I have the following situation that I would like to have some advise from the community on.
I have an iOS app for Hong Kong Mahjong published on the App Store. The app has been in production since February 2026 and I successfully managed to get 20+ updates approved by Apple.
However, my latest update (which just introduced a new feature (play offline with nearby friends via WiFi direct)) gets continuously rejected citing 4.3.0 Design: Spam.
I asked the reviewers for more specific feedback on this classification but the answer is always ambiguous. I also opened an appeal with Apple for this almost one month ago but have not received any feedback whatsoever.
I do not understand why the app is being classified as spam all of a sudden. While there are a few apps for Hong Kong Mahjong in the App Store my app has distinct features:
- training mode with live coaching advise (for absolute beginners)
- support for a full 4 round game (16+ hands)
- two layout variants (in addition to the classic board game / table layout, I am offering a more accessible list view layout as well)
The game uses its own backend which I developed from scratch. Bots make their gameplay decisions using either the proprietary heuristics engine or the proprietary machine learning model.
Given all this together, I completely fail to understand the spam classification and I find it extremely unhelpful that Apple reviewers provide the most generic feedback thinkable to a classification which is very nuanced and could be explained by various different things (e. g. metadata, app binary, etc.).
There is one thing I would like to give as context, as I am not sure if it contributes to the spam classification: Just before trying to get the latest update approved I submitted a new app, which supports offline play online, for App Store approval. This app was rejected because it was deemed to similar with the app for which I am receiving the spam rejections now.
Any advise on how I can get this resolved would be highly appreciated.
Here is the link to my app: https://apps.apple.com/app/hong-kong-mahjong/id6758140951