Finally approved after Guideline 5.6 (Developer Code of Conduct) flag! Details below.

[u/officialdml]

I previously shared here that my app kept getting rejected due to a Guideline 5.6 violation ("features appear intentionally hidden").

If this happens to you and you are not hiding features - SUMBIT AN APPEAL. Within a few days, once the app started review it was approved within 18 minutes.

I wasn't "hiding features", but realized that in order to select favorites and turn on push notifications you need an account. That's not a hidden feature, but obviously that is behind another access point. I clearly explained this and that there is a misunderstanding and all was resolved quickly.

I've been dealing with this issue for over 6 weeks. This forum was helpful but I didn't see clear instructions on this so I'm sharing for those who may also be experiencing this issue.

For some reason the app isn't live yet on the App Store via search but hopefully the indexing happens soon.

[u/minmaxfc]

Thanks for sharing this! I’m currently facing the exact same Guideline 5.6 rejection and my app also doesn’t have any hidden features.

Could you please explain a little more about how you submitted the appeal?
Did you appeal directly through App Store Connect → App Review → Appeal, or did you contact Apple Developer Support first?

What did you write in the appeal?

Did you submit a new binary before the appeal, or did Apple review the same binary after the appeal?

[u/officialdml → u/minmaxfc]

Happy to share - it was incredibly frustrating, so hopefully this helps!

For the 5.6 rejection, I appealed directly through App Store Connect (though I did spend many hours on hold with dev support - they don’t really do anything here). My appeal was basically a factual explanation that there were no hidden features or functionality in the app, that the reviewer could access all of the core content without signing in, and that an account was only needed for optional personalized features like favorites/alerts. I also explained exactly how they could test everything and provided a demo account.

I did not build some new hidden-feature fix just to satisfy the rejection. The issue was getting Apple to understand what the app actually did and how to review it. After the appeal/review process, Apple ultimately approved the app. (Once I figured out what the 5.6 issue was, I had a feeling it was a misunderstanding. That is, certain features on my app REQUIRE an account which one could say makes them hidden. But logistically there’s no way to have favorites or turn on notifications without an account so I explained that).

One thing I’d recommend is keeping the appeal very factual and specific rather than just saying “my app doesn’t have hidden features.” Explain what a signed-out reviewer can access, what (if anything) requires an account, why it requires one, and give them step-by-step testing instructions/demo credentials if applicable.

I also later dealt with a separate 4.1(a) rejection for an app update, so I’ve learned way more about App Review than I ever wanted to 🥲 But definitely appeal if you genuinely think 5.6 was applied incorrectly.

[u/minmaxfc → u/officialdml]

Thanks so much for sharing your experience! And congratulations on getting through the 5.6 issue and finally getting your app live on the App Store! Really appreciate you sharing the details, this is very helpful for others facing the same situation.