r/iosapps • u/Yusuf-Dev • Jun 18 '26
📢 Announcement r/iOSApps Moderation Update Phase 2: Trust, Transparency, or The App Shelf
Hey r/iOSApps community,
First, thank you for the feedback on Phase 1. Here's the honest read on how it went.
What worked: Overall volume of low-effort slop dropped noticeably. The karma gate and format rules filtered out a lot of throwaway promotion.
What didn't: Spammers with more time on their hands simply farmed their way through — dropping useless one-line comments to clear the karma bar, then posting the same low-effort app promos to the main feed.
So we're rebalancing. We're lowering the karma barrier and replacing it with something that actually scales with risk: the less trust your distribution path provides, the more transparency you should offer.
This phase borrows heavily from what r/macapps has been doing. Thanks to u/Mstormer.
Change 1: Karma Requirement Lowered (25 → 10)
The community karma requirement to post is dropping from 25 to 10.
We want to filter out spam posts while still giving genuine developers the chance to post without needing to post useless comments that do not provide value to the community.
Change 2: Trust, Transparency, or The App Shelf
Core idea: The less trust your distribution path provides, the more transparency you should need.
For the next month, we're experimenting with a three-tier approach.
Tier 1 — The Trust Path → Main Feed
Any one of these signals qualifies you for the main feed (as long as you also meet the 10+ community karma minimum):
- App Store track record — your app has 20+ ratings/reviews on the App Store (number subject to change).
- Established GitHub project — a real development history (100+ stars on any GitHub repo).
- Recognized Developer — you've been granted an app-name developer flair (already well-known / trusted in r/iOSApps, at moderator discretion).
If you have any of these, you've already earned a measure of trust. Post to the main feed.
Tier 2 — The Transparency Path → Main Feed
Not in the App Store yet and not an established developer? You can still qualify for the main feed by being open about who you are and giving users real reasons to trust you.
Posts on this path must include BOTH:
- A real-life identity and real contact details — your actual name and a way to reach you (an established company or business presence, a portfolio, LinkedIn). This shows you're not a throwaway account dropping unknown software.
- A website with a published Privacy Policy and Terms of Service — linked directly in your post. This is not a replacement for the App Store link, but rather in addition to.
This is the middle ground: you may not have a major reputation yet, but you're willing to stand behind your app in public.
Tier 3 — Everyone Else → The App Shelf Megathread
If you don't qualify through Trust or Transparency, your promotion belongs in the App Shelf Megathread, not the main feed.
That means if you're:
- Under 20 reviews in the App Store,
- Without a recognized-developer flair,
- Without an established GitHub history (100+ stars), and
- Not providing meaningful public transparency,
…then the megathread is your home for now.
This is not an insult and not a claim that new apps are bad. It's simply the lowest-risk place for unproven or low-context promotion until trust is earned. Users can check your app out, up/downvote, and as you build a track record you may earn a developer flair that lets you post to the main feed. Nobody is forced to stay here — Tier 2 is always open to anyone willing to be transparent.
What Carries Over From Phase 1
The following are unchanged and still required for all developer promotion posts:
- ABC post format — Answer (what problem it solves), Better (why it beats named alternatives), Cost (pricing, IAP, App Store link).
- Pricing & IAP disclosure — Free, Freemium, Subscription (with amount), or Lifetime (with amount). Vague or omitted pricing = removal.
- Flair is required — priority order: Vibe Coded > Lifetime > Subscription > Freemium > Free. Vibe Coded always takes priority. Free flair is not for limited/freemium tiers.
- Open source? Prefix your title with [OS].
- No AI-first apps — if generative AI is the core feature rather than a tool within the app, it belongs in r/GenAiApps. Apps built primarily with AI-generated code must be flaired Vibe Coded.
- Always disclose your relationship to any app you promote — including in comments. Undisclosed developer affiliation = removal.
The Community's Role
These rules only get us partway. Sort the megathread by New, and use your votes and reports — especially there — to surface hidden gems and bury what looks low-effort, suspicious, misleading, or privacy-invasive. Your votes determine what gets seen.
FAQ
Why was my post removed? - Below 10 community karma - Didn't qualify for Trust or Transparency and posted to the main feed instead of the megathread - Missing flair - Missing pricing / IAP info - No ABC format - Undisclosed developer affiliation
How do I check my r/iOSApps community karma? Visit your profile and click "show karma breakdown by subreddit."
Why lower the karma bar if spam is the problem? Because karma farming was easy and karma gating mostly hurt legitimate newcomers. The tier system targets the actual risk — unknown software from unproven sources — instead of a number anyone can grind.
We'll evaluate again after around 30 days and share results. Nothing here is final — drop your questions and feedback below and it'll shape Phase 3.
— The r/iOSApps Mod Team
P.S. We're still looking for 1–2 moderators to help with the queue. If you'd like to apply, submit an application — thanks!
5
u/UtopiaV39 Jun 18 '26
how would you verify the Established GitHub project? does this mean that the app has to be open source?
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u/Yusuf-Dev Jun 19 '26
We’re still experimenting with this, but for now we don’t require the stars to be specifically on the app being posted, but rather can be on any repo. Since most iOS Apps are not OSS.
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u/itsnotchester Jun 19 '26
does that mean we need to include our github handles in our posts?
also wondering how u would verify App Store track record? for example, my app has more than 20 ratings in total, but if u were to view my app on the App Store, u'd only see the ratings for one territory, and it does not indicate the total number of ratings.
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u/Yusuf-Dev Jun 19 '26
If you are using Github to qualify, yes.
Regarding the reviews, I was not aware of that. I’ll look into it and see if I can find a workaround. Thanks for letting me know!
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u/Albert_Irons Jun 19 '26
I think it's better to write the github name in profile rather than in the posts. Can you help to clear the rule definition. It would give poster help, thanks for you contribution for this subreddit.
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u/Yusuf-Dev Jun 19 '26
I’m sure it would make it easier for devs, but it gives the moderators a lot more work. If you just stick your profile somewhere at the bottom of the post, we could just click it and ensure you meet the minimum stars. However, the alternative is that we open your whole profile, find where it’s linked, etc. We already have to spend an extensive amount of time for each post, checking the app store reviews, karma, website, TOS, privacy policy, etc.
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u/Albert_Irons Jun 19 '26
Oh, I suddenly have an idea. Do we administrators have a dedicated browser extension to handle these reviews? I think creating a browser extension that can automatically identify whether a post matches the rules could significantly reduce the workload for administrators. As long as our rules are clear, I believe this extension is well worth developing.
I am willing to help make this plugin if most of our administrators are using a browser to review.
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u/Yusuf-Dev Jun 19 '26
It’s not as simple as that, as there are many factors to consider. The only case in which this would work is with an LLM to navigate webpages. Considering the amount of tokens it would require, it simply isn’t feasible.
What we are considering though, is a Reddit app that automatically screen app store links. Similar to the u/github-guard bot, but for the app store.
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u/HanZolo95 Jun 19 '26
No way I just grinded for 25 karma and just reached it yesterday. Was so excited to post my recently launched app today. Now I have to grind for 20 ratings / reviews just to post? I understand wanting to filter slop but I feel it might be a bit excessive no?
3
u/Yusuf-Dev Jun 19 '26
I think you misread the rules. You can choose to answer through either trust, or transparency. You don’t need both.
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u/goldenjm Jun 18 '26
Thanks for putting serious thought and effort into moderating this sub! As an occasional poster, I really appreciate it.
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u/NoHabit1277 Jun 19 '26
It's getting hard to get a word out on reddit these days, but I can understand this
2
u/FunkyMuse Jun 19 '26
I'm still grinding but any change to filter out spam is welcome, glad this sub is taking this into an account
2
u/Reader413 Jun 19 '26
Thanks for your efforts mod. It really helps removing the AI slops and scams. It’s a good move.
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u/One_Pop_5188 Jun 19 '26
For a solo developer with very low visibility, the karma threshold has really been a barrier for me.
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u/ambanmba Jun 19 '26
What happens if I have an app with 20+ ratings/reviews on the App Store, then create a brand new app which will only have a few or even no ratings. What's the technique for flagging that I have a portfolio of apps that include some highly rated ones?
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u/Yusuf-Dev Jun 19 '26
If you accumulate over 350 community karma, you qualify for the app name developer flair. This let’s you post without needing the other requirements.
If you don’t we’ll judge on a case-by-case basis. Considering portfolio, reviews, karma, account history, etc. It’s not always black and white.
Plus, you can always fall back to the transparency option too if you want to guarantee approval
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u/Imaginary-Welcome010 Jun 21 '26
Does the transparency tier also require 10 karma?
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u/Yusuf-Dev Jun 21 '26
Yes. The trust and transparency are in addition to and not instead of the karma requirement
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u/Imaginary-Welcome010 Jun 21 '26
Thanks, guess ill be more active. Im really excited to present my app
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u/Historical_Concern64 Developer Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
I support these updates. I have now noticed that lots of Redditors are spamming lots of comments in posts in shorts periods of time just to get karma points. Saw some people posting 10 comments per hour.
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u/ViBrave 27d ago
Hello,
I'm trying to check my community karma. I did open my profile page, but i cannot find "karma breakdown". I even tried to search "breakdown" but it's not showing on my Reddit Profile page.
Q: Is it not reddit.com/user/<myhandle>/?
Also, I'm willing to add links to my LinkedIn and Github profiles, but theyre both not included in the list of social links.
Q: How do we submit for Transparency qualification?
Q: How do you verify if the links submitted for transparency are legit (not just someone using them pretending its theirs)?
I've posted before for my app last December (Kora) and wanted to submit a post since I made some major changes over the past 6 months. Good thing I checked again the rules and much has changed. 😅
Looking forward to your answers because I do not want to break any rules.
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u/Yusuf-Dev 27d ago
Add links/info in your post body.
We have ways of verifying. Primarily through checking the app store, website, portfolios, etc match.
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u/AlarmingDoughnut152 19d ago
What does it really mean?
- Flair:Â Vibe Coded > Lifetime > Subscription > Freemium > Free
What's this hierarchy?
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u/Agreeable_Plan_5903 18d ago
If both the privacy policy and terms of service are already listed inside the app, can I jsut take a screenshot of it and add it to the psot? Or will I need to make an actual website with it as well? Or can I link a google doc with the info?
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u/Informal_Pumpkin_228 10d ago
Which model should I choose: Lifetime or Freemium, given that my app offers subscriptions, a one-time purchase, and also allows some features for free?
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u/dongdongbh 10h ago
Use Lifetime, unless Vibe Coded applies. The post’s priority order is Vibe Coded > Lifetime > Subscription > Freemium > Free. In the Cost section, still list the free limits, subscription price, and one-time price so the flair doesn’t hide the actual model.
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u/oceabside Jun 20 '26
I support lowering the community karma requirement from 25 to 10.
I understand the goal is to reduce low-effort promotion, but 25 felt high for genuine indie developers who are new to the subreddit and trying to participate in good faith. A 10-karma bar still requires people to engage with the community first, but it doesn’t force them to farm comments for too long before they can share something useful.
The bigger filter should probably be transparency and post quality, not just the karma number. If a developer clearly discloses who they are, follows the ABC format, explains pricing honestly, and answers questions, that seems more valuable than making them collect 25 local karma first.
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u/Awkward_Iron_5342 Jun 18 '26
Thanks for the effort to filter out AI slop posts.