Hi, all. Apparently, it takes around a month and a half after the end of the month for Apple to send the proceeds, but I wish to use third party services which have to be paid at the end of the month. I can sustain the app on my own up to a point, but if so, there's the risk of it dying of success, even though the money is due. Is there a solution to this timing issue? Ideally, I wouldn't want to seek an investment.

In this post, we'll share tips to help you submit apps that deliver original ideas to your users. When working on your app, focus on creating interesting, unique experiences that aren't already available. Apps that actively try to copy other apps won't pass review, and accounts that repeatedly submit copycat apps or attempt to impersonate a service will be closed. The rules that prevent copycat and impersonator apps from being distributed on the App Store are described in App Review Guideline 4.1: 4.1 Copycats (a) Come up with your own ideas. We know you have them, so make yours come to life. Don’t simply copy the latest popular app on the App Store, or make some minor changes to another app’s name or UI and pass it off as your own. In addition to risking an intellectual property infringement claim, it makes the App Store harder to navigate and just isn’t fair to your fellow developers. (b) Submitting apps which impersonate other apps or services is considered a violation of the Developer Code of Conduct and may result in removal from the Apple Developer Program.(c) You cannot use another developer’s icon, brand, or product name in your app’s icon or name, without approval from the developer. These requirements help make the App Store both a safe place for people to discover apps and a platform for all developers to be successful. Best Practices Here are three best practices that will help you submit apps that follow App Review Guideline 4.1: 1. Submit apps with unique content and features. People want apps that provide unique experiences. Find areas that aren't currently being served and build compelling apps for those audiences. Do: Create apps that provide a new experience or a unique spin on an existing concept. Design original, delightful interfaces that elegantly meet your user's needs. Don't: Don’t imitate the features and functionality of other apps. Don’t copy the look and feel of other apps, such as using an identical user interface design. 2. Make sure App Store metadata only contains relevant information and content you either own or have permission to use. The metadata provided in App Store Connect is used to populate your app's product page on the App Store. People rely on this metadata to learn about your app and what it has to offer. Leveraging the popularity of another brand or app, either by including irrelevant references or protected content, is misleading and won't help your app succeed. Do: Use engaging, descriptive language to describe your unique app. Create original content that best represents your app, such as screenshots showing the actual app in use. Don't: Don't use protected material you do not have the necessary permission to use, such as app icons that are similar to icons of a popular app. Don’t include irrelevant references, such as popular app names or trademarked terms, in any metadata fields. 3. Provide information that is authentic and verifiable. People want to know the developers behind their favorite apps are who they say they are. It's important to continually review and provide up-to-date information, including the developer or company name listed on your Apple Developer Program account, the Support URL listed on your app's product page, and other helpful information. This will enable your users to contact you when they need help and it will also hinder people who may try to impersonate you, your app, or your service. Do: Make sure all information, resources, and documentation related to your account and apps are current and accurate. Don't: Don’t provide inaccurate information or resources, such as directing people to outdated support pages. Don’t provide fraudulent documentation. Accounts that submit fraudulent documentation will be removed from the Apple Developer Program. Support Incorporating these best practices into your app's development will help you submit apps that follow App Review Guideline 4.1. If you need additional assistance, consider taking advantage of one of the following support options available from App Review: If your submission has been rejected, reply to the message from App Review in App Store Connect and request clarification. Request an App Review Appointment to discuss the results of our review. Appointments are subject to availability, and take place during local business hours in your region on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you believe your app follows the App Review Guidelines, consider submitting an appeal to the App Review Board. Resources Learn about foundational design principles from Apple designers and the developer community. Learn how to create engaging App Store product pages. Note that apps that violate intellectual property rights are subject to removal through the App Store Content Dispute process. If you believe an app on the App Store violates your intellectual property rights, you can submit a claim.

I have two questions regarding releasing an app that uses an in-app browser (WKWebView) on the App Store worldwide. Question 1: Encryption usage Our app uses WKWebView and relies on standard encryption. Should this be declared as using encryption during the App Store submission? Question 2: If the answer to Question 1 is YES If it must be declared as using encryption, do we need to prepare and upload additional documentation when submitting the app in France? Also, would this require us to redo the entire build and upload process, even for an app version that has already been uploaded? Goal / request: We want to release an app using WKWebView worldwide, including France. We would like to understand all the necessary steps and requirements for completing the App Store release without unexpected rework. Best regards, P.S.: A similar question was posted a few years ago, but it seems there was no response. https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/725047 Sadao

Start by refining your metadata with keyword-rich titles, subtitles, and descriptions that match user intent. Use high-quality screenshots, app previews, and localized content to improve visibility. Focus on user engagement through regular updates, positive reviews, and consistent installs. Higher retention and active user signals naturally help your app climb the App Store rankings.

"ASO in 2025 is more algorithm-driven, with a stronger focus on user engagement signals like retention and in-app actions. Keyword relevance still matters, but quality and user experience now play a bigger role in ranking boosts."

Hi! We're trying to figure out how to specify a thumbnail image that appears in search results in the new Games app. Currently the thumbnail space just shows the first three preview images from the store page (see the attached file for reference -- our game is Primrows+, at the very top of the screenshot), but other games have a custom-designed image that fills the space and looks nicer, like Welcome to Primrose Lake which you can see at the bottom of the screenshot. I've been searching both the App Store Connect interface and the developer documentation, and I can't find where to set this image or even what this image is called. Here is another screenshot showing the kind of artwork I am trying to create and set in app store connect for our search results: Any help would be appreciated!

What we're trying to implement is not a new subscription promotion It has implemented a function that allows certain members to experience the membership of the application by providing promotional codes. With the offer code provided by Apple, we are currently implemented Log in => Membership provided by the member entering the promotion code => I'm inquiring because I think the next logic will be difficult. There is no way we can identify the member when entering from the app store with Offer code I would like to inquire about developing it so that it does not violate Apple's review regulations as much as possible.

Hello, I created an app using the latest version of Xcode (16.2), and I'm having a problem testing this app on my iPhones. I created this app just like all the others I've made for my clients, including one on (03/24/25), but when I went to upload another App to App Store Connect on (03/26/25) I couldn't test it on my phone. Points to consider: The app runs perfectly on the Emulator. All my terms and agreements with Apple are up to date. I tried to download the apps through Testflight on 2 different devices, iPhone 7 Plus (iOS 15.8.1) and iPhone 15 Pro Max (iOS 18.3.2), and I was unsuccessful in neither attempt. I can send my app to the internal testers, but when I click download, the following message appears: Could not install [APP NAME]. The requested App is not available or doesn't exist. I imagine this problem is with Apple itself, I have already contacted support, but I need to resolve this urgently for my customers. Has anyone experienced this and resolved it?

Since macOS 15.3.2, we have observed that when another window is moved near the App Store's install button, the button disappears. We have attached a related video in the Feedback submission here https://feedbackassistant.apple.com/feedback/20444423 Our application overlays a transparent, watermark-window on top of the system window, which causes the install button in the App Store to be hidden when a user attempts to install an application.Could you advise on how to avoid this issue?

Hey everyone, I was wondering how it is possible to add screenshots to the app without containing any UI elements, like in the following examples, where the UI is clearly not part of the screenshot: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/komoot-hike-bike-run/id447374873 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/relive-hike-ride-memories/id1201703657 Is the App Review less strict for the first image? Is it somehow connected to the App Preview (but without a video?)? Thanks for the input and help!

Hello, I'm suddenly encountering errors with In-App Purchases (IAP) and my sandbox webhooks, which were working correctly just a few days ago. Specifically: Product Information Error: I'm receiving the following error when trying to fetch product information: { "type": "product_info", "result": "error", "error": "An unknown error occurred" } This API call was functioning normally until today. Sandbox Webhook Failure: I have configured a sandbox webhook, but my server is not receiving any notifications from the App Store. Test API 401: When I attempt to call the test API (https://api.storekit-sandbox.itunes.apple.com/inApps/v1/notifications/test), I consistently receive a 401 (Unauthorized) error. Could you please provide some guidance on how to troubleshoot these issues? Thank you.

Hi Everybody! I would like to develop an iOS app with MDM features and distribute it on App Store. The problem I got stuck with is how to QA-test the MDM features of such an app. The app is not yet on App Store, it's under development. I can upload builds to App Store Connect, invite testers, they can test the app using TestFlight, all fine. But features that require an MDM configuration don't work since the app is not deployed via an MDM solution. It cannot be deployed via MDM since it's not an enterprise app and it's not on App Store yet. There are ways to work around this only for dev-testing (like a hardcoded configuration) but I need to give this to QA engineers. AI answers suggest that Custom Apps in ASM/ABM might be the way out of this. Apple docs say I need to have the app reviewed by Apple first, only then can I assign it to organizations. But again, I need this for internal testing the app before releasing it. And before having to submit the build to Apple for approval. I am quite sure it's possible to do this, there are apps on App Store with such features (Jamf Self Service), and other platforms provide a way (private store on Android) for internal testing, but I haven't been able to find the Apple solution yet. Any help would be appreciated. Best regards, Balazs

Issue: SKOverlay configured with a Custom Product Page identifier opens the default product page instead of the custom one on iOS 26. This works correctly on iOS 18 and earlier. Details: Custom Product Page is published and valid in App Store Connect customProductPageIdentifier is correctly set on SKOverlayAppConfiguration Same code works fine on iOS 18 and lower Code: - (void)presentSKOverlayInWindowScene:(UIWindowScene *)scene { SKOverlayAppConfiguration *config = [[SKOverlayAppConfiguration alloc] initWithAppIdentifier:@"my_app_id" position:SKOverlayPositionBottom]; config.userDismissible = YES; if (@available(iOS 15.0, *)) { [config setCustomProductPageIdentifier:@"my_apps_custom_product_page_id"]; } SKOverlay *overlay = [[SKOverlay alloc] initWithConfiguration:config]; overlay.delegate = self; [overlay presentInScene:scene]; } Are there any known iOS 26 changes affecting Custom Product Pages with SKOverlay, or is additional configuration now required. Thank you

I recently released the first version of my app, and it was discoverable via App Store search. After pushing an update with bug fixes and improved keywords/category, the new version went live and showed as “Ready for Sale” within hours. However, since the update, the app no longer appears in App Store search results - even when searched using its exact name. It’s still accessible through the direct link. Any insights or guidance would be greatly appreciated!

We’ve recently changed the name of our published app from “Gourmet Society Lloyds” to “Gourmet Society”. The current App Store link is: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/gourmet-society-lloyds/id6447692472 After the name change, we expect the URL to look like this: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/gourmet-society/id6447692472 However, we’re not sure whether Apple automatically updates the App Store URL (the text part before the ID) when the app name changes, and whether the old URL will continue to redirect to the new one. I couldn’t find any official Apple documentation confirming this behavior. Could someone from Apple clarify how App Store URLs are handled in such cases? Thanks in advance! Zoltan

Love the new web-based App Store that launched today! I’m really hoping Apple will eventually provide a JSON/REST API for search results. Google doesn’t officially offer one either, but because of how the Play Store works for Chrome and Android, developers can use a third-party library like google-play-scraper. For small independent developers like myself, it’s a bit of a disadvantage being priced out of expensive data brokers such as Sensor Tower, who are obviously scraping the App Store anyway. It’s also uncomfortable knowing those companies harvest data from App Store Connect while charging us to access analytics based on our own apps. Would it be too much to ask for an official—or even semi-official—way to retrieve country-specific keyword rankings for apps?

have successfully created subscription with all metaData: Localization(inside subscription and also for subscription group), logo, description and also screenshots but subscription shows missing metadata instead of ready to submit causing flutter app package inAppPurchase to not found the subscription id or product it. Flutter code level : Future<void> _loadSubscriptions() async { Set<String> kSubscriptionIds = {'monthly_689'}; ProductDetailsResponse response = await _inAppPurchase.queryProductDetails(kSubscriptionIds); if (response.notFoundIDs.isNotEmpty) { kLog("Subscription IDs not found: ${response.notFoundIDs}"); } print("God it works seriously"); print(response.notFoundIDs); print(response.productDetails); print(response.error); subscriptions.value = response.productDetails; } Says: Subscription IDs not found is been logged I try with storekit it works!!! but as apple asking me we test on sandbox environment and it's not working I also created sandbox account login with same credentials and test it not works. Point is package I used in flutter not finding the above product_id I successfully added subscription group, localization, image and all still why my subscription not found ?

Hey, is it possible to test with an Xcode test build if the subscription notifications are correctly being sent to the backend? Currently nothing appears on my backend after subscribing. For some reason i can also subscribe multiple times to the same product. It looks like nothing is being saved anywhere which is why I also can't cancel a test subscription. All of this was fairly easy and possible when setting up the google play version of our app.

Good day, I've uploaded a build to TestFlight, but received an automated response with the following error: ITMS-90426: Invalid Swift Support - The SwiftSupport folder is missing. Rebuild your app using the current public (GM) version of Xcode and resubmit it. Our project started in Objective-C and have mixed swift class and pods. The last uploaded build without any automated response was Nov 8, 2023. I'm using XCode Version 26.0.1 (17A400). I've tried every way i found in internet and i'm not able to find any solution for this. ALWAYS_EMBED_SWIFT_STANDARD_LIBRARIES = YES use_frameworks! :linkage => :dynamic (in pods) We would appreciate any assistance in clarifying why this issue is occurring and how we should proceed to address it. Your guidance would mean a lot. Thank you.

Hi, I have an application published in the Marketplace. I made certain updates to the app. I did my tests.No problem. I did my tests via Testflight. There is no problem I encountered. But my app update request was returned by app review. The answer i got from them ;  "Specifically, our login attempt displayed loading indefinitely; we were unable to access the app features and functionality." Here are the ways that I tried and the app worked successfully. Connect from America using VPN.No problem, it works. I connected from using IPV6.No problem, it works. I tried with simulator.No problem, it works. I tried real device.No problem , it works. I tried testflight.No problem, it works. I tired version 15.2 and earlier.No problem , it works. I have no idea why apple staff are getting this error. Has anyone encountered such a problem before? What solutions would you suggest? I'm waiting for your help.