Apple is now rejecting Mac apps using modern versions of Electron, citing private API usage, warns developers repeated App Store submissions can lead to a ban
david.dev :
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple's rejection of Electron-based Mac apps is the earliest visible move in a multi-year tightening of App Store review around what code is allowed to touch the system. It followed the same playbook as the later wave where developers reported update rejections over third-party SDKs capable of device fingerprinting, and it preceded the 2023 requirement that developers declare their reasons for using certain APIs (Apple's required API reason submissions).
The ban threat is what makes this escalation rather than routine friction: combined with the earlier warning that Apple would remove apps not updated in a significant amount of time (the stale-app removal notice), the message to developers is that submission behavior itself — not just app content — is now policed.
First-order effects
- Developers shipping Electron-based Mac apps face blocked App Store submissions until the framework's private API usage is resolved, and anyone resubmitting without changes risks losing App Store access entirely.
Second-order effects
- Electron's maintainers are pushed toward shipping an App Store-compliant variant stripped of private API calls, while competing native Mac toolkits gain a compliance argument against web-technology wrappers.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, App Store review becomes the de facto arbiter of which cross-platform frameworks can reach macOS at all, forcing every wrapper toolkit into either per-platform compliance engineering or exit from the storefront.
The trend: App Store governance is shifting from guideline-based review toward enforced control over the frameworks and SDKs apps are built on, with fingerprinting concerns as the recurring justification.