Hi all,
My app Kindred: Find Your Match was rejected under Guideline 4.3 (Spam) and I'm struggling to understand what specifically triggered it, as I believe the app offers genuinely unique functionality.
Kindred is a dating app built around BaZi (八字) — a 3,000-year-old Chinese metaphysical system. Unlike standard dating apps, every user gets a personalised Four Pillars (四柱命盘) chart calculated from their exact birth date and time. Matching is based on elemental compatibility (Day Master, useful god, ten gods) — not a swipe algorithm or questionnaire. Users can also view a full synastry profile showing how their chart interacts with a match's.
What frustrates me is that the App Store has hundreds of generic dating apps that are nearly identical to each other — same swipe mechanic, same profile structure, same matching logic — and they're all approved. Yes, the dating app market is saturated. But if we as developers are willing to put ourselves out there, to fight for our chance, to build something with a unique angle and real users behind it — why should Apple be the one to limit us? The barrier shouldn't be "too many dating apps exist." It should be "does this app offer something different?" And Kindred does.
The app is already live on the Google Play Store and has been getting downloads daily since launch — real users, real engagement. It's not a throwaway app. It's been tested, refined, and is actively being used. Yet on Apple's side, I've been stuck in review limbo for nearly a month. I submitted on August 6, waited over three weeks just to get a rejection, filed an appeal, waited another week for the appeal board to uphold the rejection — and now I'm back in the queue again with no clear timeline. For an indie developer, this is incredibly discouraging, especially when the rejection reason is vague and no specific guidance was given on what to fix.
At this point I'm genuinely asking — should I just give up on the App Store? Has anyone been in a similar situation and managed to get through? Any advice on what Apple looks for when distinguishing a unique app from spam, or how to get more meaningful feedback beyond "the previous rejection was valid," would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.