‘Indie Developer Simulator’ Makes My Apple Developer Relations Heart Ache Dark _ □ ✕
  • Posts
  • About
  • Debug
Post

‘Indie Developer Simulator’ Makes My Apple Developer Relations Heart Ache

Published
2026-09-07 00:10 UTC (precision: second)
Author
Jason Anthony Guy
Source feed
JAG’s Workshop [exclude this blog]
Link
https://indiesimulator.com/
Length
977 runes
Extracted text
Indie Developer Simulator: You have $99 and a dream. Your goal: publish an iOS app. The dream is negotiable. From the HTML source file: Get rejected. Get reviewed. Get sherlocked. You don’t need to be an Apple developer to “get” this, but if you are, steel yourself. This “simulation” hit me viscerally. Absolutely gutted. Yes, I laugh-cried my way through it, but the entire experience made me cringe in painful recognition. Years of helping developers fight past these types of rejections came flooding back instantly. No word on who created this, but they’re clearly a veteran of the Apple developer community and are deeply damaged from too many interactions with Apple. To my friends in Developer Relations and the App Store: You’ll be tempted to dismiss this as mere hyperbolic satire, but it reflects reality—and developer sentiment—more than many of you will care to admit. Play it—cringe deeply—and then get on Slack, build a tiger team, and get to work fixing things.
Stored topics

Every stored assignment is listed, including rows below the current cutoff (0.75), so a missing tag can be explained.

Concept Code Score Meter Margin Origin Path
economy, business and finance economy-business-and-finance 0.99 4.38 ↑derived from 20000225 economy, business and finance
products and services products-and-services 0.99 4.38 ↑derived from 20000225 economy, business and finance > products and services
computing and information technology computing-and-information-technology 0.99 4.38 direct economy, business and finance > products and services > computing and information technology
science and technology science-and-technology 0.98 4.16 direct science and technology
technology and engineering technology-and-engineering 0.98 3.97 direct science and technology > technology and engineering
information technology and computer science information-technology-and-computer 0.98 3.85 direct science and technology > technology and engineering > information technology and computer science
lifestyle and leisure lifestyle-and-leisure 0.97 3.46 ↑derived from 20000548 lifestyle and leisure
leisure leisure 0.97 3.46 ↑derived from 20000548 lifestyle and leisure > leisure
game game 0.97 3.46 ↑derived from 20000548 lifestyle and leisure > leisure > game
video game video-game 0.97 3.46 direct lifestyle and leisure > leisure > game > video game
software and applications software-and-applications 0.96 3.09 direct economy, business and finance > products and services > computing and information technology > software and applications
Software development software-development 0.95 2.88 direct economy, business and finance > products and services > computing and information technology > software and applications > Software development
Open source open-source 0.69 0.78 direct economy, business and finance > products and services > computing and information technology > software and applications > Open source
Information security information-security 0.42 -0.32 direct science and technology > technology and engineering > information technology and computer science > Information security
media and entertainment industry media-and-entertainment-industry 0.19 -1.46 ↑derived from 20000307 economy, business and finance > products and services > media and entertainment industry
film industry film-industry 0.19 -1.46 direct economy, business and finance > products and services > media and entertainment industry > film industry
artificial intelligence artificial-intelligence 0.15 -1.71 direct science and technology > technology and engineering > information technology and computer science > artificial intelligence
arts, culture, entertainment and media arts-culture-entertainment-and-media 0.12 -2.02 ↑derived from 20000003 arts, culture, entertainment and media
arts and entertainment arts-and-entertainment 0.12 -2.02 ↑derived from 20000003 arts, culture, entertainment and media > arts and entertainment
animation animation 0.12 -2.02 direct arts, culture, entertainment and media > arts and entertainment > animation
mass media mass-media 0.11 -2.13 ↑derived from 20000051 arts, culture, entertainment and media > mass media
television television 0.11 -2.13 direct arts, culture, entertainment and media > mass media > television
health health 0.10 -2.15 direct health
hobby hobby 0.09 -2.27 direct lifestyle and leisure > leisure > hobby
social media social-media 0.07 -2.59 direct arts, culture, entertainment and media > mass media > social media
disease and condition disease-and-condition 0.07 -2.66 ↑derived from 20000458 health > disease and condition
mental health and disorder mental-health-and-disorder 0.07 -2.66 direct health > disease and condition > mental health and disorder
human interest human-interest 0.06 -2.69 direct human interest
Blogging blogging 0.06 -2.83 direct arts, culture, entertainment and media > mass media > social media > Blogging
sport sport 0.05 -2.97 ↑derived from 20001183 sport
competition discipline competition-discipline 0.05 -2.97 ↑derived from 20001183 sport > competition discipline
eSports esports 0.05 -2.97 direct sport > competition discipline > eSports
books and publishing books-and-publishing 0.04 -3.08 direct economy, business and finance > products and services > media and entertainment industry > books and publishing
MMORPG mmorpg 0.04 -3.23 direct lifestyle and leisure > leisure > game > video game > MMORPG
music music 0.04 -3.29 direct arts, culture, entertainment and media > arts and entertainment > music
labour labour 0.03 -3.39 direct labour
culture culture 0.03 -3.45 direct arts, culture, entertainment and media > culture
streaming service streaming-service 0.03 -3.54 direct economy, business and finance > products and services > media and entertainment industry > streaming service
scientific research scientific-research 0.03 -3.56 ↑derived from 20000739 science and technology > scientific research
scientific exploration scientific-exploration 0.03 -3.56 ↑derived from 20000739 science and technology > scientific research > scientific exploration
space exploration space-exploration 0.03 -3.56 direct science and technology > scientific research > scientific exploration > space exploration
health treatment and procedure health-treatment-and-procedure 0.03 -3.65 direct health > health treatment and procedure
weather weather 0.02 -3.70 direct weather
diet diet 0.02 -3.71 direct health > health treatment and procedure > diet
education education 0.02 -3.71 direct education
social sciences social-sciences 0.02 -3.80 direct science and technology > social sciences
natural science natural-science 0.02 -3.85 ↑derived from 20000719 science and technology > natural science
biology biology 0.02 -3.85 direct science and technology > natural science > biology
society society 0.02 -3.97 ↑derived from 20001300 society
fundamental rights fundamental-rights 0.02 -3.97 ↑derived from 20001300 society > fundamental rights
privacy privacy 0.02 -3.97 direct society > fundamental rights > privacy
family family 0.02 -3.99 direct society > family
Tabletop gaming tabletop-gaming 0.02 -4.05 direct lifestyle and leisure > leisure > game > Tabletop gaming
public health public-health 0.02 -4.14 direct health > public health
Self-hosting self-hosting 0.02 -4.14 direct economy, business and finance > products and services > computing and information technology > Self-hosting
card game card-game 0.01 -4.19 direct lifestyle and leisure > leisure > game > card game
crime, law and justice crime-law-and-justice 0.01 -4.21 ↑derived from 20000086 crime, law and justice
crime crime 0.01 -4.21 ↑derived from 20000086 crime, law and justice > crime
cyber crime cyber-crime 0.01 -4.21 direct crime, law and justice > crime > cyber crime
podcast podcast 0.01 -4.31 direct economy, business and finance > products and services > media and entertainment industry > podcast
literature literature 0.01 -4.34 direct arts, culture, entertainment and media > arts and entertainment > literature
history history 0.01 -4.57 direct science and technology > social sciences > history
Cryptography cryptography 0.01 -4.75 direct science and technology > technology and engineering > information technology and computer science > Cryptography
politics and government politics-and-government 0.01 -4.88 direct politics and government
environment environment 0.01 -4.93 direct environment
food and drink enthusiasm food-and-drink-enthusiasm 0.01 -4.99 direct lifestyle and leisure > leisure > hobby > food and drink enthusiasm
climate change climate-change 0.01 -5.09 direct environment > climate change
disaster, accident and emergency incident disaster-accident-and-emergency-incident 0.01 -5.18 direct disaster, accident and emergency incident
board game board-game 0.01 -5.24 direct lifestyle and leisure > leisure > game > board game
award and prize award-and-prize 0.01 -5.28 direct human interest > award and prize
visual arts visual-arts 0.00 -5.44 ↑derived from 20000036 arts, culture, entertainment and media > arts and entertainment > visual arts
photography photography 0.00 -5.44 direct arts, culture, entertainment and media > arts and entertainment > visual arts > photography
conflict, war and peace conflict-war-and-peace 0.00 -5.63 direct conflict, war and peace
travel and tourism travel-and-tourism 0.00 -5.92 direct lifestyle and leisure > leisure > travel and tourism
exercise and fitness exercise-and-fitness 0.00 -6.06 direct lifestyle and leisure > wellness > exercise and fitness
wellness wellness 0.00 -6.06 ↑derived from 20001239 lifestyle and leisure > wellness
religion religion 0.00 -6.17 direct religion
consumer goods consumer-goods 0.00 -6.20 ↑derived from 20001160 economy, business and finance > products and services > consumer goods
handicrafts handicrafts 0.00 -6.20 direct economy, business and finance > products and services > consumer goods > handicrafts
weather forecast weather-forecast 0.00 -6.82 direct weather > weather forecast
lifestyle lifestyle 0.00 -6.94 ↑derived from 20001257 lifestyle and leisure > lifestyle
house and home house-and-home 0.00 -6.94 ↑derived from 20001257 lifestyle and leisure > lifestyle > house and home
gardening gardening 0.00 -6.94 direct lifestyle and leisure > lifestyle > house and home > gardening

← Back to posts

feedtagger 0.1.0-dev model: modernbert-base-zeroshot-v2.0/int8@all-s256 2115 posts 0 unclassified min score 0.75