4.3

Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing well. I’m opening this discussion because we’ve encountered a repeated Guideline 4.3 rejection for an update, despite having previously addressed the same concern with the App Review team and reaching a resolution. Several weeks ago, we went through a detailed review process regarding Guideline 4.3. We provided full technical explanations, clarified our development structure, redesigned parts of the UI, and made all adjustments requested by the App Review team. That update was ultimately approved, and the app has been live on the App Store since then without any issues. However, our new submission—which includes only a critical bug fix—is now being rejected again for the same 4.3 reason. No changes have been made to the concept, design, or core functionality since the previously approved version. The update is not introducing new features or new UI; it simply resolves a performance bug affecting downloads and uploads, which users are already

Hi! My app was rejected on Nov 4 due to 4.3 Design Spam. After communicating with the App Review team on Nov 4, the decision was still the same, so I submitted an appeal to the App Review Board that day. They mentioned there are apps that are providing the same functionalities but I have done my research on App Store and reached out to potential users in London to gauge the interest. I believe my app and its direction is unique. I still haven’t received any update and I totally understand that the appeals process can take some time. It's just that I am really passionate about getting this app into the public to get people on it and I have no idea on what is wrong and how I can help make it right. Does anyone know how long it usually takes to get a response from the App Review Board? Thank you for any help!

I’ve been rejected four times recently with the reason 4.3 – Design / Spam. I’ve explained the issue in great detail each time, but I haven’t received any meaningful response from Apple’s reviewers. Each time, I tried to make my explanation even clearer, yet the replies I got were identical copy-paste messages, offering no additional guidance, clarification, or genuine support for developers like us. What’s unreasonable is that our latest updates only fixed minor AdMob-related issues — there were no functional or design changes to the app — and yet the app was still rejected without a valid reason. Our app has been on the App Store for 8 years, has tens of thousands of users, and has consistently received high ratings for the value it provides. I’ve already submitted an appeal to the App Review Board, but I haven’t received any confirmation email or notification acknowledging receipt or giving any timeline for resolution. We have already submitted an appeal to the App Review Board, but so far we have

My app is completely unique, no other app has the main functionality of my app, and it was not bought template and coded from scratch. It uses Supabase for the backend, for context. I have no idea what to do, I just spoke with a review team member, and he kept saying the same thing, that he's seen similar apps, which when i clarified what the app did he just said that it could be a bought template which was used in fraud, and genuinely did not want to talk about the app so he basically cut the review shortly. I spent a month of my life on this app. I have no idea what to do. It does use Supercell images such as figures, but it follows all the Supercell Fan Content Policy guidelines.

My game has been live since 2018 and I’ve been updating it recently to add some improvements because it’s been a few years (last update was 2020). I got hit with a couple of basic issues with the screenshots but I was told I can release that version anyway and fix it in a later update. I spent yesterday fixing those issues because they were minor, and resubmitted my app to review. This morning I was hit with another rejection for a new issue, 4.3(b) Design Spam. The reason being it’s a game in a saturated category (Beer Pong) and so I should reconsider the app concept. This game has been live for 7 years. In those 7 years the category may have become saturated, but it wasn’t when I originally released it, so stopping me from updating it feels extremely unfair. If this was a brand new app I would still be upset but I would understand. Another reason was that it’s based on a drinking game, and that it encourages people to drink alcohol. I stated in the age rating section that it heavily contains alcoho

Hi everyone, I'm the developer of Evil Neighbor games. https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Tonny+Nevel My game was decompiled and published on the App Store. With super-stupid input controls and a lot of ads. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/evil-father-simulator-game/id1660614304 It's a clone of my game: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.juliopepe.evilfather2 I decided to make a port on the iOS App Store, as my users asked me about it. And got rejected for all 3 parts with the reason Spam. On my own game I have sent a report for this account 4 months ago https://apps.apple.com/us/developer/manale-adle/id1671853753 (By the way, all other games are stolen too) App store is ignoring me; they sent a message to me and to him. Asked him to contact me and solve the issue. 4 months I have been waiting for a reply from them. I have sent 10+ emails, but it looks like they just put me on the ignore list. Two days ago, I tried to publish another game that I was developing during the year. And gu

Hi everyone, I'm reaching out to this community for advice and hoping to get some insights from anyone who has faced similar issues. Our social casino app has been rejected twice under Guideline 4.3 (Spam), and we're struggling to understand the specific reasons. App Details App ID: 6753935757 Submission ID: fbb70e69-c91f-49fd-82d7-43c02bbdca4e Category: Social Casino Game (Slots) Our team has been developing social casino games for 7 years. We've had both successful launches and products that didn't work out - we understand this market well. For this new product, we conducted extensive market research and identified a specific gap: modern, high-impact themed slots targeting young male players.focused on modern male-oriented content including sports, beast taming, competitive gaming, and other high-energy themes. We created specifically for these intense, modern themes - not reused from previous projects. Yes, we did reuse some foundational technical components like:RNG algorithms, basic framework st

Title: Mistaken 4.3(a) “Spam/Copycat” Flag → 3.2(f) Termination — Seeking Guidance on Reinstatement Hi everyone, I’m an independent developer and I believe my account was escalated to termination because of a misunderstanding around Guideline 4.3(a) – Design – Spam and 4.1 – Design – Copycats. I want to explain the full timeline so I can get advice on how to present this correctly in the “Re-instate a terminated membership” request. 1. What I submitted I submitted an app called “Anime Jigsaw: Waifu Puzzles.” The idea was simple: it’s a jigsaw puzzle app, but I wanted to make it more relaxing by combining anime/waifu themed puzzle images with built-in lo‑fi music. So the concept I was aiming for was: puzzle + themed art + calming music, not just another generic jigsaw clone. 2. First rejection Apple rejected it under 4.3(a) – Design – Spam and also mentioned 4.1 – Copycats. The exact wording in App Store Connect said my app’s binary, metadata and/or concept was similar to apps that w

Hi everyone, I’m looking for clarification regarding App Store Review Guideline 4.3 (Spam) and how it applies to unlisted apps. The guideline mentions that “Apps that are duplicates of others, or that spam the App Store with similar content, may be removed from the App Store or from the Apple Developer Program.” In my case, I’m considering distributing several unlisted apps that share a similar codebase but are customized for different clients (for example, with distinct branding and configurations). These apps would not be searchable or publicly listed on the App Store — they would only be accessible through direct links. Could anyone confirm whether Guideline 4.3 still applies to unlisted apps in the same way it does to publicly listed apps? If not, what is the recommended approach for distributing such client-specific builds while remaining compliant with Apple’s policies? Thanks in advance for any clarification.

Hello everyone, I am the developer of a small app studio that has been creating and publishing apps on the App Store since 2017. Our main app recently reached the Top 5 in the Lifestyle category, serving thousands of paying subscribers and gaining around 15,000 new downloads per day until it was suddenly removed from the App Store along with our other apps. On October 11, 2025, I received a Pending Account Termination Notice for my main developer account. A few months earlier, on August 15, 2025, another account registered under my name had also received a pending termination related to Guideline 4.3(b) for a duplicate binary submission. That app was never live on the App Store. Once I realized the issue, I rejected the binary myself and stopped all activity on that account. I believe both accounts became linked because the same Apple ID and bank information were briefly used during setup. This may have caused Apple to associate the two accounts. Both accounts are fully verified legal entities. Since

My app Siply keeps getting flagged for Guideline 4.3(a) – Spam, saying it’s “similar in binary, metadata, or concept” to other apps on the App Store. I’ve already had a call with App Review and made a ton of changes since then, obviously they won't tell me what app they think it's emulating, which doesn't really help me as a dev. I've redone both design and function, but it’s still getting rejected for the same thing. Just for context, Siply isn’t a template or copy app. It’s built from scratch with a Create ML model for container volume estimation, a custom Figma UI, and a Firebase backend for login and data. The whole interface and flow are fully custom-built. I’m just trying to figure out what part of it is being seen as “too similar” so I can fix it the right way. Could this be triggered by me having other apps under the same developer account or Firebase project? Any insight would help, I’m kinda stuck on this one.

Hi everyone, I’m currently working on a project based on the Telegram iOS open-source code. My goal is to build an unofficial Telegram client with Telegram’s permission (they have publicly allowed third-party clients under their open-source license). My app includes unique new features and UI improvements that are not present in the official Telegram app. Essentially, it’s Telegram plus additional features — built from the official source, but extended significantly. However, when I try to submit my app to the App Store, Apple rejects the build under Guideline 4.3(a) - Design - Spam with this message: “We still noticed your app shares a similar binary, metadata, and/or concept as apps submitted to the App Store by other developers, with only minor differences. Submitting similar or repackaged apps is a form of spam that creates clutter and makes it difficult for users to discover new apps.” I completely understand Apple’s intent to prevent low-effort clones or spam apps. However, in my case, this is

Hello everyone, We are currently facing a frustrating situation: we are trying to publish an app that enables VPN connection with our platform, which is offered exclusively to our clients. However, our app is being repeatedly rejected under Guideline 4.3(a) - Design - Spam. To clarify, this VPN app is strictly for enterprise use and only operates in specifically provisioned environments. It is not a generic VPN client and cannot function outside of its intended context. Authorship: The entire codebase is original and exclusive. The only third-party dependencies are: WireGuardKit: used for establishing the VPN tunnel (WireGuard protocol). ZIPFoundation: used for compression and decompression of packages. Uniqueness: No other VPN app on the market works with our solution. The only thing in common with some is the use of the WireGuard protocol. Our app includes an agent that reports device information to our platform for security policy evaluation and access control. It uses entirely proprietary authent

Hi. My friend and I are new to app developing. We made an app together and I made one alone on the side. But we are not joined. we each pay seperate taxes and not some scam design post of apps. Apple flagged both with spam design, so we assumed it was related. but not sure anymore. app1 is a travel related app operating globally. we have IAP but also destination inspiration and global food information, which is free in the app. app2 is about one single country and has a lot of information about travelling in that country and some IAP too. IAP in both apps are the same product, but unique in appstore. it only exists on websites apart from these two apps. both are made in adalo so even though the colours are different they are made in the same system. In app1 IAP is the main product, in app2 its not. we have tried so much to get app1 through but they keep rejecting with spam design. After a while they suddenly approved app2, after renaming it, changing colours and highlighting the information about the country