Hey everyone,
I’m dealing with a frustrating situation and hoping someone here can share insights. My app has been rejected multiple times under Guideline 4.3(a) - Spam, with Apple stating it resembles an app from a terminated Apple Developer account.
Here’s the context:
A month ago, my teammate purchased an Apple Developer account from a 3rd party. Then after the app was submitted, we got rejection after that, a couple of hours later. The old account was terminated.
The termination notice cited Section 3.2(f) of the ADP Agreement, mentioning "commit any act intended to interfere with any of the Apple Software or Services, the intent of this Agreement, or Apple’s business practices including, but not limited to, taking actions that may hinder the performance or intended use of the App Store, Custom App Distribution, TestFlight, Xcode Cloud, Ad Hoc distribution, or the Program…".
This old account was purchased from a suspicious source, which may be why it was terminated and you can imagine my relationship with the old teammate now. Anyway, we never know the real reason because it was a broad message
The app was never published, only submitted, but it's now stuck in the terminated account.
Then I created a second account on my own, and resubmitted the app. Good thing, I was never been terminated ever since despite multiple attends to resubmit.
Bad things, I got rejected because of Guideline 4.3(a) - Spam, they said my app is similar to an app from a terminated account multiple times.
Since the termination, I've:
Rebranded my app completely, including a new app name, bundle ID, logo, and additional features. I've added like 6 pages alongside 10 other APIs. It's just amazing and terrifying to me at the same time how Apple can track my app linkage to the old account even after though changes
Yet, I keep getting rejections claiming similarity to the app in the terminated account.
My Questions: How long does it take for app metadata, features, and concepts to be fully released for reuse from a terminated account to be fully removed from Apple's system?
Has anyone successfully resolved a similar rejection under 4.3(a)?
Now it has been 1 month, should I resubmit the app? I will be joining an online meeting with an Apple Reviewer consultant to discuss the App Review matter one-on-one. What would you guys recommend me to discuss/ask them?
About my app information, since I was not allowed to upload screenshots before getting a successful publishing by my CEO I can only share the below information,
I pretty sure the app itself is not making any serious fault since I never got rejection in the 2nd account.
The app have 2 main features:
Chat with generative AI model: it provides finance information and insights linked to real-time finance data
No nsfw, nsfl contents, I pre-process and chat and make sure those contents are flagged and the AI will answer in the way that discouraging the topic
An overall finance information: volume, info, articles, and charts (we have access rights)
Any guidance or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!