A normal certificate revocation and a large-scale developer-account event can have a similar result for a customer: apps signed with the affected certificate may stop opening. The difference is the scale, cause, and replacement capacity required.
Normal revocation
A normal revocation is an isolated event affecting one certificate or a limited developer-account group during otherwise normal operations. Premium and Ultimate revoke protection is designed to cover eligible ordinary revocations according to the plan terms.
AppTesters has historically processed normal eligible replacements without charge for covered plans.
Extraordinary developer-account event
The 2025 event involved Apple terminating or restricting a very large number of developer accounts across the sideloading community. Thousands of certificates were affected during a concentrated period.
AppTesters initially tried to process these cases like normal revocations. The unusually high replacement volume contributed to additional developer-account terminations, while Apple's approvals became slower and stricter. The available replacement capacity could not safely support normal free processing for every affected certificate at once.
That is why the current recovery cycle offers discounted replacements for affected customers instead of a free replacement queue. The discounted amounts are $12 for Essential, $12.50 for Premium, and $25 for Ultimate.
What this means for Lifetime customers
The exceptional replacement payment does not convert Premium or Ultimate into a subscription. Normal future eligible revocations remain covered under their revoke-protection terms. AppTesters intends normal free handling for ordinary eligible revocations to resume after the recovery cycle.
Another extraordinary ecosystem-wide event of similar scale may need to be handled separately because Apple controls account enforcement and availability.