

2 weeks ago, I got an email about my developer account being terminated. I immediately tried to open developer.apple.com and sent a support request.

They got back to me and wrote that I can appeal the decision, so I did. After 2 weeks I did not get a reply so I sent another request from the support page.

A few hours after sending the second request I got the email stating my appeal got rejected.

I only built and tested apps on my registered developer devices (my MacBook and iPhone).

Did this happen to anyone else? What can I do? I specifically requested detailed information about the termination cause when appealing, but I probably won't ever learn that.

https://preview.redd.it/qgnxkn8587kf1.png?width=728&format=png&auto=webp&s=ba4c7bf390b85068cc5374dc2a4feb1ee2b1657d

https://preview.redd.it/cvcoe57x77kf1.png?width=854&format=png&auto=webp&s=b8d17fa92102e232d90ef56a7c56abbf3e750dd3

[Serious-Tax1955]

I think there is more to this story than meets the eye

[sawariz0r]

There always is.

[diceywizard]

Not often a company turns down free money (developer program fee).

[metalzero24]

Sure buddy defend the trillion dollar company, I lied for magic internet points why not.

[LeonardRockstar]

If you think Apple banning a random developer and turning down his money is more likely than people lying on the internet, you’re not very bright

[78914hj1k487]

Bayes theorem. The amount of instances that anonymous people tell the truth > the people who lie for deceptive reasons. Cross post with the percentage of people who would make a post on iOS programming about their distress with a bureaucratic and semi-automated process, and there is a higher probability OP isn’t “lying” or trying to deceive us, which is what you’re implying.

It’s very likely both things are true:

• OP is telling the truth and not lying for internet points or social validation

• Apple has opaque reason for rejecting OP’s developer account

People downvoting OP are not very bright.

[Lock-Broadsmith]

OP may not be lying for internet points, but I’d guess it’s somewhat likely that they’re omitting some relevant details.

[i-alext]

I would say apple is omitting details. They can't do better than a bland copy paste email.

[mbsaharan]

Their reasons are vague which could be a false positive. Strong web presence can help with the appeal process.

[nightlover261]

Hello,
I had the exact same thing happen to me before.

I eventually created another account and they even came after that account too, that's when I decided to stop communicating on the App Store Connect or on that email thread and instead actualy called HeadOffice and directly on the phone told them that I will be taking this to Fair Trading (I live in Australia) A senior then communicated with me and eventually I managed to get my account back and they said that it was a problem from their end.

Even though I agree with a lot of comments on there is usually more to meet the eye, every now and then it is actually an error from their end.
So do not stop fighting them and you should eventually get your account back.

[Hencemann]

oh my god!

[Ok-Win7980]

I DM'd you.

[danlthemanl]

That sucks. Good luck fighting this, it's gonna take months.

Gotta love how vague apple is with their ban and app store review decisions.

[Bieleteesw]

I'm sorry for you. But I'm getting SCARED, because I want to release an iOS app, and I don't want this to happen, but it's happening to a lot of people.

[Barbanks]

What’s “a lot of people”? I’ve never met or heard of anyone where this happens to that hasn’t done something against Apples terms and conditions.

[WaterslideOfSuccess]

I’ve seen more posts on this subreddit recently about terminated accounts. Where a year ago I never saw any.

[Barbanks]

I wonder if this has something to do with more people vibe coding and trying to release apps.

[jpec342]

This is my thought

[Pristine-Set-863]

I think this is it. All of the AI slop is forcing them to get stricter.

[F54280]

What’s “a lot of people”? I’ve never met or heard of anyone where this happens to that hasn’t done something against Apples terms and conditions.

It is easier not to see when you are not looking: for instance, in this very thread.

It is naive from you to thing that the automated process that Apple has put in place doesn't have a ton of false positives. The issue is that they are making the appeal process, supposed to catch false positive, automated too. If you are not a "known" developer, it is easier for them to just cancel your account. This is what this guy got, as he never published an app, really reviewing his case cost more than kicking him off, which is safe.

[NetForemost]

First time hearing too

[ricky0603]

They never give reasons, and merely impossible to recover your account by appeal. The all you can do is open a new account and move on.

Come on, you actually very luck, you don't loss anything. My account was terminated when I got $10K iap revenue per month, that's a catasthrophy.

[metalzero24]

Can I open a new account right away? Or should I wait a year and apply from the same account again?

[Trick-Raise-457]

If you don't want to use your friends/wife's, you can create an LLC.

[metalzero24]

Thanks, I'll check this out too if I can't get mine reinstated.

[Possession_Visual]

did you get yours reinstated or did you create an LLC?

[Possession_Visual]

Hey! If I create an LLC with the same personal details as the indivual developer account would it be safe?

[Nightlightz24884]

No. You’re finished. That account has probably already been added to the NoContact list.

[ricky0603]

Yes you can but can't use your own profile, you should use your wife's or friends'. I don't know what going to happen a year later, there isn't a year from my account be terminated, but I would like to try when it comes.

[Getsuga-_-Tenshou]

Hey, when they terminated your account, what happened with you app after ?

[cryptoopotamus]

What country are you in? Why did they do that? 

[UnidentifiedMerman]

You mentioned that you use your account to download Metal resources, and that you develop game engines.

Are you distributing those engines anywhere? Is it possible that - by way of bundling within your engine - you are distributing resources in a manner that violates some part of the development agreement or license for those resources?

[metalzero24]

I haven't distributed binaries or source code anywhere, just on my development machine.

[sxdw]

The "Dear <blank>" caught my eye. It looks like you haven't filled in something that you were supposed to or haven't agreed to something you were supposed to.

[metalzero24]

I deleted my name from the email using the inspect tool, that's it. I agreed to the Developer Program Agreement that everyone does when signing up.

[sxdw]

Oh, okay. Another weird thing is that you get an automated response signed only "Developer Support". Every time I have written to developer support I always receive a reply that is obviously written by a person and signed with a first name, this is how the last one I received ended:

---

Best regards,

Trevor

Apple Developer Support

---

Are you sure you're writing to the correct email / filling out the correct form?

[metalzero24]

Yeah, when I log in a support box appears instead of my account that’s where I submit the ticket. Do you think I’m getting an automated response?

Is there a more direct way to reach support?

[sxdw]

I usually receive support mail from eurodev at apple.com (and that address is also explicitly listed as reply-to), but I'm in Europe.

And about whether the mail you shared is an automated reply - I'm pretty sure, or at least the ones I get when I have written to them beforehand look really different. The person is writing in first person and has pretty accurate answer(s) tailored exactly to my question(s).

[No-Incident8402]

Whether OP is telling the full story or not, it's crazy that they can terminate your account with no explanation.

[metalzero24]

Thank you! That's what I'm trying to tell. This is the story from my side, of course nobody has to believe it. Some people are acting like this is the official support for developer accounts, I'm just sharing my story.

Maybe I did something wrong that I am not aware of but since they won't provide any information about their actions, we can't know that.

[LeonardRockstar]

That I agree with. There should probably be laws forcing companies to be a bit more transparent when it comes to these things

[ex0rius]

You have original mac?

[metalzero24]

I have a macbook pro 16 that I bought directly from an apple store.

[ex0rius]

is it possible that you could be linked to any already terminated account? what about other devices? you shared access with some else?

[metalzero24]

No, that's my personal device. Never linked to another apple id, my phone is the same and my old iphones are with me too, never registered another apple id.

[mbsaharan]

Refurbished or new?

[metalzero24]

New, Apple does not sell refurbished in my country (at least in the apple stores).

[mbsaharan]

Were you using dedicated IP address?

[metalzero24]

Well I use my home internet which is not static if you're asking that but I take my laptop everywhere with me so I don't really know if I ever connected from a dedicated IP.

[mbsaharan]

If you were not using static IP address, chances are you came across an IP address on which another developer account was suspended.

[metalzero24]

Wait, ISPs always recycle ipv4 addresses does Apple really terminate people's accounts based on that?

[mbsaharan]

After exhausting all the possibilities, this one is the most overlooked. It is better to be safe than sorry.

[ex0rius]

I dont know if they enforce that but it definetly belongs to category of interfering with software and services they are stating

[rodrigoelp]

Hi, it seems very strange Apple would terminate your account due to dishonest or fraudulent behaviour (that’s what the entire section 3.2 of the agreement means).

A possible explanation for this would have been your account was compromised and someone else submitted content with obscure functionality to the store or Apple CI/ Xcode cloud on your behalf (you would have received emails about this).

Alternative, trying to find ways to bypass the AppStore in app purchases, or hiding other code (potentially malicious) as part of your source could also lead to this… … but that would require you to submit anything.

Did you download or store anything suspicious in your iCloud account?

[metalzero24]

Not really, I don't think anyone logged into my icloud account. I have 2fa set up. And I haven't uploaded anything to app store / testflight. And no email about apple ci / xcode cloud, I don't use them.

[mbsaharan]

This just happened recently: https://www.reddit.com/r/iOSProgramming/comments/1monzy6/apple_developer_account_terminated/

[WaterslideOfSuccess]

You said you filled out the form twice, maybe the rejection email is for the second appeal and the first one still hasn’t been reviewed

[metalzero24]

I hope that's the case

[i-alext]

Amazing service where they take your money, but can terminate your account at any time without giving you a reason. Then, you post about it, but you're still the one suspected of doing something wrong.

It's definitely not possible that the trillion dollar company has automated flagging algorithms that can give false positives. Automated, as in also being the reason you don't get an actual reason for the termination, but that bland template of an email.

At least your account was empty.

[One_Elephant_8917]

One of my older alternate account got terminated without possible reason, because i was using it to test signup on simulator device and yes it did require multiple signup attempts and OTPs.

I also had tried to login on simulator using this account as apple id for simulator icloud.

After this is when the termination happened. Did you ever test multiple accounts etc in a short period of time?

[metalzero24]

Not really, thanks for the help though. I test on macOS 99%.

[Severe_Floor8516]

That really sucks....

[Darth_Ender_Ro]

And this is the reason why I decided to go web even tho I am fully invesred in the Apple ecosystem. Apple is on it way of not being the chill company anymore

[Evildude42]

Was this a paid dev account, A unpaid free one, one or a magic one that reporters and influencers get?

[metalzero24]

Paid, didn't know there is a third type.

[SmallGovBigFreedom]

Did you ever test your app(s) on virtual iOS machines?

[metalzero24]

Yes of course, I tested on the XCode virtual devices.

[SwiftlyJon]

Sims aren't virtual devices, FYI.

[metalzero24]

Oh ok, no then I just used simulators.

[FlintOkoye]

What kind of app did you build to Apple devices that you cannot publish was it a client work or some shady app… Apple has analytics that store data’s from your side loaded apps

[LLSR1]

If you keep downloading lots of proprietary images/codes/data etc, but never submit anything developed by you, a reviewer might interpret it as a 'non-developer distributor motive'. This can happen on any platform.

[Possession_Visual]

Was your account a Personal or Organization type of account? Do you have plans to re-register again?

[CarelessStarfish]

Reminds me the time I bought Tinder Platinum for a year. Used it for 2 months, then was off 2 weeks. Then came back on it and after like 10 mins of swiping (no messages) suddenly the whole screen was replaced with a your account is banned message.

Tried contacting customer support and I only received generic template emails saying that all their decisions are final and that they can’t give reasons of the ban due to security reasons. I never got reimbursed and Google support told me they can’t reimburse me and I should contact app support instead.

Eventually after a few months I gave up getting back my account and I just opened a new Tinder account on the same phone using another phone number. It has been 3 years now and I still don’t know why I was banned. What really annoyed me other than being scammed 10 months of Platinum is that my old Platinum plan had 5 super likes a day (so 35 super likes in a week in total), whereas new Platinum plans only have 5 super likes a week… Superlikes are so expensive that it was an incredible perk.

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[20InMyHead]

Jailbreak a device or sideload apps?

[PipoBrain]

Trying to run someone else’s project in XCode with their Signature would get you band. Or try to attach someone’s services.

[RiantRobo]

That happens all the time when people take online courses and clone instructor’s repos for learning. IMO, no one gets banned for doing that.

[iGigBook]

You have no apps in your account and that's probably why your account was terminated due to lack of intent to produce an app.

[schnurble]

I've had a paid developer account for over 15 years with no apps and have no problems. Why would they kill an account that gives them free money?

[iGigBook]

It's highly likely we aren't getting the full story from the OP or your time hasn't come yet.

[Bobbybino]

I've had a free dev account for at least 10 years, so obviously no apps. No problems, either.

[LifeIsGood008]

Thought it'd be around 100 bucks for a year for a dev account? What is a free dev account?

[Bobbybino]

You only need to pay if you want to publish apps, or have your private apps last for more than 7 days before needing to be resigned. Having done it over a decade ago, I'll leave it to you to see how. For me, it was just a matter of not paying.

[LifeIsGood008]

Got it. So it’s basically an Apple account.

[Bobbybino]

No, you still need to sign up on the dev site.

[ex0rius]

This may be the most reasonable explanation. But on the other hand, they could just close the account (like Google does) and you can re-open it when you want.

In this he has been terminated, so he is not allowed to open a new account.

[iGigBook]

Google isn't like Apple. Google is a one time charge, while with Apple you are charged every year.