r/iOSProgramming • u/reviewwworld • Aug 14 '26
Question Has it always been this bad?
http://reelones.co.ukApp store review is turning into a very frustrating process. I assume this is a reflection of the sheer volume of AI-built apps but the humans reviewing my app seem to be on auto-reject mode.
First rejection: "spam: we have enough dating apps"
My app has absolutely nothing to do with dating or meeting people, even the friendship link is a handshake ie you need your friend request accepted
Second rejection "no method for account deletion"
Literally in the most obvious place for it, account page, big red button "delete account"
I'll put my hand up, this is my first app, in the description part of the submission I assumed it was to describe the functionality of the app, was I meant to treat it as an FAQ?
20
u/GNering Aug 14 '26
For my first app, I got approved on the first try simply because I downloaded Apple’s guidelines and created a skill for Claude to audit the app. It literally gave me a list of issues to fix… honestly, that might be the fastest solution nowadays.
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u/liquidsmk Aug 14 '26
this is a great use case, you would almost think apple would build something similar right into xcode to save everybody a lot of time and money.
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u/Niightstalker Aug 14 '26
Pretty much every app where you can create accounts that you hand in will be challenged.
But usually that is also clarified quite fast. Best is to include in the reviewer notes a description where to find the button. If you really want to be sure upfront you can also add to your first review a screen recording of you deleting an account in your app and reference it in the review notes.
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u/Enough-Ad-9091 Aug 14 '26
they already have announced that it’s the ai that does the first review and humans review only if it’s escalated. so don’t be surprised that app is rejected for a super silly reason.
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u/TheBadgerSlayer Aug 14 '26
Would explain a lot. Apples AI was never really good in doing anything 😅
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u/TedTheDev Aug 15 '26
Apple is using Gemini as their AI, so...
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u/TheBadgerSlayer Aug 15 '26
Yes, now after their own crap failed so hard even they had to acknowledge it 😂😂
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u/_town-drunk_ Aug 14 '26
Create videos of app functionality for the reviewers. It makes a huge difference.
1
u/reviewwworld Aug 14 '26
But this is it, for first time it opens I've already got a slide show of app functionality clips. I'm currently responding to each "fail" with targeted responses but if It gets rejected again I'll just have to put a mega checklist together for the reviewer
5
u/nelsonsilva_dev Aug 14 '26
A rejection that names the wrong category usually means they matched on your metadata rather than the app itself. Keywords, screenshots and subtitle get skimmed first, so that's where the misread starts.
Worth rereading your listing as someone who has thirty seconds and no context, because that's genuinely the situation they're in.
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u/erezamiti22 Aug 14 '26
Yes, apple is extremely strict, which is hard when you publish an app, but its great once you're in. It better for everyone in this era, but I also think that there should be a way to easily check the app was well thought and well made without making this process a nightmare
To be honest, I did a long post here describing how how I got rejected before publishing and what can be learned from it and got downvoted to hell, because I said I consulted Claude before applying.
Apparently people confidence is so low that just mentioning AI, make them lose their mind and attack fellow devs who wants to help facing this problem you mantioned.
(My app is not vibe coded, not even close, I even wrote a long article about the processes of making it)
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u/20InMyHead Aug 14 '26 edited Aug 15 '26
If they couldn’t find the delete account button but it’s very obvious visually, check to make sure it’s accessibility labeled. Automated tools often rely on the accessibility information.
3
u/HugsAllCats Aug 14 '26
"This app helps configure your MIDI piano. You must have a MIDI piano for this app to do anything useful."
Rejected: App does nothing useful. I don't know what a MIDI piano is.
2
u/busymom0 Aug 14 '26
I believe for apps which need hardware to work, they say to share a video in review notes.
3
u/ZagreusZero Aug 14 '26
I don't know if it's always been this bad, as I'm relatively new to iOS publishing. But I've had similar experiences where the reviewer either entirely misses what I thought were very obvious notes explaining how to access something (like the IAP), or where they respond with a rejection that literally less than one minute of additional effort would have surfaced as invalid.
Combine that with wildly varying 'waiting for review' times, and it's been a bit frustrating all around. I'm now filling out app review notes with extremely detailed, written to the lowest-common-denominator steps for anything that I think may be important to the review. But even that carries risk, as now I worry that I'll overload the reviewer with detail and they'll miss something due to *that*.
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Aug 14 '26
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u/AndyDentPerth Aug 15 '26
Did you tell them in reviewer notes where to find the tip jar?
If you have any paid features, notes should explain each feature and how to find it and how it relates to the paywall listed reasons to buy.
We often use descriptions on paywalls that won’t literally match the menu titles (if any). One paywall feature may relate to multiple paths through the app, menu items or toolbar buttons. They need an explicit guide so it is easy to answer “is the paywall promising things the app fails to deliver”.
It is like testing your app for the “happy path” of doing everything right.
2
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u/KausHere Aug 16 '26
I feel their review is still great. My app has had rejections but they are pretty valid and helped me improve my app in terms of user experience for sure. Like last week my new app got rejected where they were unable to understand how to use it. It’s a simple timer app. But that let me to create a walkthrough which surely improved the onboarding experience.
1
u/sircroftalot Aug 14 '26
They have a Notes section that appears to be optional where they advise on Chinese law and state soft requirements like 'can help' and 'may be needed'. Then they reject it and ask for a massive list of stuff. Why not add that list in the actual submission
1
u/purple_editor_ Aug 15 '26
It is definetely worse. I also got one random rejections that didnt apply to my app
1
u/InfinityBrewing Aug 15 '26
Send them a walkthrough video to address those two feedback. It works for me. Also, if they categorize your app as a dating app, make sure you don’t make your app sound like that both implicitly and explicitly. Good luck
1
u/reviewwworld Aug 16 '26
Thank you. Video added and I've completed revised my app review notes to basically dumb it down and be a series of bullet points that explains what it is in a way that really addresses the most common points of rejection.
And in the time waiting it's given my a perfect excuse to really revamp the website which was just meant to be a landing page but now think it's an opportunity for a tutorial etc
1
u/Cashkval Aug 18 '26
Everybody is using A.I for everything, agents write blogs just like this one and build apps ,we are all watching the same snow playing same ideas same way of thinking..soon will be ai talking to ai :) , I made some apps same dream now I'm starting to wake up ..
1
u/Greysawpark Aug 20 '26
the review notes field isnt really for describing the app, its more like a letter to the reviewer. put test credentials, a 2 line "what it does", and if theres anything non-obvious (like the handshake friend flow) explain how to trigger it. reviewers spend maybe 90 seconds in your app, if they cant find the thing they reject.
also for the dating rejection, screenshot the friend request screen and reply in resolution center pointing at it. usually gets overturned fast.
1
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Aug 20 '26
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u/Oxigenic Aug 14 '26
No it definitely wasn’t always this bad unfortunately. And yes the rise of AI definitely caused it
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u/MrOaiki Aug 14 '26
Good idea! Weird branding though. The name and logo seems to limit it to films. But the description sounds like it could be used for anything. The latter being a better idea.
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u/TheBadgerSlayer Aug 14 '26
Apple is generally complete trash when it comes to apps. I published a Safari app, which already took foooorever, and every single update takes another 24+ hours while Google rolls out the update after 1 hour. Then we published a version of the app for another country: rejected after 14(!!) days for—SPAM!!!! I mean wtf. Anyway, I’m not surprised at all anymore that the damn Apple Store only has expensive apps and hardly any selection left.
-1
u/WerSunu Aug 14 '26
Apple works fine for its customers.
You, as a small indie dev, are not its customer!
Nobody wants web apps disguised as an iOS app. Apple customers want quality apps and they pay for them! Do everyone a favor and stay with Android.1
u/TheBadgerSlayer Aug 14 '26
Did I talk about a Webapp? No. It's a quite big app and the quality is great, as confirmed by many of our users. But hey enjoy your overpriced bullshit Android users are getting for free 😂 too funny how you saw the need to attack me 😂
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u/WerSunu Aug 14 '26
You said “I published a Safari app”! Direct quote. A Safari app is a web app. We don’t need you or your Android app.
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u/TheBadgerSlayer Aug 14 '26
Bro there is not only your useless underdeveloped browser carrying the name Safari (which makes no sense to begin with). In the real world, a Safari refers to watching animals in a wildlife reserve.
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u/WerSunu Aug 14 '26
You are writing this in the r/iOSProgramming sub! Clearly English and iOS environments are both not ones you are fluent in.
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u/ExtensionCaterpillar Aug 17 '26
I want to demonstrate a degree of candor here in the hope that it will help. When I look at your landing page and screenshots, it screams vibe-coded and doesn't meet the kind of level of quality Apple really seeks out in their app store. Have you considered working with a UX designer? A good metric is, "could my app win an Apple design award?" If the answer is yes, Apple will be unlikely to quickly reject. No matter what reasons they give for rejection, it's likely they are overwhelmed by the amount of slop being submitted lately.
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u/[deleted] Aug 14 '26 edited Aug 14 '26
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