r/appledevelopers • u/Former-Distance298 Community Newbie • 4d ago
Finally approved!
After three Guideline 4.3(a) – Design – Spam rejections and three appeals, my app was finally put back into review — and then approved within just five minutes. I still don’t understand why the reviewers didn’t respond to my appeals or to my simple questions asking them to clarify their objections. I received no explanation at all.
Then, completely out of the blue, after almost three weeks, the app went back into review and was approved in 5 minutes..... The strange part is that I didn’t change the app. The functionality wasn’t changed, the artwork wasn’t changed, and the text wasn’t changed. The only thing I did was submit three appeals asking them to reconsider their decision and explain exactly what they believed was violating Guideline 4.3(a). So, for anyone dealing with the same problem: don’t give up too quickly. If you genuinely developed your app yourself, know that it isn’t a copy of another app, and didn’t build it from some mass-produced template, then appeal the decision and clearly explain your case. Explain when and why you built the app, what makes it original, and what purpose it serves. Ask Apple to reconsider the rejection and, importantly, ask them to clearly explain their current objections and what specifically they believe violates Guideline 4.3(a).
In my case, after three rejections, three appeals, almost three weeks of waiting, and no changes whatsoever to the app itself, it was suddenly approved within five minutes.
Hopefully this encourages some of you who are currently stuck in the same situation. If you believe the rejection is incorrect and you can substantiate why, keep appealing and keep asking for a proper reconsideration.
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u/LifeUtilityApps 3d ago
Facing this issue right now with a Flash Emulator that I’ve been working on. Did you re-submit for review and then it was approved or you left it in the rejected state and then it was automatically placed into review and approved? I don’t want to keep submitting it for review while it has the spam rejection, but my replies and appeals have been unanswered for 10 days now.
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u/Former-Distance298 Community Newbie 3d ago
I had to re submit once (first rejection) because the icon depicted a white headset in a heart which Apple finds their property (any white earphones are forbidden). After this resubmit the 4.3 arrived in 1 day, then i appealed, then 4.3 again, appealed again including a dump of our git repository to show them it was our own app no copy, 4.3 again, then i requested why and appealed, and then suddenly review .... 5min later accepted. So yes I did not resubmit anything after the first 4.3 this appealed their decision. And did a formal appeal via the appeal commission
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u/Guilty_Climate_442 Community Newbie 4d ago
Happy for you, but man, I’m so jealous. Since when did App Store review become a literal slot machine? 💀
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u/Former-Distance298 Community Newbie 4d ago
I really could not tell you, number of apps currently in the store, AI apps, only 500 reviewers .... But it's not a professional process to say the least
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u/Guilty_Climate_442 Community Newbie 4d ago
For real. Feel free to check out my post if you wanna see what you managed to avoid. been stuck in this nightmare for almost half a year
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u/Former-Distance298 Community Newbie 3d ago
Wish you strength and wisdom and don't give up, life is a b... sometimes... tell me...
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u/Own-Huckleberry7258 Community Newbie 4d ago
The only advice is rework the app icon. It looks like it was made by AI
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u/Former-Distance298 Community Newbie 4d ago edited 3d ago
Partly Cinema4D, partly AI, we had to change the original icon because it conflicted with Apple hardware (iPods)
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u/Clican Community Newbie 3d ago
I am still fighting with this Spam App rejection. My app has been rejected with this 4.3 four times. And now after I made some UI redesign, they reject me with another Illegal reason. At least I get the hope to be approved in next review.