Guideline 4.3(a) rejection on FlightCue — requesting a call with App Review (App ID: 6790973619)

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AppMerge OP

Created 1d

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Hi everyone,

I'm hoping App Review can take a look at our case, or help us get a call.

Our app FlightCue: Flight Tracker (App ID 6790973619, version 1.0) was rejected under Guideline 4.3(a) – Design – Spam on September 9 and, after a resubmission with new features, again on September 19, 2026.

Timeline:

September 1: submitted for review.
September 9: first 4.3(a) rejection.
September 9: we replied in App Store Connect, asked which of binary / metadata / concept applied, and requested a call (with our phone number, hours and language). We did not receive a call.
September 17: App Review replied to our message that the app "still provides the same feature set as other apps submitted to the App Store for review."
September 18: we resubmitted with the two feature areas we had been building: (1) a Turbulence tab on every flight screen – a segment-by-segment turbulence forecast along the actual route, headwind/tailwind and its effect on arrival time, thunderstorm areas the route crosses, nearby pilot reports (PIREPs), and takeoff/landing conditions at both airports; (2) a Price Tracker tab – fare-drop alerts for a route or a specific itinerary, re-checked daily by our backend, with price history.
September 19: rejected again under 4.3(a), this time with the Extended Review note.

FlightCue is a single app from a single developer account, developed in-house. Our next build (not yet submitted) also adds a flight by scanning the boarding pass. We are not resubmitting until we hear back. We have filed an appeal with the App Review Board, and we would be very grateful for a call so we can understand which part of the app or the listing is considered similar and change the right thing.

Submission ID: 16908a41-1139-4832-bee7-87bce3bc6acd

Thank you for your time

Ercan Garip

Answer 1

Mirazaki OP

12h

Sorry to hear it went to Extended Review that queue runs up to ~90 days per Apple's own SLA, so the silence isn't unusual yet, just slow. One thing worth checking before the next round: 4.3(a) "same feature set" often gets triggered by how the App Store listing reads (screenshots, description, category) as much as the binary if the Turbulence and Price Tracker features aren't front-and-center in your screenshots/description yet, the listing can still read like a generic flight tracker even though the code changed. Worth updating the listing to lead with what's actually unique, and citing that specific listing language in your Resolution Center reply.