Apple briefly removed the popular calorie-counting app Cal AI from the App Store last week. The episode offers a clear message to developers everywhere, according to a new report: The company is still very much in charge of how apps handle payments — even in the wake of a landmark court ruling that loosened some of its long-standing rules.
Why App Store pulled Cal AI app
Cal AI, the viral food-logging app acquired by MyFitnessPal in March, was pulled from the App Store for multiple violations of Apple’s guidelines, TechCrunch reported. According to Apple, the app bypassed Apple’s own in-app purchase (IAP) system entirely, replacing it with an embedded payment flow powered by Stripe to unlock access to premium features. Under Apple’s current App Store guidelines — shaped in part by the Epic Games v. Apple court ruling — U.S. developers are permitted to link out to external payment options. But they must still offer Apple’s in-app purchase as a choice alongside any third-party alternative. Cal AI had removed that option altogether, a direct violation.
The removal made waves on social media, with some observers initially assuming Apple was simply punishing the app for using web payments — something that is now, in fact, allowed. The reality was more nuanced, Apple said.
A pattern of rule-breaking
Beyond the payment bypass, Apple cited two further violations. The first was deceptive billing design, a breach of guidelines. Cal AI’s paywall displayed a lower weekly price more prominently than the actual amount users would be charged. And a toggle for a free trial obscured key information about automatic subscription renewal.
The second issue concerned what Apple described as manipulative tactics. When a user declined the initial subscription offer, the app served up a second, different purchase flow in an attempt to convert them. Apple noted that the app had also accumulated a significant number of negative user reviews specifically calling out its confusing payment presentation. These behaviors violated a Developer Code of Conduct guideline.
Back in the store — but with a warning attached
Photo: App Store
After addressing all three sets of violations, Cal AI was reinstated to the App Store. The app currently sits at number five on the Health & Fitness charts, suggesting the disruption did little lasting damage to its popularity.
MyFitnessPal and Cal AI did not respond to TechCrunch‘s requests for comment.
What this means for App Store users
For iPhone and iPad users, the episode is a reminder that Apple’s review process continues to act as a check on the kind of billing tricks that have frustrated app subscribers for years — hidden renewal terms, misleading pricing displays and pressure tactics designed to wear down a “no.”
Those practices sit squarely against Apple’s rules. And this case shows the company is willing to enforce them against even high-profile, fast-growing apps.
The bigger picture for developers
The timing matters. Ever since the Epic Games ruling compelled Apple to allow links to external payment systems in the U.S., there has been speculation about how aggressively Apple would police the boundaries of that new freedom. This crackdown suggests the answer is: very aggressively.
Developers who assumed the Epic ruling had created broader wiggle room may want to revisit their payment implementations. Apple appears willing to remove even a chart-topping app to make the point.
David Snow, an expert on Apple hardware and software, writes on a variety of technological and cultural topics for Cult of Mac. They include Apple news, technology buying guides, and features about computer setups and Apple TV shows and movies.
With 30 years of experience covering technology and other subjects, he has written and edited for numerous print and online publications, including CMP Media, TechTV.com, CNET, Wired News, Red Herring magazine, Law.com, The National Law Journal and Law Technology News magazine. Among other roles, he served as executive editor of the Law.com network of websites and editorial director, technology, for ALM Media.
Snow graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse University with majors in magazine journalism and psychology. While there, he worked as a reporter for The Daily Orange newspaper and associate editor of Equal Time magazine.
Founder of the blog At the Waterline, he can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) via @atthewaterline and on Mastodon via @dsnow.
