Dear Apple Legal and App Review Board,
I am writing in direct response to the termination notice I received today for my Apple Developer Program account. I am formally disputing this termination decision and requesting an urgent review of the complete facts of my case.
Before I address the grounds of my dispute, I want to flag one important issue. Your termination letter directed me to file a formal complaint through the Contact Us link for Platform Regulation complaints. When I attempted to use that link, I received the following error:
"You're not eligible to make this request. Complaints under a Platform Regulation must be filed by the Account Holder of a development team in the Apple Developer Program based in an applicable country or region."
I am unable to file that complaint because my account has just been terminated. This means Apple has directed me to a remedy that is now inaccessible to me as a direct result of the termination itself. I am therefore filing my formal complaint here, by direct reply to this termination notice, as it is the only channel currently available to me.
FORMAL DISPUTE OF TERMINATION DECISION
Account: "bloodysharksstudio"
Case Number: 102910844750
App ID: 6740526873
App Name: Dress Up Fashion: Styling Game
I am formally disputing this termination on the following grounds:
GROUND 1: I was penalized for following Apple's own official written advice.
On May 15, 2026, an official Apple Developer Support representative contacted me under Case Number 102888550175 and explicitly advised me to complete a thorough QA cycle before resubmitting my app. I followed this advice exactly as instructed. Just two weeks later on May 29, 2026, I received a Pending Termination Notice accusing me of attempting to evade the review process. I was formally accused of misconduct for doing precisely what Apple's own support team told me to do in writing. This correspondence is fully documented and available as evidence.
GROUND 2: I was never given a fair opportunity to present my evidence.
My appeal was limited to 2,000 characters with no ability to attach screenshots or supporting documentation. I submitted two formal appeals and corresponded with Apple Developer Support for over two months under Case Numbers 102888550175 and 102910844750. During this entire time I was never asked to provide evidence, never given the opportunity to speak with a specialist, and never told what specific documented indications of fraud had been identified against me. A termination of this severity should not be issued without giving the developer a clear opportunity to respond to specific allegations with full evidence.
GROUND 3: The fraudulent conduct allegation is inconsistent with our actual submission history.
When our original app Clothing Store Simulator was rejected, we did not resubmit the same build with minor changes. We completely rebuilt the game from scratch with an entirely new concept, new artwork, and new gameplay and resubmitted it as Dress Up Fashion: Styling Game. We have full documented evidence of every single change made across every version. A developer attempting to evade the review process does not invest significant time and resources rebuilding their entire game from scratch multiple times.
GROUND 4: No user was harmed in any way.
This app was never approved and never reached a single user. It was never published on the App Store at any point. There is no consumer harm, no user deception, and no negative impact on any third party. The termination letter cites fraudulent conduct but there is no victim and no harm of any kind resulting from our submissions.
GROUND 5: Four years of clean operation contradicts the fraudulent conduct finding.
My developer account has been active for nearly four years with 27 successfully published live applications and zero prior violations. This is the only app that has ever been flagged. This consistent four year track record is completely inconsistent with a finding of dishonest and fraudulent conduct.
GROUND 6: The termination causes severe and disproportionate harm.
As a small independent studio based in Lahore, Pakistan, this account represents the livelihood of our entire team. The removal of 27 live applications and permanent cessation of all payments is severely disproportionate to an alleged violation involving one app that never reached a single user and caused zero consumer harm.
REQUESTED REMEDY:
A full and fair review of our complete submission history and all Apple Support correspondence, including the May 15, 2026 email in which Apple's own representative advised us to resubmit
The opportunity to present our complete documented evidence to a senior decision maker before this termination is finalized
Reinstatement of our Apple Developer Program account pending a proper review of the full facts
If reinstatement is not immediately possible, a clear and specific explanation of exactly what documented indications of fraudulent conduct were identified so we can formally respond to each allegation with evidence
I have complete documentation ready to share immediately including the Apple Support correspondence from May 15, 2026, screenshots of every version of the app, changelogs documenting every change made, and our full four year submission history.
I respectfully request that this email be treated as a formal dispute and escalated to the appropriate senior team immediately.
