Apple's review has always failed. What should I do to get my application approved?

When you have read a large number of official emails, documents and web pages from Apple, you will sincerely feel that what is said throughout the text is basically completely correct but meaningless. According to a senior friend in the industry, the beginning of all official Apple documents and emails can be understood as: Hello, dear developer, I am your dad. Why do I say so? Actually, it is very simple. Apple is a very rigorous and strict company. All rights of interpretation belong to them and there should be no doubt.

Now, let’s get back to the topic and talk about the review regulations. Since most of Apple's review regulations are completely ambiguous, such as "apps that mislead users will be rejected", and articles translating the review regulations one by one can be seen in various media every 3-5 days, the captain will not translate them one by one.

What is said below is purely focused on how to minimize the probability of your app being rejected when submitted for review.

There are two types of app reviews in the App Store:

1. The initial review is the review when the app is first submitted, that is, the first submitted version after a new app is created on the connect background. No matter how many times this version is rejected or whether the version number is 1.0, as long as the app has no previous version that has passed the review, it will be regarded as the initial review. The waiting time for the initial review of a game is 2-3 weeks after submission, and the results are released in 3-5 days after entering the review stage. The review time for non-game apps is about half of that for games.
2. Update package review: All versions submitted after the initial review are considered update packages, regardless of how much the content has changed, whether the name has changed, or whether the icon has changed. The waiting time for a game update package is 3-5 days after submission, and the results will be available in 1-2 days after review. If your update package enters the "in review" status for more than 3 days without any results, 80% of them will be rejected.

In addition to the review time, the standards for update package reviews are much looser than those for initial reviews. And because the captain complained earlier that the audit regulations were too ambiguous, many vague issues at critical moments depend entirely on the auditors' own judgment to decide whether to pass or not. For example, in a certain game there was an NPC who was a busty girl with revealing clothes, which did not meet the standards of this year's CJ showgirl. However, the first reviewer of this game was a young man in his 20s, so it passed the review smoothly. However, when submitting the update package, you encountered a conservative 40-year-old lady who felt very frightened after seeing this NPC. Sorry, you were rejected.

In addition, I would like to share some knowledge with many people who pretend to know everything. There is no such thing as "you can jump the queue if your application is rejected or you withdraw the review and submit it again". Once your application is rejected, you should get in line again honestly. Expedited matters will be discussed later.

As the saying goes, time is money. Since the review cycle for the initial review and update package is very different, the captain strongly recommends that you submit the initial review package as early as possible, even if there are undeveloped functions. As long as the main process is complete, you can submit it for initial review. For other controversial features and materials, it is best to put them in the update package for review (the weighting of the list of newly reviewed apps will be discussed separately).

Now vests are also considered part of the review. Currently, the pass rate for vests has become very low, because Apple’s review of APPs has become more and more strict, and the function descriptions and product screenshots are basically rejected. However, there are countermeasures to every policy. You can try to separate the functions, or delete some interfaces/functions, or change the UI and homepage.

Okay, let’s take a look at how we should review it!

Basic level

1. Please adapt to the latest version of iOS system

Apple's reviewers will use devices with the latest and next-to-latest versions of iOS to review your app, so even if a new version of iOS is released when your application is submitted for review and you are in the waiting for review state, your app must run normally under the latest version of the system. Apple isn’t very strict with earlier versions of the system, so if your app has a bug on iOS 6.0 that can’t be fixed, don’t bother fixing it.

2. Network environment

Apple reviewers always use devices with both WiFi and cellular data networks turned on for review, so make sure your app does not have various strange problems in this state. As for extreme problems such as "the network suddenly turns into WIFI while playing games on 3G, blablabla", you don't need to take it too seriously.

3. Equipment model

You only need to test the devices that can be purchased from Apple's official website and the previous generation. You don't have to worry about the reviewer digging out an iPad 1 from a corner for review.

App front-end performance

1. Black border

There must not be any black borders. Please note that there is a detail here. The so-called "black borders" can pass the review as long as they are not pure black. In other words, if there is really no time to adapt it to the iPad before it is reviewed, just add a textured background to replace the pure black border.

2. Consistency

This specifically refers to icons, such as connect background, packaged installation, push, and other icons of various sizes, ranging from 1024*1024 to 12*12, and they need to be consistent. (Note: When the icon in the connect backend is different from the desktop icon during package installation, there is a 25% chance that it can pass the review. The captain suspects that some reviewers first reviewed the app itself and then looked at the backend without comparing the icons.)

3. Name

There is no strict limit on the length of the name, as long as you can write it, but in the past six months, there will be a crackdown on excessive use of names for ASO . In terms of name consistency, the name filled in the connect background and the name displayed on the device after installation can be slightly different while expressing the same meaning. Generally, for aesthetic purposes, it is most appropriate to display 4-5 Chinese characters below the icon. If it is too long, you can consider shortening it, but the meaning must be consistent. Here are two examples: "Plants vs. Zombies" is called "PVZ" after installation, and "Puzzle & Dragons" is called "P&D" after installation.

4. Startup background

After clicking the app icon on the device to open the app, there needs to be a background image during the loading process, and black screen loading is not allowed.

5. Demo issue

Logos such as "demo", "test", "trial", etc. are not allowed to appear anywhere, including but not limited to the connect background, in-game functions, names, subtitles, announcements, and server names.

Functional level

1. The functions should be complete

For example, if your game is an RPG, then when it is reviewed, it must at least be able to complete tasks, fight, upgrade, and obtain rewards. It cannot be an inexplicable unfinished product.

2. Account and Privacy

You should know that Apple is a company that pays great attention to user privacy protection. Therefore, when your app requires account registration and the registration process requires users to provide private information including but not limited to email, mobile phone, and ID card, you must provide a privacy agreement in the registration module. A visitor mode must also be provided to ensure that users can fully use all the functions of the app without providing privacy information to register an account.

3. Newbie Guide

Apple's reviewers don't play the onboarding guide, so it's best to have no onboarding guide or to skip it, or to provide them with a test account that has already completed the onboarding guide.

4. Conditional opening and unfinished functions

The app is not allowed to have the words “not open yet” or “stay tuned” or a button that simply does not respond when clicked. If you encounter similar problems during the review, please remove the entrance directly, even if there is a blank space on the interface.

5. H5

H5 cannot pass the review, so don’t try it. As for the reason, the packed H5 is actually just a web page with shortcuts, and the content can be changed at will and is completely out of Apple's control. This kind of dangerous thing cannot be allowed.

6. Level opening

If the game has features like "unlocked at level 30" or "unlocked after completing level 3-1", please provide a premium test account.

7. Third Party

Apple often mentions this and will specifically ask whether you are calling third-party content, so theoretically, it is not allowed for your app to call other non-Apple official apps. However, the supervision in this area is not strict, so you only need to consider what to do if the reviewer uses the functions of your app to call other apps and the reviewer happens not to have that app installed on his device.

8. Anti-vulgarity

Things like the harem system, the clothes exploding system, and the RY system can lead to tragedy.

iap

1. Choose the right type

The common diamonds and ingots we see are both consumable, so don’t choose the wrong ones.

2. The name should be consistent and the description should be rigorous

The product name in the game and the product name in the connect backend should be consistent or highly recognizable. Don't let the product be called "a small bag of diamonds" in the game and "coin1" in the backend. Filling out the iap description in the background clearly states how to buy, what to get, how many are given, and how to get the items. This will be of additional help to your review.

3. Buy A and get B for free is not allowed

For example, buying 500 diamonds and getting 50 diamonds for free is acceptable, but buying 500 diamonds and getting a 10-yuan recharge card for free is not acceptable.

4. Monthly Card

Monthly cards are something that bothers many developers, so I will talk about them in detail here. The probability of Apple rejecting monthly card products is very high. This does not mean that Apple does not allow developers to set up monthly cards. Let’s take a look at the main reasons for returning to the monthly card:

• Doubts about pricing and diamond availability. For example, you buy 300 diamonds for 30 yuan, but a 25 yuan monthly card gives you 300 diamonds as a base, and you can get 120 diamonds every day afterwards. Apple will be kind enough to suspect that there is something fishy going on here.
• According to Apple's understanding, the monthly card is collected once a day after successful purchase and expires in one month. Then you need to set the IAP type to "Non-auto-renewable subscription", but unfortunately, this product type is not suitable for the monthly card design of most of our current planners.

So how does the monthly card pass the review?

Now each company has its own way, but it’s hard to bring it to the table. In fact, just look at how the names and descriptions of monthly cards are defined in most games currently, and you will probably understand what it means.

Connect background information related

1. Copyright issues

If your game has a genuine IP, please prepare the authorization document in advance and provide it in the review notes. If there is no copyright, then don't play tricks with the name, icon, or store image. Seeing this, you might say, aren’t there so many copycat and infringing games in China now on the list? Here is a brief description of how they passed the review:

1. In the past, or more recently last year, Apple's management of copyright issues was not very strict, so those products that had passed the review and were put on the shelves at that time, and were mainly updated through hot updates, are still alive and well.
2. As the captain said at the beginning, the review standards for the initial review and the update package are very different, and the update package review often relies on the personal judgment of the reviewer, so some infringing content will slip through the net during the update package review.
3. Smart developers have taken some clever measures to prevent Apple from seeing infringing content. I won’t go into details here.

2. Official website, customer service and other information

The official website strictly prohibits the use of words related to "jailbreak" and the download address of the jailbreak version, and it is best not to have the Android version either.

3. Scale, oh no, shame

The degree of exposure and provocative expressions of girls in icons and store pictures are strictly controlled. Don’t give excuses like “my game is set for age 16+”. The reviewer will tell you that, sorry, although your game is set for 16+, the App Store is available to users of all ages, so your icon and store image must comply with the 4+ setting.

In addition, the revision of the review regulations in the past six months also stated that cigarettes, alcohol, weapons, etc. are prohibited from appearing in icons and store pictures, but no strict requirements for these categories have been found so far.

4. Details of the store map

According to the review regulations, store pictures are required to "use actual screenshots of the app without modification", but the captain found that this requirement is actually only strict during the initial review. When reviewing the update package, as long as the pictures are not overly retouched or girls who are too exposed are not used, there will basically be no problem.

In particular

1. VIP

Strictly speaking, not all VIP functions are prohibited. To see whether the VIP functions in your game violate the review regulations, you need to look at the following points:

1. The way to obtain VIP is to gain VIP experience when you recharge money, and the more you recharge, the higher the level. If so, I'm sorry that you have violated the rule of "buy A and get B for free". You bought diamonds and cannot get VIP experience for free.
2. Whether different VIP levels will bring additional benefits to users. If so, I'm sorry you've violated the principle of 'must be fair to all users'.

Seeing this, you may ask again, VIP is clearly a standard feature in so many games! ? The captain mentioned this issue before when talking about copyright. Smart developers will always find a way.

2. Redemption code or activation code or CDKEY or pre-registration

None of these are allowed because they violate the principle of fairness. Not all users can get these codes, so it is unfair to some users.

3. Comments

It is prohibited to induce user comments by any means. The same is also said separately:

1. You cannot use any benefits to induce users to leave comments, such as a task in the game to leave comments, or giving 30 diamonds after leaving comments.
2. You cannot use any rhetorical method to ask users to give a 5★ rating. For example, "Please give us five stars" or "Please give us a good review" are not acceptable. But "Please give us a review" is okay.

4. IDFA

Advertiser identification code, after Apple banned developers from obtaining MAC addresses, IDFA was generally used for device identification. But Apple requires that a specific code be used for a specific purpose. If you use IDFA, you must advertise. In some cases, this problem can be passed by explanation, but the simplest and quickest way is to put an advertisement in an inconspicuous place and then tell the reviewer where the advertisement is in the review notes.

Last but not least

After paying attention to all the things mentioned above, you can basically guarantee that your app will have more than 90% chance of passing the review. So what is the remaining 10%? They are just stupid teammates, stupid teammates, stupid teammates (I have to say this three times because it is important)!

Here are some examples:

1. All the checks were completed and the review was done. After 3 difficult weeks of waiting, Apple people finally started the review, but the server was not turned on.
2. The operations staff misconfigured the content of the announcement or activity, causing the reviewers to see a large number of activities and announcements for jailbreak or Android servers.
3. The technical staff solemnly opened a server specifically for the review, which was called the "test server".
4. There was another mistake in the announcement of the operation staff configuration. A lot of announcements such as "The closed beta test ends on X month X day" and "The next round of testing will start on X month X day" were seen.
5. There was an entrance to the forum on the official website, and the administrator of the forum happened to be a temporary worker. As a result, no one dealt with the various posts criticizing Apple in the forum.
6. The previous situation appeared in the QQ group.