I have an app which is in the app store since 2022. It is an app with combined features of note taking, todo list and calendar. My most recent app update is rejected with the following message. Guideline 4.3(a) - Design - Spam We 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. Submitting similar or repackaged apps is a form of spam that creates clutter and makes it difficult for users to discover new apps. Next Steps Since we do not accept spam apps on the App Store, we encourage you to review your app concept and submit a unique app with distinct content and functionality. Resources Some factors that contribute to a spam rejection may include: Submitting an app with the same source code or assets as other apps already submitted to the App Store Creating and submitting multiple similar apps using a repackaged app template Purchasing an app template with problematic code from a third party Submitting several similar apps across multiple accounts Learn more about our requirements to prevent spam in App Review Guideline 4.3(a). Support Reply to this message in your preferred language if you need assistance. If you need additional support, use the Contact Us module. Consult with fellow developers and Apple engineers on the Apple Developer Forums. Help improve the review process or identify a need for clarity in our policies by suggesting guideline changes. I reply the reviewer with the following message. Hi, I am writing to appeal the rejection of my app, ***. I would like to emphasize the unique aspects of *** that distinguish it from other apps in the market: Integrated Functionality: Unlike most apps that are standalone note-taking, to-do, or calendar apps, *** uniquely combines all three functions into a single app. Extensive Calendar Features: *** includes a comprehensive calendar feature covering holidays in 250 countries and 3,680 states and provinces, a rare and valuable feature. Chinese Lunar Calendar: Our app includes a Chinese Lunar Calendar, which is highly appreciated in the Taiwanese market, adding a culturally specific feature not commonly found in other apps. Organizational Tools: *** allows unlimited tabs and colors for organizing notes, surpassing many competitors who offer limited color options. Flexible Viewing and Sorting Modes: Users can choose from four viewing modes (Grid, Compact Grid, List, Compact List) and five sorting modes (Modified Time, Created Time, Alphabet, Color, Check, Reminder), enhancing the user experience by providing flexibility and customization. No Character Limit: Our design supports notes of any length without character limitations, unlike many apps that impose restrictions. Organized To-Do Lists: Completed to-do items are automatically moved to the bottom, keeping the list clean and organized, a feature that sets us apart from other apps. Rich Attachments: *** supports unlimited picture attachments, drawing attachments, and voice recordings for notes, offering more versatility than many other apps. Advanced Security: *** offers 3 different kinds of password lock mechanisms to protect note privacy, ensuring users have multiple options for securing their information. Powerful Reminders: Our app includes highly customizable reminders that can repeat daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly, making it easy for users to stay on top of their tasks and appointments. Due to the character limits of this form, I cannot list all the unique features of ***. Please refer to our product description for a comprehensive overview. We are proud of our 5k user reviews with an average rating of 4.8, reflecting user satisfaction with ***'s unique features. Here's are some of the recent reviews. (United states only. Please kindly contact me to obtain full list of the reviews) by ??? – Jun 14, 2024 omg i cannot explain how much i love *** like unlike the boring notes app this one is actually fun to use and rlly easy and i rlly like the fonts, color, to do list, calandar that can remind you like every day, week, month, and year like omg?!?!? i love *** and this app is going in like my "I 💖U" folder like tysm for making *** idk what i would do without it like omg tysm i cant explain in words how much i love it💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 by ??? – May 12, 2024 I love it sooo much I give it a 5 because there is a password so no one can look by ??? – Apr 30, 2024 Perfect app. All in one by ??? – Mar 26, 2024 I just downloaded this app a few days ago and I love it!! 😃 Up til recently I ALWAYS used paper sticky notes that I would have on my desk - and the reason why is because I could see everything all at once at all times; it’s very convenient - but it also produces clutter and anxiety because every subject is all in one place. *** fixed that!! 😀 With tabs and the list or grid view mode, I can have more organization of subjects and still see almost everything all at once! I love it! 🤩 suggestion I would really love to have more format options for the text! 🙂 Like a button to indent, and be able to have sub notes with points, dashes, or numbers. It makes everything look more tidy and neat. Thank you for this wonderful app! 😆 I am available at 123-456-789 to discuss further and provide additional detail. Thank you. Till to date, I haven't received reply from the reviewer. May I know, what are some other actionable items I can do, so that I can get through "Guideline 4.3(a) - Design - Spam" app update rejection? Thank you so much!

I'm an indie developer. My latest minor update for my game which has been on the Mac App Store for 13 years and which has spent time at #1 on the download charts just started getting rejected for the following reason: Guideline 2.5.2 - Performance - Software Requirements The app installed or launched executable code. Specifically, the app uses the itms-services URL scheme to install an app. However my app is certainly not installing any apps and to the best of my knowlege it is not using any itms/itunes/etc. type URLs in any way, so I can't figure out what would be triggering this claim. Inquiries as to what app I am supposedly installing or what URL I am supposedly using have yielded 'no further information can be provided'. Has anyone run into something similar? Any ideas on obscure scenarios that could trigger this particular rejection? Or any advice on what one should do in my situation? I feel a bit stuck. Has anyone had luck with the appeal process for this sort of thing (to at least get more information)?

Hi, For 10 days now we've been rejected with no answer. I am afraid Apple will never answer us... and 3 years of development down the drain. My team and our whole families are waiting but as the days go by, it is looking more and more grim for us I am afraid. Is there anything we can do? Our game had a decent rating and audience reception so far. All of our code is built by us over thousands of hours. We have alot of features that competitors do not have, this was even mentioned by several Youtubers and called out as a unique game. Guideline 4.3(a) - Design - Spam We 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. Any advice would be so appreciated ! Thank you, Alex

Hello Apple Developer Community, I am encountering an issue with my iOS app submission on the App Store Connect platform. After testing the app extensively on various devices, including iPhones and iPads using Xcode, the app appeared to be functioning correctly with all screens visible. However, upon submission, Apple rejected the app, citing that it launched a blank page specifically on the iPad Air (5th generation) running iOS version 17.4.1. I have thoroughly reviewed the app's code and conducted additional testing, but have been unable to replicate the issue on my end. I am reaching out to the community for assistance in troubleshooting and resolving this issue. Has anyone encountered a similar problem before, or does anyone have suggestions on how to address this issue effectively? Any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help.

We've recently submitted an App to be Unlisted. The email suggests it takes up to 3 business days to process. We received and are reviewing your request for unlisted app distribution. Please note that we respond to requests in the order we receive them and will respond to your request within three business days. We haven't seen any progress on the Unlisted submission and have not seen an email notifications after the 3 business days has elapsed. Occasionally, the App will get a store page URL around the time of a completed Unlisted app submission, this has yet to happen. Previous Apps of ours that are unlisted got an email with a ticket number, the most recent submissions do not have a ticket number, only an acknowledgement of the form submission. Would it be possible to know if there is an additional wait time? Are others experiencing a similar delay?

Hi, We have an app live on the App Store since August 2020. We have made some 50+ updates on the app with minor & major changes throughout these 3+ years. A few months ago we submitted an update as usual with some minor changes and a new feature but got 'Design Spam, 4.3' rejection saying: We 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. 1st question, how does an app that has been doing the same things for 3+ years suddenly gets 'Design Spam' ???? Then we sent a message to App Review with some screenshots of our app's update history taken from App Store Connect console and a message stating the same question as above. We got a reply: Hello, Thank you for your reply. During our review, we found that this app duplicates the content and functionality and icon of other apps submitted to the App Store, which is considered a form of spam and is not appropriate for the App Store. Now they mentioned 'Icon' as well. So after some searching we found that another App was using our app's icon and it went live in 2023. We have had this app icon since January 2021 and instead of taking action against the other developer Apple rejected our app. Upon further communication with App Review, their replies got robotic and only copy pasted the previous response of 4.3, 4.3, 4.3... Anyways we scheduled a call with someone from App Review board and meanwhile we started the process of getting copyrights for our app's icon. The call was, as expected, unfruitful and the person on the other side of the call stated the same things as in the messages from App Review. This person was not fluent in English which communication even more difficult and hence ended without any progress. We got copyrights for our app's icon and filed a claim with Apple and their reply was quite shocking and disappointing. Apple basically said that we have contacted the other developer and this process can take a lot time so meanwhile you should try to resolve this issue on your own(I tried but was unable to attach screenshots of this communication). A trillion dollar company and this is their response to a copyrights claim. Highly disappointing. Anyways, after a few weeks the other developer changed their app icon and Apple told us so. So we made another update attempt Yesterday and once again got the design spam rejection. 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 4.3 - Design We 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. We have the urge to compile a list of hundreds of apps on the App Store that do not even make an effort to be unique and simply copy exact designs of other app but we know that any further effort is useless. We have no way forward, so if anyone has any suggestions please do let us know. This post was to inform and educate on the dictatorial behaviour of a trillion dollar company. Thank you for reading.

Hello, I'm new to iOS development and I'm trying to take some screenshots of my app to submit to the App Store. I'm running Ventura 13.0.1 and XCode 14.1. So far I've used these simulators to take screenshots: 6.5 inch - iPhone 11 Pro Max 6.7 inch - iPhone 14 Pro Max 12.9 inch - iPad Pro 6th gen What I'm stuck on is getting the 5.5 inch screenshots, which are required for App Store submission. As far as I can tell from some online searching, the latest iPhone with that screen size was the 8 Plus. I've installed the oldest iOS simulator that XCode has listed (iOS 13.7), but it still won't let me run a simulator for the iPhone 8 Plus to get those screenshots. I don't have the physical device to take screenshots on. Does anyone know how to get the 5.5 inch screenshots without having to manually resize them?

I'm submitting a new version of my app, and after click "submit for Review", it show that: A few more items are needed in order to submit for review The items listed below are required for submission:There are still screenshot uploads in progress. I didn't met this problem before. Is that mean I haven't upload all the screenshot required or it's still uploading the screenshots to App Store Connect's server? Cause before there is a "save" button after you drag images to the screenshots area, now you don't. And I think I have uploaded all the screenshots needed and I waited a day to try submit again, still the same. What should I do?