Duolingo Used iPhone's Dynamic Island to Display Ads, Violating Apple Design Guidelines - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Duolingo Used iPhone's Dynamic Island to Display Ads, Violating Apple Design Guidelines

Language learning app Duolingo has apparently been using the iPhone's Live Activity feature to display ads on the Lock Screen and the Dynamic Island, which violates Apple's design guidelines.

duolingo ad live activity
According to multiple reports on Reddit, the Duolingo app has been displaying an ad for a "Super offer," which is Duolingo's paid subscription option.

Apple's guidelines for Live Activity state that the feature cannot be used to display ads or promotions. From Apple's developer website:

Don't use a Live Activity to display ads or promotions. Live Activities help people stay informed about ongoing events and tasks, so it's important to display only information that's related to those events and tasks.

Apps that violate Apple's interface guidelines can be pulled from the App Store.

We were not able to replicate the Live Activity ad, so it's possible that Duolingo stopped displaying it after user complaints.

Popular Stories

iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching in Two Months With These 12 New Features

Friday July 17, 2026 10:39 am PDT by
It is now mid-July, and that means the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are now just two months away. The devices are expected to look similar to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but there will still be many year-over-year changes, with rumored features including a smaller Dynamic Island, 5G via satellite, and more. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, ...
Apple AppleCare One Feature

'AppleCare One' is Now Even More Valuable

Saturday July 18, 2026 6:25 am PDT by
While the monthly and annual prices of AppleCare+ plans for Macs and iPads received a slight increase this week, AppleCare One continues to start at $19.99 per month in the U.S., making the multi-device plan even more valuable. Launched in July 2025, AppleCare One allows you to cover up to three devices as part of a single subscription for $19.99 per month, and additional devices can be...
Apple Up Arrow Fearture

Apple's Latest Price Increases Go Beyond Macs and iPads

Sunday July 19, 2026 8:50 am PDT by
After raising prices on all Macs and iPads worldwide last month, Apple increased prices on more products and services on Friday. Apple has raised prices on Apple Music and Apple One plans around the world, iCloud+ plans in eight countries, and on iPhone models in Japan.Apple Music Now Costs $11.99 as Apple Increases Subscription Prices Apple Raises iCloud+ Prices in 8 Countries Apple...

Top Rated Comments

macduke Avatar
7 months ago
Duolingo is literally the worst. Uninstalled a long time ago.
Score: 61 Votes (Like | Disagree)
7 months ago
Let me guess what happens next, a company is going to sue Apple for not letting them display ads via the Dynamic Island in 2026 and the courts will rule in their favor. Seems to be the way things are going lately...
Score: 56 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mitthrawnuruodo Avatar
7 months ago
Makes me all the more convinced I did the right thing when I quit Duolingo back in June...
Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)
7 months ago
In protest, I am gonna stick to speaking one language real good.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
richard4339 Avatar
7 months ago
My dream is that Apple will change the notification API to require a category for every notification, and our notification options become more granular per app per category. I can only dream though, I can’t imagine them wanting to protect us in that manner anymore.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tomtad Avatar
7 months ago
Pretty simple. You remove the app from availability.

Period

Would hopefully highlight how terrible this app is as well
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)