App Review

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Understand the technical and content review process for submitting apps to the App Store.

App Review Documentation

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Reader App & external Button
Could I implement a button in my application that would open an external link where people could register their account? Just like the Netflix or Disney Plus app has. I think my application falls under the category of "reader" app, just like Netflix and Disney Plus. While I was developing the app, the apple review team rejected my app because of the button to the external registration page. But I see that all other applications that belong to the Reader app have a button, so I'm interested if someone can help me, what do I need to do to enable the button to the external user registration page? best regard Nemanja Nedelkov
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Guideline 4.3(a) - Design - Spam
Hi, Thank you for your feedback regarding our app submission. We understand that the latest version was rejected under Guideline 4.3(a) - Design - Spam. We would like to confirm that our app is unique, combining casual gaming and video chat to deliver an engaging and distinct user experience. This update is critical for ensuring optimal performance on iOS 18 and providing a seamless experience for users who have already upgraded. We hope to resolve this matter fully and avoid encountering similar issues with this guideline in future submissions. We kindly request that the review team re-evaluate our app’s uniqueness and design. Additionally, we would greatly appreciate your assistance in expediting the review process so we can release this important update to our users. If further clarification or additional information is needed, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you for your understanding and support. Best regards, The Fachat Team
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App rejection for including one-time offer at the end of onboarding?
We have an app that’s been in the store for a year, and the latest version was rejected for Guideline 5.6 - Developer Code of Conduct. The app attempts to manipulate customers into making unwanted in-app purchases. Specifically, the app shows a one time offer for subscription when the user closes the initial subscription page launched upon opening the app. Essentially we have a soft paywall at the end of onboarding, and if the user closes that paywall we pop a second paywall with a one-time offer with an introductory offer (2 months for $1, “Once you close your one-time offer, it’s gone!”). We’ve had this in the last few versions of the app, but not been flagged for it. The strategy of having a one time offer after end of the onboarding paywall is not uncommon, and we are copying the approach used by many other apps in the app store. Limited time offers are a staple of marketing across all types of B2C stores. Does anyone have any experience with this type of rejection? Should we stick to our approach and escalate to a phone call? Change the one-time offer to a “limited time offer” (e.g. reduced price for 12 hours) so there is less pressure to decide right then? It’s a strange rejection because it doesn’t seem like we are doing anythign unusual. An onboarding soft-paywall followed by a one time offer is less of a push than a hard paywall (which is approvable), and offers some people an appealing way to test the app before committing to pay for a subscription (which doesn’t offer free trials). However, we don’t want to get flagged as a bad actor by the App Store reviewers.
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In-App Purchase goes missing when submitting app for review
I'm currently in the process of submitting a new app with a single non-consumable In-App Purchase. After creating the IAP in AppStore Connect, I created a synced StoreKit config in Xcode which correctly loaded the purchase. After making sure that the transaction works as expected within the app, I submitted the app in AppStore connect, including the In-App Purchase. Since then, the In-App Purchase can not be found in the StoreKit configuration and isn't displayed in the app, which lead to the submission being rejected. As requested by the review team, I have resubmitted the In-App Purchase, so it's currently "Waiting for Review" but still not showing up in the StoreKit configuration in Xcode. I'm not quite sure what I'm doing wrong here. I have other apps live in the AppStore with IAPs and no outstanding agreements to sign.
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4.3 Design Spam - Roadblock
Hi, I am stuck at "Design Spam", I have done numerous revisions but still i am getting "We still noticed your app shares a similar binary, metadata, and/or concept as apps submitted to the App Store by other developers, with only minor differences." from app review team. The app which I am trying to submit is a simple social media app, and its been almost a month it could not pass the review. I have updated meta data, updated assets but still app is getting rejected. Has anyone faced similar case, if yes then how did they solved it? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
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Notice of Termination. I ask for advice on what to do.
App ID: 6470781599 After receiving the mail below, my developer account was canceled and my app was taken down. I contacted Apple and they said they are reviewing it and haven't gotten back to me in 3 weeks. I was wondering if anyone has experienced the same situation and if anyone knows how much longer I should wait? Since it's a company app, I'm getting a lot of resentment from existing app users. Should I upload a new app? As previously advised, App Store Review Guidelines 5.6.4 (App Quality) states, "[Customers expect the best quality in the App Store, and maintaining high-quality content, service, and experience increases customer confidence. Signs that this expectation is not being met include excessive customer reporting and excessive refund requests for concerns about apps such as negative customer reviews. The inability to maintain high quality can be a factor in determining whether developers comply with the developer code of conduct," it states. You have not done enough to tailor your Apple Developer Program account to the Developer Code of Product. Therefore, Apple is exercising its right to terminate your status as an Apple developer under the DPLA. As an Apple developer, I would like to remind you of your obligations under DPLA regarding all software and other confidential information obtained from Apple. You must immediately cease and desist from any use of these materials and comply with all other termination obligations set forth in Section 11.3 of DPLA and Section 10 of ADA. If applicable, no additional payment will be made in accordance with Section 7.1 of the Paid Application Agreement (DPLA Schedule 2 and 3). This letter is not a complete description of the facts in this matter, and nothing in this letter should be construed as waiving any rights or remedies Apple may have. All such rights or remedies are hereby protected.
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In App Purchase
I have an objective C in app purchase listener... I have a swift form and it begins the in app purchase when they click on the button the purchase screen comes up if i am signed in as a tester the only test email we have on our account eveyrthing goes through and the server creates the proper records because the purchase listener SKPaymentTransactionObserver on the APp Delegate gets in formed ... and calls the static swfit methods to complete the process which takes the static USER ID of last logged in user and puts the original transaction id with it and sends both to our server so it can link the transaction id to the user id . Once the app loads it queries our site which uses the API for Apple payments to query the status of the original transaction id for that user. if it is valid it lets them login. Now for some reason the server never receives any information if i login on my icloud ... phone account as anyone but the testing email holder. If i use my own account to test the transaction my own personal email and apple id i get no feedback what soever from the SKPaymentTransactionObserver so i never get the original transaction id to send it to the server. BUt if i sign in as a tester in sandbox mode then everything works as expected. I send it to the test team and they too say they never get the subscription to be recognized this is a single reoccurring subscription they purchase recurrs every 3 minutes. Now why when i login as the test email account everything works every time butwhen the app store test team tries it nothing gets to the server any more Are they supposed to login on their phones to the Same Test account as i did meaning erase all their info and put the test email account in their phone just to get this to work and why do no other emails work for the purchase when in sandbox mode am i supposed to take it out of sandbox mode in the submission ???? why is in app purchasing working every time in my sand box mode test account when it is installed on the phone but no where else ?
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App Store Rejection - "Information needed"
these are the questions that apple asks repeatedly. This is the Home Screen of the app. What are the ways to publish my app publicly. what changes should I make if they keep on asking these questions? I have an organisational signup and with the organization ID users can be registered. the transfers are loaded from DB, if the registered user has a transfer assigned, it will be shown in the Home Screen.they can accept or reject the transfer as required!
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How do fees work with re-selling 3rd party gift vouchers
Hi, We are a digital greeting card company. Users choose, customise and then download a card (mp4 file) which they can then send in WhatsApp or any other messaging app that supports sharing video files. Users can either subscribe and send an unlimited number of cards or pay per card. We would like to offer our customers the chance to add an Amazon voucher to their greeting card but are not sure whether it is financially viable unless we can avoid the app store fees on the voucher purchase. If a subscriber purchases a £20 Amazon voucher to accompany their greeting card and we pay 15% (as a small business) to Apple (£3) then we lose £2.60 as we have to purchase the gift card from Amazon for £19.60 (Amazon give a 2% discount). From the Apple Review Guidelines I read: “Digital gift cards, certificates, vouchers, and coupons which can be redeemed for digital goods or services can only be sold in your app using in-app purchase." Which seems to make it clear that we'd have to pay the fees however we have several competitors such as Prezzee who sell gift cards at face value (a £10 voucher costs £10) inside their app which makes me hopeful that there's a way. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Our customers are constantly asking for this feature and we'd love to find a way to provide it. Best wishes, Benjy
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Safari Extension rejected for using "for [Platform]" in name - despite many precedents
Hi devs community, I've run into an interesting situation with App Review that I'd like to get the community's perspective on. My Safari extension "Protego for Reddit" (a content filter for Reddit) was rejected under Guidelines 2.3.7 for using "Reddit" in the name/subtitle, citing potential customer confusion. What's puzzling is there are many established apps using the same naming pattern for the app name and subtitle, all currently on the App Store: Narwhal 2 for Reddit - "Highly customizable Reddit app" Sink It for Reddit - "Upgrade Your Reddit Experience" Reno for Reddit - "instagram styled Reddit app" Dystopia for Reddit - "A Better Way to Reddit" MultiTab for Reddit - "Best viewer for image/video" Nano for Reddit - "The wrist-based Reddit client" Focus for Reddit - "A unofficial app for Reddit" Monocle for Reddit - "A comprehensive Reddit client" Redirect for Reddit - "Redirects to old.Reddit.com!" Alerts for Reddit - "News" rex for Reddit - "Lurk with ease!" Comet for Reddit - "Fast, Robust, and Beautiful" Redista client for Reddit - "Entertainment" Readder for Reddit - "Entertainment" lurkur for Reddit - "a new way to browse" Pics HD for Reddit - "Entertainment" Apollo for Reddit - "Closed. Goodbye and thank you!" and more I submitted a reply to the app review rejection and they told me that if I disagree with the outcome of their review that I need to file appeal to the App Review Board. I've already submitted an appeal pointing out these precedents and explaining that the name accurately describes the app's functionality without implying any official association. While I wait for the response, I'm curious about a few things: For those who maintain apps with "for [Platform]" in the name: Do you face this rejection with every update? Did you only have to appeal once, after which subsequent updates were approved? Was there any special process to get your app "whitelisted" for this naming convention? Has anyone noticed if this is a recent change in enforcement? The number of existing apps with similar names suggests this wasn't always strictly enforced. For those who successfully appealed similar rejections: How long did the appeal process take? Did you need to escalate beyond the initial appeal? My concern is whether I'll need to go through this rejection/appeal cycle with every update, which would significantly impact our ability to push out timely fixes and improvements. I've had to delay two updates due to this issue. Context: App description: Safari extension for filtering Reddit content on Mac Current name: "Protego for Reddit" Subtitle: "Filter your Reddit Feed" Version: 1.3 Status: Awaiting appeal response Many of these established apps even use "Reddit" in their subtitles, which makes the rejection of my subtitle "Filter your Reddit Feed" particularly confusing. Thanks in advance for any guidance or shared experiences!
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Rejected for 4.3.0 Design Spam
Thank you for your feedback on our app submission. We noticed that our latest version (1.1.7) was rejected for 4.3.0 Design: Spam. However, the previous version (1.1.6), with similar features and design, was successfully approved. We can confirm that our app is unique, offering distinct functionality and user experience. It is developed using the React Native framework, with a carefully crafted interface and interactions to provide a high-quality user experience. Due to issues with in-app purchases and several bugs in version 1.1.6 affecting user experience, we urgently need to release this update (1.1.7) to resolve these issues and ensure a stable, secure app for our users. We hope to fully resolve this matter to avoid inadvertently encountering this guideline in future releases. We kindly request that the review team re-evaluate the uniqueness and design of our app and assist us in expediting the review process so that we can push this update to our users. If you need further clarification or additional information, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you for your support and understanding. Best regards, 365 Internet Inc
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In-app payment via bottom-up swipe gesture
This question came up, a customer wants to add payment, with gesture, to their app. This gesture is a swipe, from bottom to top (like when minimizing applications). The question immediately arose, will the application pass the review with such UI/UX ? Will there be any problems ? I'm not talking about problems when the user can minimize the application when paying, or pay (accidentally) when minimizing. I want to know if there will be any problems from Apple's rules when releasing the app ? I haven't found the exact information yet
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App Rejected for 4.3.0 Design: Spam
Thank you for your feedback on our app submission. We noticed that our latest version (1.1.7) was rejected for 4.3.0 Design: Spam. However, the previous version (1.1.6), with similar features and design, was successfully approved. We can confirm that our app is unique, offering distinct functionality and user experience. It is developed using the React Native framework, with a carefully crafted interface and interactions to provide a high-quality user experience. Due to issues with in-app purchases and several bugs in version 1.1.6 affecting user experience, we urgently need to release this update (1.1.7) to resolve these issues and ensure a stable, secure app for our users. We hope to fully resolve this matter to avoid inadvertently encountering this guideline in future releases. We kindly request that the review team re-evaluate the uniqueness and design of our app and assist us in expediting the review process so that we can push this update to our users. If you need further clarification or additional information, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you for your support and understanding. Best regards, [Your Name or Team Name]
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1w
ITMS-90863: Macs with Apple silicon support issue (iCloud library)
Recently I started getting emails from AppStoreConnect when I submit new builds The email states: ITMS-90863: Macs with Apple silicon support issue - The app links with libraries that aren’t present in macOS: /usr/lib/swift/libswiftCloudKit.dylib I can run this app on apple silicon from TestFlight or directly from Xcode and it runs just fine including all iCloud functions. This app has been using iCloud for several years now. So my question is: Should I just ignore the email or do I need to change something to bring this app into compliance?
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Jun ’24
AI generated content filtering
Hey guys. I got this message from reviewer: Guideline 2.3.6 - Performance - Accurate Metadata The app includes AI-generated content but does not appear to include content filtering at this time. Since the app may produce content not appropriate for all audiences, it would be appropriate to revise the app's age rating to 17+ in App Store Connect or implement content filtering. Next Steps There are two ways to resolve this issue: You may update your Age Ratings selections to 17+ in App Store Connect. This can be done by selecting "Restrict to 17+" when editing the app's Age Rating. Or you may implement content filtering so that all generated content is appropriate for the app's current age rating. The services I am using already has a content filtering implemented in them. I have no idea what am I supposed to do.
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