Pending Account Termination after unusually long first review - looking for guidance

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Hi everyone,

I want to start by saying that I genuinely appreciate the work Apple’s reviewers, support teams, engineers, and testers do. The volume and variety of apps they have to evaluate must be enormous, and I understand why Apple has to be careful about protecting users and the App Store from deceptive or unsafe apps.

I’m posting because I’m looking for guidance from anyone who has navigated a Pending Account Termination appeal.

This is for my first iOS app submission. The app is a location-based social planning app for adults to create and join nearby plans. It is a real product, not a template/spam app, and I have been trying to make review as straightforward as possible.

Timeline:

Submitted / Ready for Review: June 10, 2026
In Review: June 15, 2026
I also had a TestFlight external testing review delayed for about a week
I submitted support requests and an expedited review request, but did not receive any responses
19 days after submission, I received a Pending Account Termination notice alleging dishonest or fraudulent activity under the Developer Program License Agreement

I have submitted an appeal to the App Review Board. The web page confirmed receipt, but I did not receive a separate email or appeal case ID. I also opened a Developer Support case just to confirm the appeal is in the queue.

I want to be very clear: the app is honest and there was no intent to evade App Review. Because the app depends on nearby user-generated plans, I had created demo/test data and a review account so reviewers would not see an empty app in a location with no users. After TestFlight external testing was approved and before sharing the public link with real testers, I removed the synthetic test/demo data so production would contain real user activity only.

I have already taken corrective steps:

Removed automatic review/demo reseeding behavior from the backend
Removed synthetic demo users and content related to them from production
Current production data is real user data only

I understand Apple has to protect users and the App Store from deceptive apps, spam, and fraud, and I appreciate how difficult that job must be at scale. I’m trying to handle this carefully and respectfully.

For anyone who has been through a Pending Account Termination appeal:

Is it normal not to receive an appeal case ID by email?
How long did the App Review Board take to respond?
Is there any appropriate way to provide clarifying information after submitting the appeal, or should I wait for Apple to reply?

Thank you for any guidance.

Answer 1

seekers OP

13h

Also I forgot to mention, The app submission for distribution is still in review, and I don't really know if that's normal after receiving the account termination notice.

Also to anyone interested - the exact wording was:

"Evidence of Dishonest or Fraudulent Activity

App submissions from your account have engaged in concept or feature switch schemes to evade the review process, such as dynamically populating different app content after review, submitting apps with hidden features, repeatedly submitting misleading apps, and/or submitting apps with concrete references to content that you are not authorized to provide or is otherwise not appropriate for the App Store."

My app is 100% honest, it has no hidden features, separate post-review experience, bait-and-switch model, or functionality intended to evade App Review.