August 7, 2026
Mercury in retrograde at App Review
App Store Rejection of the Week: Dark Hours
Apple called a space app “astrology” and the internet is absolutely losing it
TLDR: Apple rejected Dark Hours, a stargazing app, for supposedly being astrology, then reportedly made the claim even stranger by bringing up tarot. The community response was a mix of jokes, anger, and worry that only developers with viral attention can get obvious review mistakes fixed.
Apple’s latest App Store mess has the comments section doing what it does best: turning a baffling mistake into a full-blown public roast. Dark Hours, an app based on an astronomy site for everyday people, was rejected because Apple reviewers apparently decided it was about astrology. Yes, really. Not only that, after the developer pushed back, Apple’s review board reportedly doubled down and claimed the app had a live tarot reading feature—which commenters are treating like the punchline of the week.
The loudest reaction is pure disbelief. People are mocking the idea that a beautifully designed stargazing app could be confused with horoscopes and tarot cards after even a few seconds of use. One commenter summed up the real mood perfectly: in 2026, they joked, going viral on Reddit, Hacker News, and Twitter is basically what counts as customer service now. Ouch. Another pointed out that Co-Star, a very real astrology app, was once an App Store Editor’s Choice, which only made the whole thing look even more absurd.
But there’s real frustration under the memes. Some Apple fans said this seriously shook their confidence, asking how many great apps by unknown creators get buried with no public outrage to save them. Others took the fight in a different direction: if astrology apps are supposedly banned, why are astrology apps clearly still there? Meanwhile, people visiting Dark Hours kept returning with the same verdict: it looks gorgeous, it looks obviously scientific, and this rejection story sounds less like quality control and more like bureaucratic fan fiction
Key Points
- •Terry Godier’s iOS app for Dark Hours was rejected by Apple’s App Store on the grounds that it was astrology.
- •The article states that Dark Hours is an astronomy app and contains no horoscopes, tarot functions, or astrology-related features.
- •Godier escalated the rejection through Apple’s review process to the App Review Board.
- •The App Review Board reportedly upheld the rejection and said the app included a live tarot reading feature.
- •The article describes Dark Hours as a polished native iOS app and argues that the review system failed to correct an obvious error.