The Apple App store is seeing an unexpected phenomenon. Is vibe coding behind it?

What’s behind a new wave of apps in the Apple App store? It’s probably two words: vibe coding.

Apple’s App Store was flooded with 235,800 new apps in the first quarter of this year—an increase of 84% over the same time last year, according to new data published by The Information—after steady declines of 48% from 2016 to 2024.

That builds on a trend from last year, in which developers created a whopping 600,000 new apps, leaving people wondering what is behind the big push.

It turns out—perhaps not surprisingly, with artificial intelligence tools making it easier to create an app more quickly—that there’s more apps flooding into Apple’s App store.

What’s this have to do with vibe coding?

“Vibe coding” is using generative artificial intelligence to write code, which is how developers write computer programs.

Andrej Karpathy, co-founder of OpenAI, coined the term last February, explaining on X, “there’s a new kind of coding I call ‘vibe coding’, where you fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists. It’s possible because the LLMs (e.g. Cursor Composer w Sonnet) are getting too good.” Today, Anthropic’s Claude Code is an industry favorite for creating vibe coded apps.

However, that doesn’t mean Apple is welcoming all vibe coding apps into its store. Citing security concerns, Apple has been cracking down on AI apps, even blocking Replit. And it’s removed Anything, an AI-app builder that says it will “turn your words into mobile apps, sites, tools, and products—built with code,” which was pulled from the App Store on March 30, returned on April 3, and is gone again today, according to Apple Insider.

The apps still have to go through Apple’s review process, where it screens for malware, privacy violations and apps that access sensitive data like your camera, contacts, or location without permission—one reason consumers trust Apple and the iPhone, according to CNBC.

Apple tells Fast Company that while it is excited to see developers joining the program, submitting new apps, and delivering performance and bug updates faster than ever before, it does have guidelines clearly outlined in App Review Guideline 2.5.2, which state:

“Apps should be self-contained in their bundles, and may not read or write data outside the designated container area, nor may they download, install, or execute code which introduces or changes features or functionality of the app, including other apps. Educational apps designed to teach, develop, or allow students to test executable code may, in limited circumstances, download code provided that such code is not used for other purposes. Such apps must make the source code provided by the app completely viewable and editable by the user.” 

On average, Apple tells Fast Company its App Review team consistently processes 90% of app submissions within 48 hours, and over the last 12 weeks alone, the team has processed over 200,000 app submissions a week, while maintaining an average review time of 1.5 days.

View the full article