Hi everyone, I'm facing an issue with my app review process. My app has been in the "Waiting for Review" status for more than 48 hours, whereas usually, the review process is completed within 12 hours. We have a crucial launch coming up, and this delay is significantly impacting our plans. Has anyone else experienced such delays recently? Any advice on how to expedite the process or escalate the issue with Apple would be greatly appreciated.

I am trying to upload my app to app review, but i cannot upload the required screenshots for iPad and iPhone. It says that the pictures are not fit to dimensions. I have tried to use third party tools but it still will not work. I built the app purely on swift playgrounds and do not have access to XCode.

While submitting one of our new app for review, we are getting Agreement Update pop up, in which it states that "Your paid application agreement is outdates. For more information, go to Agreements, Tax and Banking", but when we navigating to respective page, it didn't show us any option to agree the agreement. Can you please guide us to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

Hi, I have a question about Section 3.1.1 of the App Store Review Guidelines regarding In-App Purchases. Is it mandatory to include In-App Purchases in my app? My app is an extension of my website, which has been online for four years and serves a large student base. We offer courses that students purchase through the website. Once purchased, they can access lessons, watch videos, download files, answer quizzes (optional), participate in group chats, and review courses. In the app, users can view all courses and categories, access some free lessons to decide if they want to buy the course, and search for courses—similar to platforms like Udemy. I do not wish to use In-App Purchases or any external payment systems within my app. Instead, I prefer that users purchase courses on the website and then access them via the app. I will not include external links, calls to action, or any mentions that direct users to purchase from the website. Essentially, I plan to inform users that purchases are not supported in the app, and they will understand this implicitly. Is this approach acceptable?

I needed to change the bundleid in my app, so I created a new app and used the build I created with the same source code and deleted my old app completely, but my app is rejected for spam

I have been in the industry for 20 years, previously working as an internet product manager. In 2023, due to the global economic downturn, I was laid off and found it difficult to secure a satisfactory job. To support my family, I decided to leverage my skills. I designed my own app, and with a technical background, I taught myself popular programming technologies such as uni-app (a front-end framework) and Python. I wrote 100% of the front-end and back-end code myself and used AI tools to design the visual assets of the product. In March 2024, I successfully released an application called Mia (com.jacky.her) on the App Store. Mia connects to a large language model to chat with users and provide emotional support. I noticed there were already many similar applications on the market, but most of them were just simple chat boxes. I believe that future product competition will focus on more detailed features based on large models. Therefore, I designed a character prototype, added character mechanisms, and aimed to surpass these competitors. After launch, with limited promotional efforts, I found that although I could barely break even, it was still difficult to achieve scalable profitability, and this model mainly attracted users driven by hormonal impulses. After a series of considerations and iterations, I prepared to release version 2.0 of Mia in June this year. Compared to 1.0, it includes original storyline progression, no longer just a chat mode, and introduces a gamified card-drawing mechanism to advance character skills. Simply put, it is more like a nurturing game. However, when submitting version 2.0, Apple rejected my application citing "Guideline 4.3(a) - Design - Spam." Several appeals were unsuccessful, leading me to request a phone call with Apple. Although Apple called me a few days later, I was deeply puzzled by the outcome of the conversation. Here are the main points raised by Apple's review staff: 1.Apple's Review Standards Are Constantly Changing The reviewer mentioned that the standards are always changing, and the rejection this time was due to "too many similar applications," not a quality issue. However, Mia's 1.0 version passed smoothly, but after adding more unique features, it was rejected, citing the presence of too many similar applications on the market. 2.Lack of Specific Standards and Feedback The reviewer repeatedly mentioned that my application was "unremarkable," but could not specifically explain what constitutes "unremarkable," nor clearly pointed out in what aspects my application was similar to others. I repeatedly asked for clear standards or next steps for modification but received no specific answers. 3.Apple's Business Strategy The reviewer finally mentioned that Apple is a private platform, and this is their current business strategy, which does not accept applications like mine. This strategy is not based on quality or uniqueness but is an internal decision by Apple, which is very disappointing for developers. 4.Compared to Other Similar Applications I researched similar applications on the App Store and found that there are indeed many simple chat applications with rough quality and details. My application features specific character images, unique storyline development, and a gamified card-drawing mechanism, yet it was still rejected. The reviewer suggested I report other applications, but this was of no substantive help. 5.Inability to Disclose Information on Similar Applications When I asked the reviewer to give examples of applications similar to mine, he said he could not disclose information about other applications. This means that Apple's judgment of my application cannot provide any substantive evidence, and everything is at Apple's discretion. The above content reflects the actual statements made by Apple's review staff. Apple has recordings of these conversations as well. Although the communication was in Chinese, I have summarized it in English. I believe the rise of large models will reshape products in many industries. My application is essentially a nurturing game with rich plot and scene settings. Apart from using third-party interfaces for the large model part, all other aspects are independently developed. The interface design and character materials are AI-generated. However, merely integrating large model dialogues led to it being labeled as a spam application. Does this mean that any application utilizing large models cannot pass the review? As a product manager, I have always been a fan of Apple and Steve Jobs. I started using a Macbook Pro for work back in the iPod era, and I replace my iPhone every year. However, this experience has left me deeply disappointed. Perhaps you do not care about a single consumer or developer, but I cannot accept that nearly a year of effort was dismissed with a single word, "spam." Goodbye, Apple.

We recently submitted an app for external testing via TestFlight, but it has been stuck at the "Waiting for Review" status for several weeks. This delay is blocking our testing process and impacting our development timeline. Could you please look into this issue and provide an update on the review status? Thank you for your support.

Hi team, Our app is going to upgrade the backend infrastructure which needs to inform an announcement to the users. It seems there is a limitation that doesn't allow a message related to the decommissioning put up on the App's home page. I have check some docs over internet but still not found any official one specify this topic. Can we just put the message as mentioned above or there is actually a limit which not allow to add it in? Thanks

"Hi everyone! We've encountered an issue with uploading our app to the App Store. We received the Family Controls Distribution permission, updated the certificates and profiles, submitted it for review, but received feedback that the request simply doesn't appear for the moderators. Does anyone know what the problem might be? Our request is: try await center.requestAuthorization(for: .individual). We also confirmed that the device must have TouchID or FaceID installed."

We got this very confusing reply from apple review: Hello, The issues we previously identified still need your attention. If you have any questions, we are here to help. Reply to this message in App Store Connect and let us know. Review Environment Submission ID: b7a0958d-5ba3-49c4-8ae0-d16051d8905b Review date: July 15, 2024 Version reviewed: 1.0.0 Guideline 3.2.1(viii) - Business - Other Business Model Issues - Acceptable Your app provides loan services but does not meet all the requirements for apps providing these services. See below for additional information. These requirements give App Store users confidence that apps offering financial services are qualified to provide these services and will responsibly manage their data. Next Steps It would be appropriate to make the following changes to comply with the App Store requirements: The verified email domains associated with your Apple Developer Program account must match domains for the submitting company or partnered financial institution. Resources Learn more about requirements for acceptable business models in App Review Guideline 3.2.1. Support Reply to this message in your preferred language if you need assistance. If you need additional support, use the Contact Us module. Consult with fellow developers and Apple engineers on the Apple Developer Forums. Help improve the review process or identify a need for clarity in our policies by suggesting guideline changes. But Our company name is DXC CAPITAL, S.A. DE C.V. SOFOM, E.N.R. Our official website is https://dxc-capital.mx and the domain we are using is dxc-capital.mx The email address of the Apple Developer Program account displayed in the Email preferences and Membership details section of https://developer.apple.com/account is dxc-capital.mx, and the member name is DXC CAPITAL, S.A. DE C.V. SOFOM, E.N.R. The email address of the account holder displayed on the "user and access" page is also dxc-capital.mx The email address used in all descriptions we provide is dxc-capital.mx So I'm very confused that what is "The verified email domains associated with your Apple Developer Program account" and what is "match domains for the submitting company or partnered financial institution"? The Apple Review Team wouldn't answer any of my questions, what they did is give me lots of policy urls which are impossible to locate useful information, how should I solve this problem?

Our app is being rejected and i have reasons to believe it isn't properly reviewed. My app/ game has Features: Create your own Sharki Stickers with our Unique Sharki Generator, A page dedicated to Raise Awareness to help save Sharks, The core of the game is to be educational Also one part of the app is a mini game (it is flappy like on surface which i think is the main reason for rejection, but we have so much more than that, and without proper review the content of the game fails to shine.) its a game where you have to prevent the shark from falling while avoiding obstacles ,(its not a tap on the screen and it moves, you have to follow the sharks movement and prevent it to fall) and you get educational content with different shark facts and trivias by playing. Play Different types of Sharks like Mecha Shark, Astronaut Shark and more, experience different type of gameplay and mechanics as the game progress and there are alot of levels, playables, unlockables and contents that are unique , distinct and exclusively made for this game. I highly believe that our game concept is unique hence i disagree with the Design-Spam 4.3 rejection. I already put in as much information on app review information section, but i have reason to believe the reviewer only plays for a few sec and tag it as design spam and dont even bother checking the rest of the game (Reviewer attached a image with Highscore only 3) - What do i have to do to be accepted?

My flutter iOS app is rejected 4th time for below reason. Tested the app on real device including iPad Air 5th generation and it's working fine for me. But apple is replying me with the same reason again. Please help.

Dear Sir / Madam, I've uploaded an update for an app a day before, still 20 hours not status updated yet, as we have a crucial launch.

Our app has a feature that sends notifications to the user's friends. This app has been declined several times and we are still seeking a solution to publish this app with the sending notification feature. Guideline 5.1.2 - Legal - Privacy - Data Use and Sharing The app appears to spam, phish, or send otherwise unsolicited messages to users or a user’s contacts. Specifically, the app allows the sending of mass text or notification. Spamming users or a user’s contacts in this manner is not appropriate. The app should not mine, trace, harvest, or otherwise maliciously exploit users’ data or other user information to promote your service. Next Steps To resolve this issue, please remove this feature from the app. Our app specification: A user can send the notifications to at most 10 friends at the same time There is an hour limitation to send notifications as an anti-spam measure. There is also a day limitation. UserA can search UserB by its userId, add UserB as an friend and sends the notification without UserB permittion. User can block a friend as an anti-spam measure. What else should we do as an anti-spam measure, or are we missing some important facts? Best Regards,

I need to show the usage of AI to pass beta app review, but as i understand AI still not available for everyone. Also i have iPhone 12, where AI features would not be supported at all. Also my game made in Unity Engine doesn't even have anything to summarise. What am i supposed to do?

Hi, Two years ago we launched a business for readers and writers. People buy a subscription through our website, where they also upload books, articles, journals, etc. They are then directed to download either the iOS or Android apps where they can read the content writers have uploaded. The App also includes social functions allowing members to leave reviews, create discussions on each piece of writing, etc. When reviewing the Apple Developer guidelines, we were confident we met the definition of a ‘Reader’ App (defined by Apple as an App whose primary purpose is to access previously purchased content, being books, magazines, music, videos, etc). We completed the External Link Request process as a Reader App and were successfully provided the exemption authority. However, in our latest version update (one that includes a critical bug fix stopping us from promoting the business until it is fixed) we were rejected on the basis that the reviewer considered any inclusion of additional functionality automatically made us not a Reader app. (noting the social functions had been in place since day 1 and had been reviewed over a dozen times). I understand that the term ‘Primary purpose’ is not in itself an exact measure, but to us it is quite clear the primary purpose of our App is to access the books and other written content that the member has purchased. The social functions are secondary and developed in support of this primary purpose. We submitted an Appeal 6 days ago (noting it as urgent due to the bug fix it includes) but have had no response. Really at a loss on what to do. Has anyone else had a similar issue? Or some precedents (either supportive or otherwise) on a definition of a Reader App? Appreciate any advice on how we can resolve. Regards Yousif

Dear App Review： We are an mobile game that undergoes regular iterations and updates with new features every month. At present, our updated version has been waiting for almost 2 weeks in the "waiting for review" state. During this waiting process, we have made the following actions but are unable to enter the review process: We requested an expedited review and informed that it was successful, but no progress was made; Contacted "App Review Status" via email; Please inform us that everything is normal and wait for the review; Refused by oneself, resubmit for review; Our users have been anxiously asking us when to update the new features, and they are very eager to use them. Apple ID of the App: 1446205247 Looking forward to your reply, thank you!

Hi We currently have an app being rejected due to Guideline 5.4 (VPN apps). The answer from App Review was a vague reference to the app not providing enough information to the user about data collection. About 6 months ago we added a modal sheet that requires agreement from the user before the app will attempt to create a VPN profile via NEVPNManager APIs. This was in response to a prior rejection, and our app was subsequently approved. Following our latest rejected update we tried to clarify if our modal was being observed and after some back and forth, the latest rejection from Apple Review states that: we still found that your app does not sufficiently explain how the app or VPN service is using data collected from users in the purpose string of VPN Configurations prompt. I have scoured the documentation and gone through all the Plist options within Xcode and can find no reference to a custom purpose/privacy string on the VPN configurations prompt. My understanding is that the content of that alert is fully controlled by the system. Has anyone else encountered this, or aware of any changes to the way VPN apps should create new connection profiles? Many thanks

We've currently implemented the In App Review using the recently deprecated API. Calling that API in dev modes doesn't seem to work consistently as described in Apple's documentation. Can someone provide assistance or otherwise, can the documentation be updated to mostly reflect on how the API works in dev mode?

I have developed a backup application in Java. In it, users can configure whether they want it to autostart or not. If they do, a plist file is being written to ~/Library/LaunchAgents so that my app starts at login. This works perfectly so far. I've not submitted it to the Mac App Store. But for that, it needed to be sandboxed. And with that, I had to add a "com.apple.security.temporary-exception.files.home-relative-path.read-write=/Library/LaunchAgents/" to my entitlements so that the plist file could still be written to ~/Library/LaunchAgents. However, they do not approve this. Is there another solution to launch my application at login? Must work with sandbox-mode Must work from Java/Shell/... (I found "SMAppService", but this seems only available in Swift/Objective-C)