Hi everyone,
I was slowly working on an app for many years, five to be precise. It was a long way, with a custom video engine, chat UI, and a lot of life stuff in between, and I finally submitted it to the App Store last month.
The idea of the app is that you can create videos that show a chat conversation, with animated text bubbles, text, typewriter effects, and so on. See an example:
It is not a unique concept. I found many apps on the App Store like TextingStory and ChatTales, and many general-purpose video editors like CapCut, Canva, or Mojo have video templates that allow you to create similar chat videos. So conceptually, nothing really worried me.
But my first submission got a 1.1.6 rejection:
Guideline 1.1.6 - Safety - Objectionable Content
Issue Description
The app includes trick or joke functionality which is intended to or may be used to deceive users.
Specifically, the app allows users to create fake chat conversations.
Please note that adding a disclaimer to the app description is not sufficient if the rest of the metadata and the app could be misleading.
Next Steps
Revise the app so that it may not be used to deceive users.
As a follow-up, I explained the app’s positioning as a video tool, as I believed this was some misunderstanding. The app is clearly focused on storytelling and creating videos.
The output video is also not really trying to imitate an actual messaging screen, as it doesn’t contain UI chrome such as a status bar, navigation bar, text input controls, timestamps, or delivery/read receipts. So I updated the app and metadata to present the storytelling and video export purpose more clearly.
After about 10 days waiting for the second review, I got essentially the same rejection:
The app still creates fake chats.
I am now trying to clarify with App Review what exactly can be changed. My hope is that removing features like "New Project from screenshots" and visual themes resembling existing messaging apps could help. But the biggest worry is that the category itself banned and the app won't be accepted at all.
So I wonder if anyone here has experience dealing with a 1.1.6 rejection like this.
The relevant part of the guideline says:
False information and features, including inaccurate device data or trick/joke functionality, such as fake location trackers. Stating that the app is “for entertainment purposes” won’t overcome this guideline. Apps that enable anonymous or prank phone calls or SMS/MMS messaging will be rejected.
Is producing chat style videos effectively forbidden as a category? As I mentioned there are existing apps, but as I understand that doesn't guarantee anything.
What could distinguish a “fake chat” from a "non fake fictional chat video"?
Has anyone had a similar rejection, and if so, what did Apple actually ask you to change?