Apple Banned Our Astrology App: Here’s How to Get It on Your Home Screen

This is the story of how we spent a year building an astrology app our early beta testers loved – and how Apple almost killed it on launch day.

Here's a not-so-fun fact: Apple's App Store policy prohibits new astrology apps.

We learned this the hard way, months after our iOS beta app had been approved in Apple's TestFlight program, and when we already had an active, enthusiastic userbase of early paying customers. After nearly a year of training a custom AI model, application development and extensive testing, plus recruiting big name brand affiliate partners, the launch date was set, and we were ready to roll. We clicked submit, anxiously awaiting our iOS listing to go live in the App Store.

Instead, we got a notice from Apple with a rejection, citing reason "4.3b: Spam."

We raged. We wept. (Literal rage tears.) We panicked. We appealed. We called everyone we knew at Apple. We tried to reason. Beg. Plead. It was all in vain.

As two female founders with highly technical backgrounds and over two decades of founding and running AI companies between us, we are used to facing David-and-Goliath level discrimination in our industry. And unfortunately, tackling a controversial, highly misunderstood and oft maligned vertical like astrology has only made it easier for people to dismiss us. But even after years of uphill battles fighting to be taken seriously in Silicon Valley, we were not prepared to be rejected by Apple for an app our customers confirm is "a unique, high-quality experience."

But before we spill more ink on why Apple's policy is so wildly unfair, let's first address what we decided to do about this gross injustice. After a rejected formal appeal and an Apple Employee with strong hall monitor vibes who suggested we'd get approved if we removed astrology from the app(!), we decided: Screw Apple.

We're publishing a web app.

For those unfamiliar, a web app runs on your phone inside a browser and functions exactly like a downloadable app, but it requires no installation. It's a robust and secure technology, but since Apple and Google have such a tight monopoly on our phones – and what runs on them via their respective app stores – most people don't know web apps exist. When in fact, many of today's biggest names, including Instagram and Pinterest, originally launched as web apps to build their communities. So, for our incredible community who has been diligently making do by bookmarking our website, we want you to know (a) we so appreciate you, and (b) you can save our web app to your home screen just like a native app!

Here's how:

1) On your phone, open your favorite browser and go to: app.textceleste.com

2) On an iPhone: Tap the share icon at the bottom of the screen
On an Android: Click the three vertical dots in the upper right

3) Expand the menu and scroll until you see "Add to Home Screen"

4) On an iPhone: Click Add in the upper right hand corner of the Screen
On an Android: Click Install

5) Et voilà! Check your home screen and the app should be there, sitting pretty with all the rest of your native apps Apple arbitrarily deemed worthy ;)

Thank you for supporting us in fighting the good fight against the Tech Overlord Powers That Be, who do not want founders that look like us or apps that don't fit their worldview to succeed. With that said, we do plan to continue trying to publish to both Android and iOS app stores; not just because it's better for our business, but because being a founder means toiling tirelessly on a problematic world until you change it. Nonetheless, we'd love to one day see a business school case study about our Little Web App That Could (or How We Saved Millions Avoiding Apple App Store Fees)!

And now, if you've successfully installed Celeste, please feel free to exit this chat and go discuss your astrology. However, if you're keen to learn more about why Apple's policy is – to be just a little bit dramatic – fully evil, do read on:

• Arbitrary Enforcement: The policy is a lottery. Apple's reviewers—both bot and human—capriciously reject quality apps while allowing low-effort "garbage," including plenty of new astrology apps, to flood the store.
• Blocks Competition: Apple declares popular categories "full" – including online dating, a clearly broken sector begging for re-invention – thus shielding older apps from new, innovative competitors. This is, frankly, anti-American!
• Vague & Useless Feedback: Rejection notices are generic and unhelpful, forcing developers to guess what to fix. It took us months to understand why, and Apple doesn't warn developers – who pay to be in their program – in advance, wasting potentially years and millions of development dollars.
• "Guilty Until Proven Innocent": A single rejection flags your account, making all future approvals nearly impossible. We are now on an astrology watch list, that kind of feels like being accused of witchcraft back in Salem.
• Users Don't Decide: It prevents a free market where the best apps win. Instead, Apple picks the winners for you, leaving people with the impression that astrology is little more than the snark offered by incumbent apps venture capitalists backed—which is a loss for both consumers and the entire industry.

So, if you believe in a fair app store, please share this post, or better yet, share our web app with anyone in your life who loves astrology, or a good underdog story.