Guideline 2.5.2: apps that download or “execute code”
Built an ordinary app with an AI builder? This rule is about apps that fetch or run new code while they run. The 2026 reports about vibe-coding apps concerned the builder apps themselves.
Apple's words
“download, install, or execute code which introduces or changes features or functionality of the app, including other apps.”
“Don't include any hidden, dormant, or undocumented features in your app; your app's functionality should be clear to end users and App Review.”
What it means
Apps may not do the first quote above. Apps that teach coding are the exception, when the code is “completely viewable and editable by the user”.
Apple's license agreement also allows some downloaded interpreted code, as long as it keeps the app's primary purpose, leaves the phone's security in place and doesn't open a store for other apps. Guideline 4.7 covers software that isn't built into the app.
Text and pictures from an AI aren't code. Code that changes what the app does is.
9to5Mac reported in March 2026, citing The Information, that Apple had stopped updates to vibe-coding apps like Replit and Vibecode under 2.5.2. Apple told the press the problem “isn't vibe coding apps per se”. That is press coverage, not Apple policy.
Since 16 October 2026, Guideline 2.5.19 also rules out hidden or dormant features.
What caused it for us
We haven't had this rejection ourselves. This page follows Apple's current rules, checked 9 November 2026.
What to check first
- Does your app let people make apps, games or scripts and then run them inside it?
- While it is running, does the app fetch code from a server or an AI and execute it?
- Could what the app does change after approval, with no new App Store build?
- Does the build hide a feature that you plan to turn on after approval?
- Do your review notes describe every feature in the build?
Kept for the paid guide
These three parts are in the paid guide only:
- The exact App Store Connect clicks. What to add to the review notes about generated content and downloaded code before you resubmit.
- The prompt to paste into your AI builder. A prompt that has your builder find any code the app fetches or generates at run time, and say which rule covers each case.
- The reply to Apple. A reply that says what the build no longer does and what it does instead.