I've been trying to ship a rename for six weeks and I'm out of channels. Posting the full timeline in case anyone has seen this pattern, or can tell me what I'm missing. After all the research I have done on this, I feel there are no valid reasons for our app to be stuck in this state. Needless to say, I am frustrated.
Short version: We shipped an app under a placeholder name because the name we own wasn't available. Apple later released the real name to us. We removed the original app from the App Store, submitted the same product under the new name, and were rejected as a duplicate. The resubmission was then rejected under 2.1 asking what the app does. I answered in Resolution Center 8 days ago, opened a support ticket and have had no reply.
studybara
- The app is a focus-timer study companion with a capybara and a decorable room.
- Pending USPTO wordmark STUDYBARA, Serial No. 99814163, filed 5/10 (Principal Register)
- The app has been live on Google Play since 2026:
com.mklappdesign.studybara - We are the only party with a trademark filing on this mark
Timeline (all 2026)
| 5/10 | USPTO application filed for STUDYBARA (Serial 99814163) |
| — | studybara ships and stays live on Google Play (com.mklappdesign.studybara) |
| — | iOS name "studybara" unavailable, so we ship on iOS as study-bara (bundle com.mklappdesign.study-bara, ASC App ID 6772405228). Apple approves it. It goes live and reaches "Ready for Distribution." |
| 7/23 | Filed an app name request/dispute with Apple citing the pending trademark and the live Play listing |
| 7/24 | Name released to us. The old study-bara record now shows "Removed from App Store" in App Store Connect — before anything new was submitted |
| 7/27–7/29 | Submitted app under new name. Final record: studybara, ASC App ID 6795582940, bundle com.mklapps.studybara. Same codebase, same product |
| 8/6 | 9 days later Rejected under 4.3 as a duplicate/spam app — for being similar to our own app, which by then no longer existed on the store |
| 8/17 | Resubmission 1.0 (2) rejected under Guideline 2.1 – Information Needed. Submission ID 46505a3c-48ce-400d-803f-b38ce7a4e16a. Reviewed on iPad Air 11-inch (M3) and iPhone 17 Pro Max. The question: "What are the main features and functionality of the app? We seem only to be able to set up a timer or start a stopwatch." |
| 8/17 | Replied same day in Resolution Center with a full feature walkthrough |
| 8/17 | Requested expedited review |
| 8/22 | Opened a support ticket (Case #20000144802863) |
| 8/25 | Still no response to any of it |
On the duplicate rejection
There was never a point where two versions of this app were purchasable on the App Store. App Store Connect's own record shows the original as Removed from App Store as of 7/24, and the replacement was submitted after that. It is the same binary, the same developer account, the same product — a rename that Apple itself made possible by releasing the name to us.
If a rename of an already-approved app is supposed to be done some other way — new record vs. reusing the old one, a specific order of operations, something we should have flagged in review notes — I'd genuinely like to know, because nothing in the guidelines describes it.
On the 2.1 rejection
The app is a focus-timer study companion with a capybara and a decorable room. Beyond the timer and stopwatch it has:
- A to-do list with priorities and tags, where tasks can be armed to a study session
- A coin economy — completed focus sessions pay out coins
- A store for spending coins on room decorations
- A wardrobe for dressing the capybara (headwear, eyewear, neckwear, clothing), with per-item colorways
- Room decoration placement — drag, resize, rotate, and layer purchased items in the room
- Settings — light/dark, display fonts, larger text, clock and date formats, English/Español, ambient audio during sessions
- Real artwork and zero AI generated art
- No account, no ads, no in-app purchases, all data local to the device
All of it is reachable from the room screen — the circular menu button in the top-left corner expands a row of five shortcuts (to-do, store, wardrobe, room decorations, settings).
I'll be candid about one thing, since someone will ask: that menu is disabled while a timer is running. If the reviewer's first action was to start the timer or stopwatch — the most natural thing to do on that screen — the rest of the app becomes unreachable until the timer is stopped. That's on us and we're changing it. But it's a discoverability problem in a five-second interaction, not an app that lacks functionality, and it's the same binary Apple already approved under the previous name.
What I'm actually stuck on
The 2.1 message says to reply in App Store Connect with detailed answers. I did. Eight days, no response — no follow-up questions, no new rejection, no state change. Expedite request and support ticket both went nowhere.
Has anyone gotten a stalled Resolution Center thread moving? Is App Review Board the right escalation once you've already answered a 2.1 and been ignored, or does filing an appeal reset the clock on the reply you're waiting for?
Happy to provide the submission ID, both app record IDs, and the trademark serial to anyone from Apple who wants to look at this directly.
