Guideline 4.3(b): a game as the main feature, with astrology readings as a secondary feature

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Created 2d

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Hi,

Our astrology app was rejected several times under Guideline 4.3(b). We accept that decision and will not resubmit the same concept.

We are redesigning the app and have two questions before we submit again.

If the main feature of the app is a game, and astrology is used only behind the scenes as part of the game's rules (the game shows no charts, no readings and no predictions about the player), but the app also offers a small number of personal astrology readings as a secondary feature after sign-in, would App Review still consider the app part of the saturated astrology category? Would it make a difference if the game were released as a separate app with no readings?
Our latest rejection included an Extended Review notice saying that accounts that repeatedly submit apps that do not follow the guidelines may be removed from the Apple Developer Program. What kind of submission pattern puts a developer account at risk? Does this also affect other, unrelated apps from the same account?

We understand that App Review cannot preapprove apps. Any guidance on how the guidelines are applied would help us avoid another rejection.

Thank you.

Answer 1 · 1d

jetrise OP

1d

Nobody outside App Review can pre-approve this, but the guideline is fairly clear: 4.3(b) names fortune telling (which astrology falls under) among saturated categories. Some thoughts:

Readings anywhere in the app will likely keep it in that bucket. If a reviewer finds personal readings after sign-in, they'll probably classify the app by that feature, even if it's secondary. The cleaner path is the one you suggested: the game as its own app, with no readings, and metadata (name, subtitle, keywords, screenshots) that sells it as a game, not as astrology.
The game has to stand on its own. If the astrology theme is just a skin on a common game type, you can trade a 4.3(b) for a 4.3(a). Make the core mechanic something a reviewer won't have seen many times.
Account risk: the warning is mostly triggered by a pattern: resubmitting the same rejected concept with small changes, several near-identical apps, or hiding features from review. A genuinely different app, submitted once with clear review notes ("this replaces our rejected astrology app; it contains no readings"), is the opposite of that pattern.
Before you build: you can ask App Review directly through Contact Us → App Review, describing the planned app. They won't pre-approve, but replies sometimes tell you whether it would be treated as the same concept.