“4.3”

Thank you for your post. There are several factors that may contribute to an app not following App Review Guideline 4.3. Typically, these apps share a similar binary, metadata, and overall concept as apps already on the App Store, with only minor differences. If you have questions about App Review's review of your app, we recommend requesting an appointment with App Review during the bi-weekly Meet with Apple event. Sign in with your Developer ID and select App Review Appointment. A member of the App Review team will help you with your questions regarding the review process and the App Review Guidelines. Appointments are subject to availability during your local business hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Hey lifeofjer, I'm really glad you shared this, because we’re going through a very similar situation right now with our app Cloose. Although Cloose isn’t a dating app, Apple keeps interpreting it as one and rejecting us under 4.3(b) – Spam. Our concept is a social map, built around real-time location and spontaneous proximity, where users can connect if they happen to be nearby and active on the map — no swipe mechanics, no auto-matching, no profiles sorted like in dating apps. We even removed all “dating-like” terminology and visuals, including hearts, swipes, and the word “match.” Still, we keep getting the same general response from Apple: that the app doesn’t provide a unique enough experience. To really demonstrate how different our app is, we even created a full walkthrough video showing all the redesigned functionalities, safety mechanics, merge-based interaction logic, delayed/obfuscated location, and more. But honestly, we’re not sure if the review team has watched it. Here’s the video, in c

Hello everyone, I’m reaching out to seek advice and support regarding a confusing issue I’m experiencing with my app’s review process. App ID: 6744330283 Here’s the situation: Versions 1.0 and 1.1 of my app were approved and successfully published on the App Store. However, updates 1.2 and 2.0 have both been rejected for Guideline 4.3 – Spam. The rejection happens extremely fast – less than 10 seconds after the app goes “In Review”, it gets rejected. There is no indication that the reviewer even launched the app. This is very frustrating because: The app has real user reviews, In-App Purchases, and active paying users. My app is 100% original – it is not a copy or template-based app. Even worse, the review process for versions 1.2 and 2.0 took over 7 days before even starting, and then they were rejected instantly, again without being opened. I’m happy to cooperate and improve my app further, but I feel like this may be a misunderstanding or a mistaken flag by an automated process. Has anyone experie

I have also sent emails and made several phone calls, but the responses I received were very generic. The previous versions were approved and published, but there is no clear explanation as to why the later versions were flagged as Spam under guideline 4.3 (A).

Hello, That's a thoughtful response. You may need to provide more evidence of uniqueness to support this claim: Its mechanics — from conversation caps to safety scores — are fundamentally different from other offerings in the App Store’s dating category. Similarly, we recommend reaching out to App Review to provide more detailed feedback on how guideline 4.3(b) was applied.

Thank you for your post. There are several factors that may contribute to an app not following App Review Guideline 4.3. Typically, these apps share a similar binary, metadata, and overall concept as apps already on the App Store, with only minor differences. If you have questions about App Review's review of your app, we recommend requesting an appointment with App Review during the bi-weekly Meet with Apple event. Sign in with your Developer ID and select App Review Appointment. A member of the App Review team will help you with your questions regarding the review process and the App Review Guidelines. Appointments are subject to availability during your local business hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

There are several reasons for 4.3 rejection, some are not spam by itself but overcrowded category. b) Also avoid piling on to a category that is already saturated;… We will reject these apps unless they provide a unique, high-quality experience. Searching on the AppStore, one can see there are a lot of puzzle games. So may be that's just the reason. If so, have you arguments to convince reviewer that your app creates a unique, high-quality experience ?

Hoffman ,Thank you for your comment. It's Guideline 4.3(a).

See section 4.3 of the App Review Guidelines here: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#spam Whether Apple believes you’re submitting a too-similar app with minimal changes, or maybe the app category is too overrun? Or shorter, whether this is case 4.3(a) or case 4.3(b)?

We are going through a same problem. We have spent about 1 year in developing our multiplayer card game. All the code is written from scratch by our team in unity. For design, we purchased some of the assets pack from unity asset store and we do have the licence to use them. We were very happy with the quality of our game and when we received this weird message (Guideline 4.3 - Design) from the App Store review team, all of us are in shock. So, is our hard work going in vain because we really can't change anything in our game and if we change anything, we will see bugs in our game and it becomes very hard to handle online games. We are feeling very helpless and our team are not able to work since we received this message. Please, if anyone can help us, that will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

We are going through a same problem. We have spent about 1 year in developing our multiplayer card game. All the code is written from scratch by our team in unity. For design, we purchased some of the assets pack from unity asset store and we do have the licence to use them. We were very happy with the quality of our game and when we received this weird message (Guideline 4.3 - Design) from the App Store review team, all of us are in shock. So, is our hard work going in vain because we really can't change anything in our game and if we change anything, we will see bugs in our game and it becomes very hard to handle online games. We are feeling very helpless and our team are not able to work since we received this message. Please, if anyone can help us, that will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.