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Apple Engaged in Geographic Bias
We are a development team building an application targeted specifically for the Southeast Asian market. We have been caught in a frustrating review cycle and are hoping to get some guidance on how to move forward. The Situation Our application is intentionally unavailable in the United States. Per Apple's guidance, we implemented a "We are currently not available in your country" error screen that displays when a user's location falls outside our supported regions. This is intentional, expected behavior — not a bug. The Problem Despite providing detailed testing instructions and dedicated test accounts tied to the correct region, our Reviewers consistently: Do not use the test accounts we created for them Do not follow the regional setup instructions we provided Access the app from a US-based location See the geographic restriction screen (the one Apple instructed us to build) Flag it as a bug and reject the submission We have confirmed this is the root cause, as the rejection notes reference the exact screen that Apple previously instructed us to implement. The reviewer spends fewer than 10 seconds in the app before rejecting. What We Need We are stuck in a loop with no clear path out. We are asking for: Escalation to a reviewer who will follow the provided testing instructions and use the correct region/account Clarification on how to properly communicate geographic restrictions to the review team so this is not flagged as a defect We have put significant effort into complying with every piece of guidance we have received, and we are committed to meeting Apple's standards. We just need a reviewer to spend more than a few seconds with our app using the correct credentials. Any help escalating this or pointing us to the right process would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. App Name: Hustla App ID: 6756264790
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68
Apr ’26
No contact from Support and No Review (5 Months Now)
My investors are losing their minds. We’ve had our app available on Google since late December, but our experience with Apple has been a nightmare. First, despite paying the developer fee, nobody responds to emails or reaches out. The one time we got Apple on the phone, we spoke to someone who said she was in charge of the testing team reviewing our app. The call was frustrating—she didn’t seem familiar with basic app testing for a location-based product (for example, how to emulate a different location), and it left us feeling helpless. The technical ability of the testing process has been shocking. We spent a month just trying to get reviewers to understand the basic app concepts. Our app also isn’t available in the United States, which seemed to confuse the review team. We’ve been able to address feedback quickly—sometimes within an hour—yet here we are nearly five months later still stuck. Right now we are averaging about a week at best to two weeks. Our app works; we know this because it’s been live for over five months on Google. We are not some AI slop app—this is a startup built by a team of people and private capital—and we can’t be taken seriously by anyone under these conditions. What do we do? What do we pay you for? What do I tell my investors? How do we get in contact with someone who can actually help? HOW DO WE GET REAL TESTERS?????
7
0
341
Mar ’26
My investors are loosing their minds (Almost 5 months of reviews)
My investors are losing their minds. We’ve had our app available on Google since late December, but our experience with Apple has been a nightmare. First, despite paying the developer fee, nobody responds to emails or reaches out. The one time we got Apple on the phone, we spoke to someone who said she was in charge of the testing team reviewing our app. The call was frustrating—she didn’t seem familiar with basic app testing for a location-based product (for example, how to emulate a different location), and it left us feeling helpless. The technical ability of the testing process has been shocking. We spent a month just trying to get reviewers to understand the basic app concepts. Our app also isn’t available in the United States, which seemed to confuse the review team. We’ve been able to address feedback quickly—sometimes within an hour—yet here we are nearly five months later still stuck. Right now we are averaging about a week at best to two weeks. Our app works; we know this because it’s been live for over five months on Google. We are not some AI slop app—this is a startup built by a team of people and private capital—and we can’t be taken seriously by anyone under these conditions. What do we do? What do we pay you for? What do I tell my investors? How do we get in contact with someone who can actually help? HOW DO WE GET REAL TESTERS?????
1
0
49
Mar ’26
Apple Engaged in Geographic Bias
We are a development team building an application targeted specifically for the Southeast Asian market. We have been caught in a frustrating review cycle and are hoping to get some guidance on how to move forward. The Situation Our application is intentionally unavailable in the United States. Per Apple's guidance, we implemented a "We are currently not available in your country" error screen that displays when a user's location falls outside our supported regions. This is intentional, expected behavior — not a bug. The Problem Despite providing detailed testing instructions and dedicated test accounts tied to the correct region, our Reviewers consistently: Do not use the test accounts we created for them Do not follow the regional setup instructions we provided Access the app from a US-based location See the geographic restriction screen (the one Apple instructed us to build) Flag it as a bug and reject the submission We have confirmed this is the root cause, as the rejection notes reference the exact screen that Apple previously instructed us to implement. The reviewer spends fewer than 10 seconds in the app before rejecting. What We Need We are stuck in a loop with no clear path out. We are asking for: Escalation to a reviewer who will follow the provided testing instructions and use the correct region/account Clarification on how to properly communicate geographic restrictions to the review team so this is not flagged as a defect We have put significant effort into complying with every piece of guidance we have received, and we are committed to meeting Apple's standards. We just need a reviewer to spend more than a few seconds with our app using the correct credentials. Any help escalating this or pointing us to the right process would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. App Name: Hustla App ID: 6756264790
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1
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68
Activity
Apr ’26
No contact from Support and No Review (5 Months Now)
My investors are losing their minds. We’ve had our app available on Google since late December, but our experience with Apple has been a nightmare. First, despite paying the developer fee, nobody responds to emails or reaches out. The one time we got Apple on the phone, we spoke to someone who said she was in charge of the testing team reviewing our app. The call was frustrating—she didn’t seem familiar with basic app testing for a location-based product (for example, how to emulate a different location), and it left us feeling helpless. The technical ability of the testing process has been shocking. We spent a month just trying to get reviewers to understand the basic app concepts. Our app also isn’t available in the United States, which seemed to confuse the review team. We’ve been able to address feedback quickly—sometimes within an hour—yet here we are nearly five months later still stuck. Right now we are averaging about a week at best to two weeks. Our app works; we know this because it’s been live for over five months on Google. We are not some AI slop app—this is a startup built by a team of people and private capital—and we can’t be taken seriously by anyone under these conditions. What do we do? What do we pay you for? What do I tell my investors? How do we get in contact with someone who can actually help? HOW DO WE GET REAL TESTERS?????
Replies
7
Boosts
0
Views
341
Activity
Mar ’26
My investors are loosing their minds (Almost 5 months of reviews)
My investors are losing their minds. We’ve had our app available on Google since late December, but our experience with Apple has been a nightmare. First, despite paying the developer fee, nobody responds to emails or reaches out. The one time we got Apple on the phone, we spoke to someone who said she was in charge of the testing team reviewing our app. The call was frustrating—she didn’t seem familiar with basic app testing for a location-based product (for example, how to emulate a different location), and it left us feeling helpless. The technical ability of the testing process has been shocking. We spent a month just trying to get reviewers to understand the basic app concepts. Our app also isn’t available in the United States, which seemed to confuse the review team. We’ve been able to address feedback quickly—sometimes within an hour—yet here we are nearly five months later still stuck. Right now we are averaging about a week at best to two weeks. Our app works; we know this because it’s been live for over five months on Google. We are not some AI slop app—this is a startup built by a team of people and private capital—and we can’t be taken seriously by anyone under these conditions. What do we do? What do we pay you for? What do I tell my investors? How do we get in contact with someone who can actually help? HOW DO WE GET REAL TESTERS?????
Replies
1
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0
Views
49
Activity
Mar ’26