App was meta-data rejected because of word iOS9

Hello All,



As soon as iOS9 public beta was released i tested my app and detected that it works not stable with it. Seems like they changed something in SDK that affects it. Anyway, I have downloaded XCode 7 beta with iOS9 and debug my app found the reason that brings problem and changed the way my app is working on XCode 6.4 in order to make it be able to work with iOS9 too. i have created new binary and sent it to AppStore on Aug 25, 2015 12:23 AM. In updates section i wrote that "This update is fix for iOS9" I got "In Review" in 1 day so i was happy that it will be approved soon. But after 4 days it gets Meta-Data rejected claiming that it is not allowed to use name of iOS version in meta-data which is not released yet. But everybody knows that it will be released and it already have public-beta.



Ok lets consider it is against the rules but what i should write in my update section? Because this is really fix for iOS9 and when Apple will release official iOS9 my app will stop working stable. What should i do? wait when Apple will release iOS9, users will update and my app will not work and i will start getting bad reviews, and only then submit my update to appstore with word "fix for iOS9"? 🙂)



As soon as i got meta-data reject msg i removed work IOS9 from meta data, resubmit app and send msg to appreviewer that i have fixed it please review again.

But 5 workdays passed from that date and there was no reply from app reviewer and my app was still in "waiting for review". I tried to apply for expedited review it doesn`t worked too. They rejected my request.



Today is already 7th day and my app is still in "Waiting for Review" status. Apple will release official iOS 9 on September 16, and i am not sure if my app will be approved till that date.



Now, this was just a story and sorry for taking it too long. My exact question is "Do you think it is fair to reject app because of this reason?" or let me ask it another way: Even if it is rejected, why Apple not taking it as a special case and review it faster as soon as developer fixed this simple meta-data problem? Why i should wait more 7-10 days?



Regards,

Amid

Answered by s219 in 51635022

I submitted two apps (same app with iPhone and iPad versions) on the same day (Aug 27 if I remember right). They both had the words "Fixes for iOS 9" in the release notes among many other items. Both apps went into review a week later. One passed (the less important iPad version) while the other was metadata rejected for violationg section 2.3, which says we can't make mention/reference to unreleased or beta software. So I deleted that iOS 9 statement (wasn't even important compared to other parts of the new app version, in the grand scheme of things) and have been waiting for review for 7 days now.


I see the mention of iOS 9 in release notes for a lot of apps on the App Store, and based on my experience, some apps go through and others get metadata rejected. It must depend on who reviews the app and how strict they are. Anyhow, it's annoying. At this rate, iOS 9 will be released before my app is reviewed again, which makes the whole rejection moot.


In the past, metadata rejected meant a short delay -- basically as soon as you could fix the problem and reply in resolution center, they would get back to reviewing the app and push it through quickly. Now it seems like they push you to the back of the line. This is a lesson for me though --- don't submit two sister iPhone/iPad apps for review and expect them to pass through even though everthing is mostly identical....

I have written " iOS 9 compatibility updates" in "what is new" in my three most recent app updates and all three have passed without any problems.


I agree that the cause for rejection is ridiculous, but I would change it to "upated for future systems" or something similar if I were you. No need to stall because of the wording.

Perhaps it was a formatting gotcha—did you actually write "iOS9" in your metadata? The accepted way to write it is

"iOS 9," with a space. Maybe that's why it got rejected. Perhaps if you reworded the statement similar to what Stoneage did, then you'd get approved.

Accepted Answer

I submitted two apps (same app with iPhone and iPad versions) on the same day (Aug 27 if I remember right). They both had the words "Fixes for iOS 9" in the release notes among many other items. Both apps went into review a week later. One passed (the less important iPad version) while the other was metadata rejected for violationg section 2.3, which says we can't make mention/reference to unreleased or beta software. So I deleted that iOS 9 statement (wasn't even important compared to other parts of the new app version, in the grand scheme of things) and have been waiting for review for 7 days now.


I see the mention of iOS 9 in release notes for a lot of apps on the App Store, and based on my experience, some apps go through and others get metadata rejected. It must depend on who reviews the app and how strict they are. Anyhow, it's annoying. At this rate, iOS 9 will be released before my app is reviewed again, which makes the whole rejection moot.


In the past, metadata rejected meant a short delay -- basically as soon as you could fix the problem and reply in resolution center, they would get back to reviewing the app and push it through quickly. Now it seems like they push you to the back of the line. This is a lesson for me though --- don't submit two sister iPhone/iPad apps for review and expect them to pass through even though everthing is mostly identical....

> It must depend on who reviews the app and how strict they are.


That seems like it. Maybe try requesting an expedited review for the update if you need it.

Yeah that is what exactly happend to me 😟 After 7 days of waiting yesterday they approved my app finally. So wish that your app will be approved untill 16th of September.

App was meta-data rejected because of word iOS9
 
 
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