According to AppleInsider, the Mac app subscription service Setapp rejected a developer’s application to join its platform for a single, glaring reason: the app doesn’t incorporate artificial intelligence. The app in question, AppHub, is a $4.99 utility that faithfully recreates Apple’s now-removed Launchpad feature for macOS 26 Tahoe. Developer Bohdan had already been blocked from the Mac App Store by an Apple rule against duplicating system software aesthetics, making Setapp a logical alternative. A survey from December 2024 highlights the trend, showing 40% of Mac developers felt AI had the biggest impact on their work, up from 31% in 2023, and 60% were actively working on or had implemented AI features. Setapp’s response, while calling AppHub a “great productivity tool,” stated their current priority is expanding apps for their “AI+ collection,” effectively sidelining non-AI tools.
The AI Checkbox Problem
Here’s the thing: AppHub is, by all accounts, a well-executed tool that does its specific job very well. It doesn’t need AI. Apple’s original Launchpad didn’t have AI. Its replacement in macOS Tahoe doesn’t have AI. So why is its absence now a deal-breaker for distribution? This is a perfect example of the “AI checkbox” phenomenon that’s sweeping the software industry. Developers are being incentivized—or in this case, forced—to consider bolting on AI features not because they improve the core functionality, but because it’s become a marketing and distribution prerequisite. It’s innovation theater. The fear of being left behind or missing out on crucial platforms like Setapp creates a perverse pressure to add complexity where none is needed.
Who Loses in This Gold Rush?
So who gets hurt when platforms get tunnel vision for AI? First, developers like Bohdan, who build focused, efficient tools. They’re faced with a lousy choice: spend time and resources grafting on an irrelevant AI feature just to check a box, or accept that major distribution channels are closed to them. Second, and more importantly, users lose. We get bloated apps where simple functions are hidden behind “smart” assistants, or we miss out on elegant, single-purpose software altogether because it can’t get past a gatekeeper’s AI mandate. The market starts to look homogeneous—a sea of apps all shouting about their AI, while the quiet, useful utilities fade away. Is that really progress?
The Broader Tech Trend
This isn’t just about one app or one platform. It’s a symptom of a hype cycle where the technology itself becomes the point, rather than the problem it solves. We saw it with “blockchain for everything” and the “metaverse.” Now it’s AI’s turn. Don’t get me wrong—AI is a transformative technology with incredible potential in the right contexts. But insisting it must be in everything is a surefire way to dilute its real value and create a lot of garbage. It also distracts from the core principles of good software: reliability, usability, and doing one job excellently. AppHub seems to have nailed that. And it was still deemed not worthy.
A Matter of Priorities
Look, Setapp is within its rights to curate its collection however it wants. Building an AI-focused bundle makes business sense right now. But completely shutting out non-AI apps is a short-sighted strategy that ultimately weakens their value proposition for subscribers. A healthy software ecosystem needs variety. It needs the simple hammer and the power drill. By forcing every tool to be a power drill, you just end up with a lot of poorly hammered nails. The hope is that as the AI frenzy matures, platforms will remember that utility, not buzzwords, is what users actually pay for. Until then, developers of clean, focused software might just have to find their audience the old-fashioned way.
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