Account flagged under 4.3: five unrelated apps rejected the same minute, replies unanswered for 9 days, rebuilt app rejected again as "similar"

App Store Distribution & Marketing App Review
kargorage OP
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Hi,

I am a solo developer with an individual account since 2024. I would appreciate guidance from App Review, because I do not know what else I can do from my side.

On October 13 at 00:06 all five apps I had in review were rejected within the same minute under 4.3 and 4.2.6, each with the same nine questions about the app, its audience, beta testing, shared code and templates. The apps are not related: a voice recorder with on-device transcription, a dice roguelike, a tile based dungeon game, a studio simulation game and a Safari extension for cookie banners. I built them myself in Xcode over several weeks and submitted each one when it was finished, which is why they arrived in the same week. No template, no generation service, no client, no third party SDKs, no other accounts.

The same day I answered all nine questions in full for four of the apps and withdrew the fifth, the cookie banner extension, to rebuild it. Nine days later there is no response on any of the four threads.

On October 21 I submitted the rebuilt extension as version 2.0. It now has consent receipts decoded from each site's TCF record, a public page listing the 100 sites tested before every release with the result for each, a separate mode for subscribe-or-consent walls, Global Privacy Control, Shortcuts and a Mac app. A review video and a public test page were attached. It was rejected within a day under 4.3(a) as sharing "a similar binary, metadata and/or concept" with apps submitted by me or others, with an Extended Review note. The only earlier app with this name is my own withdrawn 1.0.

I have stopped submitting anything. My questions:

  1. Is there anything more I can provide for the four open threads so a reviewer can look at the apps themselves? I can send screen recordings, source code or demo builds the same day.
  2. For the 4.3(a) rejection: what was the app matched against, and what counts as a sufficient difference in this category, given that several cookie banner blockers for Safari were approved in 2026?

App IDs: 6821429432 (Voice Notes: Local Transcribe), 6821423492 (Lampfall), 6821275353 (Bone Caster), 6819040142 (Vibe Coder), 6818993189 (Cookie Hide, version 2.0).

Thank you for your time.
Armen Ter-Oganezov

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Pokpong OP

That sounds frustrating, especially with several unrelated apps receiving the same questions together. Since the four reviews are still open, I’d keep each reply attached to its own Resolution Center conversation and ask whether the reviewer needs a specific demo or clarification for that app. A short screen recording showing the core workflow, plus a concise explanation of what is built in common versus what is unique, may be easier for them to assess than sending source code unsolicited.

For the 4.3(a) decision, the public forum can’t see the comparison or tell you which app triggered it. In the existing rejection thread, ask App Review to clarify the specific similarity they want you to address, and explain the concrete differences in the binary, metadata, audience, and user workflow. Keep the reply factual and avoid changing or resubmitting more apps until you get direction, so you don’t create another review cycle without knowing what to fix.