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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Guideline 4.3 - Design - Spam
apple Rejected my app , And send me this letter :Guideline 4.3 - Design - SpamWe noticed that your app provides the same feature set as many of the other apps you've submitted to the App Store; it simply varies in content or language, which is considered a form of spam.The following apps were found to provide different content but are identical in functionality:drift starsNext StepsWhen creating multiple apps where content is the only varying element, you should offer a single app to deliver differing content to customers. Alternatively, you may consider creating a web app, which looks and behaves similar to a native app when the customer adds it to their Home screen. Refer to the Configuring Web Applications section of the Safari Web Content Guide for more information.please help me
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7.2k
Aug ’17
Guideline 5.1.1 - Legal - Privacy - Data Collection and Storage
Hello, We have developed an app iOS and Apple reject the second update of app (categorie NEWS) for this motivation: We still noticed that your app requires users to register or log in to access features that are not account-based. Next Steps To resolve this issue, please revise your app to let users freely access your app’s non account-based features. Apps may not require users to enter personal information to function, except when directly relevant to the core functionality of the app or required by law. You should allow users to freely access your app’s non account-based features. For example, an e-commerce app should let users browse store offerings and other features that are not account-based before being asked to register, or a restaurant app should allow users to explore the menu before placing an order. Registration must then only be required for account-specific features, such as saving items for future reference or placing an order. But I would to like answer to Apple with this motivation: "The App requires to create an user account to specify the Country Edition of interest to manage delivery of the correct user magazine and Country-specific contents. Moreover we need to recognize email domains provided by the account to deliver further contents reserved to the employees (customer) worldwid" Thank you of the support.
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26k
Aug ’20
Retrieve all ratings (with or without a review) for an app on iTunes without max record limit for all countries
Having known and tried iTunes app store's customer reviews API (sample URL below), there are three problems that I need to solve: The customer review rss feed URL returns only the records with customer reviews. How do we get the records with ratings alone which don't have any reviews in them? The URL returns list of reviews for a given country. What should be done to retrieve the latest reviews across all countries? CustomerReviews RSS page depth is limited to 10. So total of 500 latest records can be retrieved. How do we retrieve the history records? Sample URL: https://itunes.apple.com/{country-code}/rss/customerreviews/page=1/id={app-id}/sortby=mostrecent/json?urlDesc=/customerreviews/id={app-id}/sortby=mostrecent/json Any hint or solution is much appreciated.
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3.9k
Jul ’21
Guideline 4.3 - Design Spam Urgent Help
My app has been rejected due to 4.3 design issue. "We noticed that your app provides the same feature set as other apps submitted to the App Store; it simply varies in content or language, which is considered a form of spam" my question is I was working on the game from the university level in 2017 for pc platform. In 2019 I convert my game for mobile platform.This is my first app on App Store.it is already available on the play store from 2019.I am still working on it and adding new features in this game.My app is not a spam nor I make a clone of app.How I can solve this problem.I am shifting my all apps of the play store to iOS platform. Is there anyone can help me and guide me for solve this problum.I will be very thankful to you.
3
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1.1k
Apr ’22
Guideline 1.4.1 - Safety - Physical Harm
Hello Our app has been rejected from the app store because of 1.4 Physical Harm https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#safety This app is used by the users from Kenya (Only registered users). Users can log their health based self-assessment data like blood pressure, glucose level, temperature, body weight, BMI with medical hardware devices and that will be shared with specialist (Physician or Clinical) to do the diagnosis and advice subscription accordingly. Problem: We have the above features from earlier versions but with the new version update  our app got rejected from app store stated that we have violated the app stores' guidelines (1.4.1 Physical Harm - Safety) Your app connects to external medical hardware to provide medical services. However, to be compliant with App Store Review Guideline 1.4.1, you must: Provide documentation from the appropriate regulatory organization demonstrating regulatory clearance for the medical hardware used by your app Provide documentation of a report or peer-reviewed study that demonstrates your app’s use of medical hardware works as described Our app's features: AccuCheck-Instant Glucometer: CE0088 This product fulfils the requirements of the European Directive 98/79/EC on in vitro diagnostic medical devices. b) FORA-DigitalThermometer-IR21b: CE Mark for compliance with European Directive integration over Bluetooth c) FORA-OximeterPO200: CE0123 and IEC 61000-4-3 Compliant integration over Bluetooth d) FORA-Weighing Machine-W310b: IEC/EN 61010-1, IEC/EN 61326, EN 301 489-17, EN 300 328 Compliant integration over Bluetooth e) OmronBPMachine-HEM -9210T: EC & EN Compliance integration over Bluetooth Please anyone help us to resolve this issue.
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6.1k
Jun ’22
reject by guideline 4.3 Design - spam
my Chinese Chess Game be rejected 2 times. the reason: We continued to notice that your app provides the same feature set as other apps submitted to the App Store; it simply varies in content or language, which is considered a form of spam. What I'm more curious about is where is the measurement standard for this sentence? According to this reply "same feature set as other apps ", should APPLE STORE have only one chess games, and the others are considered spam? but why there are so many Chess game there? do they have different features? based on that reply, I think, I am not a chess player. or I am not playing IOS chess game. my APP should be the strongest AI already. have Large End Game Database for play. have self define board for play With AI. any suggestion of make different features set?
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1k
Sep ’22
Missing a functional link to the Terms of Use (EULA)
I wanted to add subscription plan into my app for a new release. I have bottom sheet showing promotional text for this subscription like below They rejected my app because We were unable to find the following required information in your app's binary: – A functional link to the Terms of Use (EULA) – A functional link to the privacy policy So I added both links for terms and privacy policy in the promotional text. I use the standard Apple EULA for the link. And I still get rejected on the latest review because Specifically, We were unable to find the following required item(s) in your app's metadata: – A functional link to the Terms of Use (EULA) WHY? is it because I should put this link in my App Description page instead of the promotional text? Then why they didn't make noise about the link to privacy policy?
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8.6k
Nov ’22
App was approved, but still shows "In Review"
I submitted my app for review and it is was approved. I received an email saying "Your submission was accepted for release on the App Store" and the App Review page on App Store Connect shows it was approved. However, under IOS app, it still shows "in Review" with the yellow clock item and of course is not on the App Store. Does anyone know how long it will take to reflect approval, and when it will become available on the App Store?
7
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1.9k
Nov ’22
Game Center leaderboard privacy
I have implemented a standard GKLeaderboard in my app. The leaderboard includes the player's avatar, display name, and the score. I only use functionality provided by GameKit without any custom server functionality. I don't even have an own server. Still, my app got rejected with the following notice: We noticed that your app does not obtain the user's consent prior to uploading users' scores to a global leaderboard. To collect personal data with your app, you must make it clear to the user that their personal data will be uploaded to your server. What should I do here? Do I really have to obtain user's consent before uploading his score to Game Center?
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1.3k
May ’23
(102232516091) Assistance Requested for Extended App Review Time
Hello Community, \o/ I hope everyone is doing well. I'm reaching out to seek advice or insights from anyone who might have encountered a similar situation with the App Store review process. I submitted my app for review on 14th of the February, and since then, the status has remained in review without any updates. We're now beyond the typical review timeframe, and this extended period without feedback or approval status is becoming a concern, especially with pressing deadlines and commitments we've made based on expected timelines. Has anyone here experienced such a long review time for their app submission? If so, how did you address it? Were there specific steps you took to inquire about the delay or expedite the review process? Any suggestions on how to effectively communicate with the App Store review team in this scenario would be greatly appreciated. Additionally, if there are any common pitfalls or issues that could potentially lead to longer review times, I'd be grateful for your insights to ensure we're not overlooking anything that could help resolve this delay. Thank you in advance for your time and assistance. Your support and shared experiences are invaluable to developers like myself navigating these challenges. Best regards,
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334
Feb ’24
App getting rejected for Guideline 5.1.1 and am unable to understand why
Hello, My team and I are trying to publish an app (It's our first time doing this). The app allows users to purchase self-guided tours using in-app purchases. Users can browse, find tours and see a preview of a tour without registration. However we require registration for the in-app purchase as this is linked to a user account. This is because there is a possibility that someone has bought a tour on an android device and is coming here plus this is the only way that we can enable the users to recover their account if they lose their device so it seems like a logical thing to do right? We only require an email ID and password and not a lot of info for registering. We have tried to explain this multiple times but this is the response we get: ""Guideline 5.1.1 - Legal - Privacy - Data Collection and Storage We noticed that your app requires users to register with personal information to purchase in-app purchase products that are not account based. Apps cannot require user registration prior to allowing access to app content and features that are not associated specifically to the user. User registration that requires the sharing of personal information must be optional or tied to account-specific functionality. Next Steps To resolve this issue, please revise your app to not require users to register before purchasing in-app purchase products that are not account based. You may explain to the user that registering will enable them to access the purchased content from any of their supported devices and provide them a way to register at any time, if they wish to later extend access to additional devices."" How is buying a tour not account specific? We also checked 2 competitor apps who offer audio tours and they require sign-ins before buying a tour. What are we missing here? Any help would be much appreciated.
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501
Mar ’24
2.3.1 Performance: Accurate Metadata
Note that I use flutter Every time I submit a review request , I receive only this answer, knowing that what was mentioned is not in the application and I reviewed the packages and there is no package belonging to this Hello, The issues we previously identified still need your attention. If you have any questions, we are here to help. Reply to this message in App Store Connect and let us know. Guideline 2.3.1 - Performance The app may contain hidden features, functionality, or content. Specifically, the app may contain financial transactions without the necessary authorization. Apps that provide financial transactions without the necessary authorization do not comply with guidelines 3.2.2 and 5.1.1(ix). Users should never be misled about the apps they download. Attempting to hide features, functionality, or content in the app may lead to removal from the Apple Developer Program. Next Steps It would be appropriate to identify any hidden features, functionality, or content in the app, including in third-party code or SDKs, and revise or remove the hidden material before resubmitting for review. If you feel that we have misunderstood how the app functions, reply to this message in App Store Connect to explain how these features work. dependencies: flutter: sdk: flutter The following adds the Cupertino Icons font to your application. Use with the CupertinoIcons class for iOS style icons. cupertino_icons: ^1.0.2 encrypt: ^5.0.3 get: ^4.6.6 http: ^1.1.2 shared_preferences: ^2.2.2 get_storage: ^2.1.1 path_provider: ^2.1.1 connectivity_plus: ^5.0.2 flutter_svg: ^2.0.9 top_snackbar_flutter: ^3.1.0 line_icons: ^2.0.3 socket_io_client: ^2.0.3+1 permission_handler: ^11.1.0 lecle_yoyo_player: ^0.0.8 pull_to_refresh: ^2.0.0 shimmer_pro: ^0.0.6 flutter_native_splash: ^2.3.9 flutter_launcher_icons: ^0.13.1 cached_network_image: ^3.3.1 visibility_detector: ^0.4.0+2 detectable_text_field: ^2.1.0 dropdown_button2: ^2.3.9 image_picker: ^1.0.7 image_cropper: ^5.0.1 appinio_video_player: ^1.2.2 flutter_social_textfield: ^0.1.2 url_launcher: ^6.2.3 flutter_staggered_grid_view: ^0.7.0 photo_view: ^0.14.0 chewie: ^1.7.5 file_picker: ^6.1.1 flutter_polls: ^0.1.5 just_audio: ^0.9.36 intl: ^0.19.0 onesignal_flutter: ^5.1.0 dotlottie_loader: ^0.0.3 lottie: ^3.0.0 quickalert: ^1.0.2 video_editor: ^2.4.0 flutter_otp_text_field: ^1.1.1 flutter_vibrate: ^1.3.0 extended_phone_number_input: ^1.0.2 loading_indicator: ^3.1.1 uuid: ^4.3.3 ant_media_flutter: ^1.0.10 flutter_randomcolor: ^1.0.14 firebase_core: ^2.25.4 firebase_messaging: ^14.7.15 flutter_dialogs: ^3.0.0 ionicons: ^0.2.2 flutter_deep_linking: ^0.2.1 uni_links: ^0.5.1 vs_story_designer: ^2.2.0 webview_flutter: ^4.7.0 google_fonts: ^6.1.0 flutter_cached_video_player_plus: ^2.1.3 flutter_hooks: ^0.18.6 google_mobile_ads: ^4.0.0 package_info_plus: ^5.0.1 nb_utils: ^6.1.2 flutter_paypal_payment: ^1.0.6 pretty_qr_code: ^3.2.1 flutter_barcode_scanner: ^2.0.0
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858
Mar ’24
Crash during App Review - We were unable to review your app as it crashed on launch
Hey, We are currently having an issue trying to distribute our app to App Store. We keep getting the same response from Apple and are trying our best to fix it. This is the error we are getting: Hello, The issues we previously identified still need your attention. If you have any questions, we are here to help. Reply to this message in App Store Connect and let us know. Guideline 2.1 - Performance - App Completeness We were unable to review your app as it crashed on launch. We have attached detailed crash logs to help troubleshoot this issue. Review device details: Device type: iPad Air (5th generation) OS version: iOS 17.3.1 Next Steps To address the crash in your app, follow these steps: Fully symbolicate the crash report. See Adding Identifiable Symbol Names to a Crash Report for an explanation of the symbolication process. Match the crash report to a common pattern. Based on the pattern, take specific actions to further investigate the crash. See Identifying the Cause of Common Crashes. Test your app on a device to ensure that it now runs as expected. Once you’ve addressed the crash, create and submit a new build to the App Store for review. Here are previous crashlogs. crashlog-4E555E01-86E8-4F9C-A91B-F3FE7AD8058A.txt crashlog-87621D1F-0675-47E8-BD64-7FA28350EE26.txt We can see it has something to do with a "PathProviderPlugin" and we have no clue where we are using it. We can only see it in generated files in xcode. We are having no problems downloading the app on physical iOS devices or emulators and we are not getting any crashes/errors either. We had people test our app in TestFlight without any problems either a few months ago. The only solution I've found on the internet is the problem only exists within iPads, so we tried to remove iPads, iMac and Apple Vision Pro from the desitations in xcode, but they still tested it on an iPad. We are in a bit of a hurry with releasing our app because we have users waiting since last week. Anyone have any idea what we are missing? Any input is appreciated and we hope to hear from you! Best regards, Steffen G.
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2.9k
Mar ’24
5.3.3 Gaming, Gambling, and Lotteries
I am looking to launch a 'skill based game tournament app which involves players purchasing in-game currency to compete against each other in video games with users able to withdraw their winnings. Entirely skill based games. The currency is being purchased by credit card or apple pay. No currency purchases through the apple store. I was hoping to get some clarification on 5.3.3 of the review guidelines. "5.3.3 Apps may not use in-app purchase to purchase credit or currency for use in conjunction with real money gaming of any kind, and may not enable people to purchase lottery or raffle tickets or initiate fund transfers in the app." Does this mean we are ok as long as we do not use the apple store for currency purchases? Is there anything else that might cause my app to be rejected by the Review Team? Thanks, JY
0
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494
Mar ’24
shortcut file pointing to "rejectable" URL included in app ok?
Hi, So I know an app will get rejected during App Store review if it includes the ability to open any Settings app URLs other than the main settings page or the app's own settings page, so you can't go directly to the Wi-Fi settings page for example. Wondering though if I create an iOS shortcut file via the Shortcuts app that includes the ability to open a "rejectable" URL (such as a sub-page of the Settings app) and include it in my app that the user can then open and install the shortcut to their device and use outside of my app, is that ok? I can share it via email, AirDrop, etc. no problem and it works on other devices. If the above is NOT ok, would it be ok if the app had a link to a web site that hosted the shortcut file so it wasn't actually embedded in my app itself? If it is ok, also wondering if shared shortcut files expire or have a validity period? I know the Settings app URLs can change at any time which would break the shortcut but not worried about updating the app if that happens with a new shortcut. Thanks! Colin
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577
Mar ’24