Why Apple review team start marked all stickers pack as Spam ?

I have more then 100 stickers pack for iMessage in AppStore. Week ago all my stickers pack for iMessage was marked as spam . Now I can't publish new stickers or update old.

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4.3 Design: Spam
Guideline 4.3 - Design

Your app provides the same feature set as many of the other apps you've submitted to the App Store; it simply varies in content or language. Creating multiple Bundle IDs of the same app is not appropriate.

To resolve this issue, please combine apps with similar feature sets into a single "container" app. You should differentiate varied content within your app by categorizing elements into groups, using the in-app purchase API, and location services to deliver content to users.

Once you have done so, please reply to this message via Resolution Center indicating the app name and Apple ID of any "container" apps submitted under your Apple Developer Program account.

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With the release of XCode 10 in 2016, functionality for creating sticker packs without using code was added to XCode as separate template. And at the same time separate store for imessage app and stickers pack was added to Messages app. On the pages from - https://developer.apple.com/stickers/ and from here https://developer.apple.com/app-store/sticker-submissions/ have next information - “If you'd like to use code and APIs to add functionality such as in-app purchase to your sticker pack, or if you’d like to provide text, video, and audio along with your sticker pack, you can create an iMessage app”. That means that developer can publish stickers pack and only if he want he can add additional functionality such as in-app purchase.


How stickers pack created with template provided by Apple in XCode can be marked as spam ? There is no logic. Besides all apps with stickers pack "provides the same feature set as many of the other apps submitted to the App Store" because this is stickers. There is content (stikers) is main feature not functional of the app.


Stickers Pack for iMessage are based on Stickers Apps base project in xCode like is explained in this two page https://developer.apple.com/stickers/ and https://developer.apple.com/app-store/sticker-submissions/ For years developers can submit and update more stickers packs for iMessage than one, without problem of guideline. I created stickers packs for iMessage and used for this templates and information that Apple provided for developer. I didn’t create spam, if my stickers packs is spam, because have same functionality, and separate only with images then all other stickers of all others developer should be mark as spam too, and Apple own stickers too. Some developers from Github, when heard about this situation even suggested publishing this story in various technical publications such as Verge. Because this is wrong and don’t have logic.


Why Apple reject stickers packs created with his own templates ?

Same story here. It's not worth fighting. Try not to take the Spam thing personally (Apple needs to work on their bedside manner with that bit of rejection verbiage). Bottom line, more than 1 sticker pack app per developer is 1 too many. You will have to consolidate. It won't be fun... it will take a week or more probably. Especially if you have to convert your animated sequences from the template to APNG files.


And yes, Xcode should come with a better template now that the mandate is to only allow container apps for stickers.


My best advice is to just bite the bullet. At the end of the day you'll probably have a better product from all this, and make more off your stickers (as you'll inevitably be creating a massive bundle option).

Why Apple review team start marked all stickers pack as Spam ?
 
 
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