> It is very much the case that you can often get away with it (see for example all the apps with splash screens), but it is "expressly forbidden".

Neither of your instances of breaking the HIG made your app better, so yes, what I said is true. It was said by an Apple engineer.

'Better' is arbitrary and entirely up to Apple, but if you have any UI nouse you're going to get it through. They themselves routinely break the HIG.

The 'G' is for guidelines, not rules.