Published August 10, 2026
I'm about to lose my entire income & app business because of Apple.
I'm posting this because I'm desperate. Please share this. It can happen to any developer.
TL;DR: I complied with every request. Sent every document on time. I did nothing wrong. Apple blocked my developer account and won't let me renew it.
If this isn't resolved in <14 days, all my apps get removed from the App Store. I lose my entire source of income.
Apple says I cannot renew my membership or take any other action while my account is under review.
I enrolled in the Apple Developer Program in August 2025. Since then, I slowly built a portfolio of apps, learned about ASO, and figured out how to grow them.
Prior to this, I’ve been freelancing as a full-stack developer for 2 years. Worked with several startups, individuals, and agencies. We managed to achieve some great results.
With the App Store, I did everything by the book as well. Never used shady or bannable tactics. I wanted to be in it for the long game, avoid growth hacks for quick results.
By mid-2026, they were generating revenue so I quit freelancing to focus on apps full-time.
Everything was going well, until Apple broke my account.1. Apple requests additional documents
On June 30, 2026, Apple emailed me requesting additional information to verify my identity and address.
Apple requests identity and address documents to verify my Developer Program membership.
I submitted everything through their portal the same day: my ID, bank statements, company incorporation information, etc. Around 4-5 documents in total.
On July 1, Apple emailed me confirming that it had received my documents and would respond within two business days.
Apple confirms receiving my documents and promises a response within two business days.
Great. I thought nothing of it and continued working.
2. My paid developer team disappears
2 weeks later, I was working on a big app update. When I tried to build and submit to TestFlight, I got the error below.
The EAS submission fails because Apple says my account has no associated team.
I checked Apple's status page, X, dev forums. There was no ASC outage.
I tried again the next day. Same error.
My apps were still live on ASC, but Xcode and the "Identifiers" page says I'm not associated with any team.
ASC cannot find my paid developer team
My membership was active until August 24, 2026. On the Apple Developer website, it showed me an option to enroll.
When I clicked, I get an error again. Apple considered me both enrolled and not enrolled at the same time. (????)
Apple blocks enrollment because my account is already the Account Holder of a membership.
3. Apple says it never received my documents
I opened a Developer Support ticket. 4 days passed with no response. So, I waited 2.5 hours to get on the phone with an Apple advisor.
The advisor was nice and understood the problem. But then he said that Apple never received my documents.
I explain that I did send them, and have an email from them as proof.
The advisor sends me another upload link. I submit everything again + a screenshot of their own confirmation email.
My case was escalated to the Operations team. He said the review would take "an undetermined amount of time."
Developer Support escalates my case with no timeframe for the review.
I assumed it would take a few days. Maybe a week? The problem was clearly on their side, and I had proof.
I was wrong.4. Apple stops responding
A week passed without an update. I sent a follow-up email. FIVE more days passed without a response.
Remember that during this entire time, I'm not able to submit new apps, app updates, or do anything.
I sent another email, saying my membership expires soon and I can't renew it.
Eventually, another advisor responds saying the previous one was out of the office. Maybe he went on vacation? Can't blame him. I'm starting to get desperate, though.
The new response was the same template:
My case was with the Operations team. Nothing else could be done. The review would take "an undetermined amount of time."
They ignored my questions about my membership.
5. Apple tells me my apps will be removed
I see a warning in App Store Connect:
My membership expires on August 24. If I don't renew it by then, my apps become unavailable on the App Store.
App Store Connect warns that my membership expires on August 24, 2026.
They gave me no way out of this.
6. I contacted Apple again
I explained that my entire business and source of income depends on these apps.
I asked for ANY solution: extend the membership temporarily, allow me to renew it, or protect my existing apps while they finish reviewing the documents.
I remind them that:
- I submitted every document on time.
- Apple confirmed getting those documents.
- Apple never told me anything was missing or rejected.
- My account was disabled while Apple is reviewing the documents.
- My entire livelihood now depends on Apple fixing its own error before August 24.
Their response:
Apple can't do anything while your documents are under review. And again the sentence that still haunts me "This may take an undetermined amount of time."
7. We are here, 14 days left
Today is August 10. My case has been “escalated” for 3 weeks.
I sent the documents twice. I called, emailed, followed up, provided proof, and asked for every possible alternative.
Apple refuses to give me a deadline or renew my membership.
Apple refuses to do anything about it.
In 14 days, my membership expires. My income disappears.The business I spent the last year building is destroyed. Not because I broke the ToS or missed any deadlines.
But because Apple cannot review a few PDFs before its own system turns off my business.I'm struggling to enjoy my life. I keep thinking about the phrase "an undetermined amount of time". A few more weeks? Months? Years?
I genuinely don't know what else to do. Thank you if you read this far.
Please share this post, if you can. It might reach someone who can help.I hope that you succeed with your own business and never get into a situation like this! :)
- Constantin