- Report claims Apple is working to allow AI agents on its App Store
- This is a sudden change from Apple’s most recent initiatives in AI applications.
- Apple previously removed mood-coding AI apps from the App Store
In March, news broke that several mood coding apps — which let you create an app by typing in a few natural language prompts — had been removed from the App Store. Even though Apple said it wasn’t specifically targeting this type of artificial intelligence (AI) application, the signs didn’t look good for anyone developing apps like this. And things looked even bleaker for apps using AI agents — or AI robots that perform complex tasks on your behalf — given Apple’s sensitivity to the security of its storefront.
But in a 180-degree turn, it now appears that Apple is actively working on a plan to help bring AI agents to its App Store in an official capacity. At least that’s according to a new report from The Information, which claims that Apple is looking for ways to better support apps that include AI agents. That, in turn, could lead to a radical reconfiguration of the App Store, which some analysts say could make certain app categories much less relevant as AI takes over.
At the same time, Apple’s system would be designed to maintain the App Store’s existing security and privacy standards, The Information claims. It also wants to avoid the types of “malicious agents” known to delete user data and perform other questionable tasks.
However, exactly how this would all work has not yet been clarified. The Information report does not go into detail about Apple’s plan, and simply states that Apple is “designing a system to adhere to its privacy and security standards and prevent the freer behavior that some users of agent systems such as OpenClaw have experienced, where agents can go haywire and delete all of a user’s emails.”
However, even without exact details, it’s clear from reading the room that Apple knows something has to give.
Creation of the “agent store”
Why this sudden about-face from Apple? It’s not clear, but what is evident is that applications are incorporating more and more AI capabilities, and this shows no signs of slowing down. It’s likely that Apple feels it needs to adapt to the new status quo before getting left behind.
Additionally, Apple itself is diving headfirst into the world of AI. Its Apple Intelligence system is set to get a major update at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, with AI-based upgrades for Siri finally arriving in iOS 27 two years after they were first announced.
And Apple has added ambient coding powers to its own apps like Xcode, so it’s unlikely the company will be able to take a skeptical view of similar products from other developers for long.
Recent reports have indicated that Apple’s App Store review team has been overwhelmed by a deluge of ambiance-coded apps, as leveraging machine learning bots to write code has dramatically reduced the time it takes to build, test, and deploy an app. If Apple does take steps to support AI-based apps on its platforms, it remains to be seen how the review team will fare if the influx of new apps is here to stay.
The signs suggest this is likely to continue. According to Sophia Velastegui, a developer who previously worked on AI at Microsoft and platform architecture at Apple, “there will be literally millions of agents.” Although it could be overwhelming, Velastegui believes this is a great opportunity for Apple’s App Store to become “the agent’s store.”
With WWDC just around the corner, we might soon get an explanation from Apple about what it plans to do with AI applications in the future, both those on its own slate and those created by third-party developers. But all indications are that Apple knows it must adapt to the new normal – and allowing AI agent products on its App Store is just the latest sign that this is the case.
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