4.3(b) rejection for a client case-management app: any similar experiences?

Has anyone with a professional tool in a crowded category been approved after a 4.3(b) rejection?

I have seen posts here in the forums where there was an approval after a spam rejection. But to be honest, I only remember seeing one such follow-up.

If you've met with App Review or appealed to the Board, what information helped them understand your app?

But on the other hand, I've also seen a recent report where someone did just that, got direct confirmation that their app wasn't spam, and still got rejected as spam again.

And let's be honest here. You're using the "wizard" emoji. Your name is "my zen star 365". I Googled both "Zi Wei Dou Shu" and "BaZi". I'm sure you know what I found.

What else did you say?

client case management: client records, consultations and payments in one place

OK. That sounds fine.

filtering across cases (by chart features, life events or payment status)

Data filtering is always good. Charts - great. Everyone loves payments. But life events???

statistics to review the business

That's great!

traditional rules relate to their own cases. It also generates charts, which users interpret themselves, and on iPad two pages can be viewed side by side.

Unless those traditional rules come from governments or standard accounting principles, it sure sounds like astrology to me.

The latest rejection noted that repeated submissions may lead to extended review times, and that accounts that repeatedly submit non-compliant apps may be removed from the Apple Developer Program

Apple can do a little fortune telling of its own, eh?

Honestly, if you have an app that would help practitioners in a wide array of small consulting businesses, that would be welcome. Charts, scheduling, payments, client contacts, newsletters, it's all good. Just ditch the astrology.

If you want to press the issue with Apple, that's really your only option and you'll have to work very hard to convince them of your sincere desire to do that. Even so, for all I know, there's a ton of consultant business management apps and you'll still get a spam rejection even without the astrology angle.

Thanks for taking the time to reply and for being straightforward.

The app helps practitioners manage client records and review past cases, and it also generates charts for them to interpret. By "life events," I mean notes about things that have already happened in a client's life, such as a job change, a move or a marriage. These form part of the client's case history. This helps practitioners and students check how well the principles they have learned match what actually happened in their own cases.

Your suggestion to focus on case management is helpful. Thanks again.

Your reply clarifies that the charts and the practitioners’ interpretation of them are part of the app’s core workflow. That may be why App Review continues to classify the product under astrology, even though it also includes client records, payments and case management.

I would make a product decision before requesting another review. If chart generation and interpretation remain central, explain what makes that experience substantially different from existing astrology apps and ask App Review which part of the submitted experience led to the 4.3(b) classification.

If the core product is professional client management, consider whether it can stand on its own without astrology-specific charts, filters or claims. Changing the category or metadata alone is unlikely to help if the main workflow still centers on astrological practice.

For a call or appeal, show the first-run experience and the complete workflow, then state plainly which features are astrology-related and which serve general client management. Avoid presenting the app as a general consulting tool if its primary use remains astrology.

Since the latest message warns about repeated submissions, I would pause further unchanged builds and ask for clarification before submitting again.