Submitted iPhone app for review for Testflight and Apple failed it for iPad non-compatibility...?

App Store Distribution & Marketing TestFlight TestFlight

Created Nov ’15

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Apple failed my beta build I submitted for TestFlight for non-compatibility with iPad but I'm an iPhone app! How can I designate that the app as specifially iPhone only?

Answered by barereef in 89462022

This doesn't work (at least for TestFlight review). The iPhone build setting is happily ignored by the review team. Actually, it's worse than this. If you submit an iPhone-only app, then iOS won't try to scale your views properly because it knows its iPhone only. This doens't, however, prevent someone from running the app in the iPad simulator. Which the reviewers do because section 2.10 of the Review Guidelines says they have to.

The "obvious" answer to tell the Reviewer about it being iPhone only is also happily ignored – known from experience – and also per section 2.10. So, you may need to make your app universal in Build Settings and, at minimum, have it launch in the iPad simulator with some reasonable degree of esthetic appeal. Now, this does not mean that you cannot appeal a rejection based on iPhone only app. But who's got the time to wait and see if Apple actually responds to appeals? I used to try that, but it took a month to get a response and the response was never very helpful.

The submission process to the App Store seems to be a little different since you can target devices more specifically there. I assume the review team takes that into consideration but I don't know for sure.

This is from experience, not directly provided by Apple.

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Floating Wrench OP

Nov ’15

I can confirm from personal experience with an app from before there was an iPad, through all the different view controller and storyboard changes, and still in the App Store now, that it is entirely possible to have an iPhone only app that runs fine in the iPad simulator as well as on an iPad device as an iPhone only app.

The issue is likely with assumptions your app makes about layout, or some problems with the layout itself.

Are you stating App Review said that the only problem was simply the appearance of the blank borders around the edges of the simulated iPhone view when running on an iPad in compatibility mode? Or were there additional layout issues with the application itself?

runister OP

Nov ’16

We have same problem during submition to the App Store, so unfotunately it´s not working differently. App even designed only for iPhone will be tested for iPad as well. That is causing problem and rejection. In our case 3rd rejection, but as hard as we are trying to get excat answer, why app is tested for iPad, we are not succesfull. But seems to be true that always your app will be tested for this device. More suprisingly, our previous 8 updates were not optimized and passed review without any problem.

Even more, we are developing running app that I can hardly imagine using somebody with iPad. Well, but you never know.

So, best advice is to have always your app ready for testing on iPad even it´s iPhone only.