John Gruber retracts App Store critique after misrepresenting Godier's astrology app
Daring Fireball's founder retracted a high-profile post criticizing Apple's App Store rejection after discovering the rejected app was actually an astrology app, not astronomy.
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Summary, timeline and people extracted by Claude from 9 items across 1 source · 10h ago. Quotes are verbatim.
John Gruber published a critical post on August 7 about Apple's App Store rejecting developer Terry Godier's "Dark Hours" astronomy app, claiming the rejection was unjustified. On August 8, Gruber discovered that Godier had misrepresented the app: it was originally called "Asterly," was entirely dedicated to astrology, and included a "Tarot card of the day" feature. Gruber fully retracted the post, marking his first retraction in 24 years, acknowledging he had been misled.
- Gruber's retraction marks his first in 24 years of publishing Daring Fireball, signaling the gravity of the error.
- The rejected app was an astrology app named 'Asterly' with tarot features, not an astronomy app, making Apple's rejection justified.
- Godier misrepresented his app both in public posts and private communication with Gruber, then updated his blog after being contacted by App Store review.
- The incident highlights the gatekeeping dynamics of app stores and how trusted voices can amplify misleading narratives without verification.
How it unfolded
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Report Gruber publishes full retraction
Gruber retracts the entire post, calling it his first retraction in 24 years and apologizing for being misled both overtly and through omissions.
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Reaction Gruber discovers the deception
Gruber realizes the app originally submitted under the name "Asterly" was entirely dedicated to astrology and included a "Tarot card of the day" feature, making Apple's rejection correct.
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Event Godier updates blog post
Godier edited his original post, replacing his complaint with a note that the app "began as an astrology app" and was rejected, and that App Store review had clarified they never received the updated build.
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Event Godier publishes App Store critique
Terry Godier posted "Browsers Have Standards, the App Store Has Judgment," claiming his astronomy app "Dark Hours" was wrongly rejected as astrology despite having "no tarot function, no horoscopes, and nothing that I, or anyone else I've asked, would associate with astrology."
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Report Gruber publishes critical post
Gruber published "App Store Rejection of the Week: Dark Hours" on Daring Fireball, criticizing Apple's App Store rejection as unjustified based on Godier's account.
- 18 weeks quiet
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Event Third Godier link
Gruber linked to another Godier post regarding the App Store's 5-star review system.
- 4 weeks quiet
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Event Continued coverage of Godier
Gruber linked to Godier's essay "The Last Quiet Thing" and began private iMessage correspondence with him.
- 4 weeks quiet
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Event Gruber begins following Godier's work
John Gruber first linked to Terry Godier's interactive essay "Phantom Obligation" on RSS feed reader design, which introduced Godier's new RSS reader app Current.
What people are saying verbatim
“To the best of my recollection, this is the first post I've retracted in the 24 years I've been writing Daring Fireball. I hope it's the last.”
John Gruber, Daring Fireball founder · Daring Fireball retraction post · Aug 7
“I was misled, both overtly and through omissions, in several ways, but what I publish is my responsibility, and I apologize for the error.”
John Gruber, Daring Fireball founder · Daring Fireball retraction post · Aug 7
“The truth is, the app, as originally submitted by Godier to the App Store (under the name "Asterly", not "Dark Hours"), was entirely dedicated to astrology, not astronomy, and did in fact include a "Tarot card of the day" feature amongst other occultist horseshit.”
John Gruber, Daring Fireball founder · Daring Fireball retraction post · Aug 7
“My disdain for astrology is so utter, and my esteem for Godier's previous work so high, that it simply never occurred to me that he might have actually made and submitted to the App Store an astrology app, let alone that he'd then feign surprise and frustration that an astrology app was rejected for being an astrology app.”
John Gruber, Daring Fireball founder · Mastodon · Aug 7
“It has no tarot function, no horoscopes, and nothing that I, or anyone else I've asked, would associate with astrology.”
Terry Godier, App developer · Godier's original blog post (as quoted by Gruber) · Aug 6
Voices from the web unedited
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I’ve developed iOS and Android apps, store approvals are always a crap shoot, and it’s not just approvals, it’s paperwork… sudden rejections over something that was fine months earlier and getting pointed to a document that could mean ANYTHING.I got rejected with a screenshot from an app that doesn’t have anything like the screenshot, it took me…
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It's a massive problem that mobile apps are most users favorite way to consume programs yet are one of the few forms of distribution being gatekept by two massive and opinionated companies. It feels like the slow creeping rot at the foundation of the premise (and promise) of technology and the internet.Which makes this a good time to remind…
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> But that’s not what happened at all. Godier proceeded through a series of escalations up to the App Review Board and the Review Board responded that they determined the original rejection was valid because, I shit you not, “We understand that the app includes a live tarot reading feature.”> It has no tarot function, no horoscopes, and nothing…
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In my last SRE role I was the unfortunate victim of having to maintain a mobile app submitted to both the Android and iOS app stores. I would never wish it on my worst enemy. It was the one thing that I could absolutely _not_ guarantee any sort of reliability with. It was all up to the random person who happened to review the current release and…
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I've published both iOS and visionOS apps, and my favorite rejection came from visionOS. When you click a link to open it in Safari, the system uses an existing Safari window if available. The app was rejected because the link didn’t work... the reviewer had Safari open somewhere outside their field of view. Approved on appeal :)
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This kind of thing reminds me of why I've always felt there shouldn't be a gatekeeper. Add your repos, install your apps. Folks should be allowed to have more than one repo to install apps from.
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What an insane ruling considering Co-Star is entirely an astrology app and was picked as an app store "Editor's Choice" at some point.