How to effectively avoid Apple’s capricious removal penalties?

Recently, CPs have frequently reported that the time for app review has been extended, and some apps have been punished by being suddenly removed from Apple's shelves. Not only do the above-mentioned problems exist, but on December 3, Apple also locked the keyword and popular search rankings for more than 24 hours. Previously, Apple's locking behavior was mainly aimed at the ranking of the list. This time, the keyword and popular search locking behavior is indeed incredible. Faced with the above-mentioned sudden abnormalities, how should we as CPs deal with them? Today I will give you some personal suggestions.

App review: Task accumulation leads to slower review speed

At the end of November, Apple announced that from December 22 to December 29, all Apple employees would be on vacation, the servers would be adjusted, and all review work would be suspended. As soon as this announcement came out, many iOS App developers lost their composure and tried desperately to speed up product development in order to get their apps on the shelves or update their latest versions before December 22. As a result, the number of App review submissions in early December exceeded normal levels. The members of Apple's review team are fixed, and the increase in the number of review submissions in a short period of time has seriously affected the progress of App review, resulting in slower review of general products.

Regarding the issue of "Apple suspending review from December 22nd to December 29th", this has been Apple's habit over the years. Brothers who have been engaged in iOS development for many years should have already been aware of this phenomenon. Of course, I would like to emphasize here that promotion should be carried out and the product should be put on the shelves as soon as possible before December 20, otherwise it may be delayed for half a month.

Careful friends should have discovered that there was another anomaly in Apple’s App review in mid-to-late November: the fast review channel could not be used normally, from approximately November 17 to December 1. For two weeks, the fast review channel has been basically in a semi-suspended state. The same situation also occurred in late July this year. The specific reason cannot be determined for the time being. Personally, I guess it is the result of Apple's intentional punishment, because many apps in the industry are using this fast review channel.

App removed from shelves : pornographic and explosive content, infringement and illegal guidance

There are quite a few apps that have been removed from the shelves in the past half month. For specific apps, you can simply look at the following two pictures:

There are several reasons for the systematic analysis of the apps that have been removed from the shelves:

1. There is pornographic information in the content of the App, including pornographic content generated by users themselves. If the App itself does not have a good review and blocking mechanism, once Apple discovers it, it will basically be removed from the App.

2. There is information within the App that threatens security. The source of this information is mainly spontaneously generated by users. Due to the confirmation of an effective review and blocking mechanism, violent information is spreading. Once discovered, it will be removed from the App and punished. Of course, there will be email warnings before that. If your own app receives this information, you need to handle this information in a timely manner and contact Apple for communication.

3. Apple has always cracked down on infringements. Infringements mainly include copyright and trademark infringements. The removal of Dota Legend is the best example of infringement. It is important to emphasize that the infringement here refers to the infringement of other people's trademark ownership or intellectual property rights; if it is an infringement of Apple's own brand words being occupied within the App Store system, Apple's position is a middle position of not handling it, because all information behaviors and data generated within the Apple system do not necessarily have legally recognized ownership.

4. Illegal guidance, mainly guiding users to comment and give certain props/points/gifts and other transactions through the H5 interface. Although the H5 window can be closed during the review period to effectively pass the review, the App will basically be at risk of being removed from the shelves once it is investigated afterwards. If the circumstances are serious, the developer's account may also be blocked. In addition to the H5 guidance I mentioned, any instigation of transactions within the App will face punishment.

The above four situations are the common reasons why apps are removed from the shelves, and a large number of fake reviews also face this risk. The number of apps removed from Apple’s App Store in December every year far exceeds that in other months. People in the industry often joke that Apple in December is having its period and is moody. In fact, the root cause is the KPI assessment at the end of the year. This assessment mechanism is very different from what everyone usually thinks of. Apple has an independent department - the Audit Team, which is responsible for removing illegal apps and ensuring the normal order of the application market . The existence of this department is the direct executioner that leads to the removal of apps.

How to avoid the risk of being delisted

To avoid the risk of App being removed from the shelves, we should mainly consider four aspects: App content + guidance + copyright + comments:

1. If you are creating community UGC content, you must effectively avoid pornographic and explosive content. You can arrange manual review or keyword blocking.
2. In terms of guiding user behavior, I personally suggest that you stop doing it for now. Although the dancers at the forefront of the storm are enjoying themselves, the storms behind them are always surging.
3. Apps that make content should consider copyright issues, so I won’t say more.
4. After the November 3 incident, the weight of comments has been lowered a lot, but it is still a core factor affecting the weight of App and keywords. Many CPs are willing to take risks for the sake of effect. It is actually okay to make comments, but it is recommended to make some real comments. The uninstall data/IP/comment content needs to be normally user-friendly, and machine brushing is not recommended for the time being.

What should we do after the App is removed from the shelves?

If an app is removed from the shelves, two steps can be performed simultaneously: the first step is to upload the removed app using another developer account. The basic information displayed in the App Store needs to be different from before, and the binary package needs to be changed; the second step is to file an appeal, change the content that caused the removal, and send an email to communicate with Apple about the App listing. This time is relatively long, at best two weeks, and at worst, it will take an indefinite amount of time.

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