Pending Termination Notice 4.3 (Spam) – Appeal Submitted 7 days ago but no confirmation or response

Question

Kyoz OP

Created 6d

Replies 4

Boosts 0

Participants 3

Hello Apple Developer Community and App Review Team,

I received a Pending Termination Notice regarding Section 4.3 (Spam) for my games (Scream Bird and Hopscotch).

I submitted a formal appeal 7 days ago detailing the technical context, but I have not yet received an automated confirmation email or a case tracking number.

Full Context of My Situation:

I had previously published a game called "Scream Bird" on this account, and that was the first time I received a 4.3 Spam error. It was the first time I'd encountered this error, as all my games and applications are designed by me, from the buttons to the characters and gameplay.

When I received that error, I tried to understand and modify my game a bit, thinking it might have overlapped with an existing game.

But that build continued to receive the 4.3 Spam error. This time, I really didn't know what to do. I intended to keep the gameplay but redesign everything.

Strangely, while I was trying to redesign and change my game, I received an email saying that Apple was reviewing my app (the one that had just been rejected), and just minutes later, my game was approved and ready for distribution. This was the first time I'd encountered something like this. I thought the review team had re-evaluated my game and changed their minds.

And since the game was approved, I didn't know what else to do and just continued working on other projects. Shortly after, Google AdMob approved it (because the game was already live on the store), so ads started appearing on the game (I think this was the issue, causing the system to automatically think my game had been flagged for content changes, but the content was already there; it was just that I had set a production ID for the ads at the time, so they weren't showing – that was partly my fault).

But the problems didn't end there. Recently, I published a new game called "Hopscotch" and encountered the 4.3 Spam issue again. It was then that I really looked back at the binary files I built for my games and was shocked to realize that this might be the reason the automated system incorrectly flagged my games as spam.

Technical Explanation (Godot Framework & Shared Native Libraries):

I build all my games myself using Godot (3.x and 4.x). Regardless of the version, I write supporting libraries (mainly to call simple native features). Therefore, all my games will have files like: notch.a, share.a, haptics.a, local-notification.a, inappstore.a...

You can check it out on my GitHub page; most of it is public.

https://github.com/kyoz/godot-notch https://github.com/kyoz/godot-share https://github.com/kyoz/godot-local-notification https://github.com/kyoz/godot-haptics https://github.com/kyoz/godot-leaderboard https://github.com/kyoz/godot-native-rating https://github.com/kyoz/godot-flashlight

etc...

However, the entire game, from images, models, scenes... almost everything I designed myself, was packed into a single [game].pck file by Godot. This makes my Godot-built games look very similar in terms of binary, but in terms of content and gameplay, they are completely unrelated.

My Commitment:

I've been on my Apple journey for over five years now, and I've published 20 apps/games. The journey so far hasn't been easy. But I promise I've always complied with Apple's policies. I have never engaged in subscription scams, fake reviews, bait-and-switch tactics, or any of the fraudulent conduct described in the termination notice.

I am respectfully requesting:

Confirmation if my appeal submitted 7 days ago is actively under review by the App Review Board.
A status update or Case Reference Number for tracking.

I am fully cooperative and ready to provide full source code, Godot project files, or any documentation needed.

Thank you so much for your time and assistance!

Best regards,

Phan Minh Cuong

Answer 1

Tomato OP

5d

and that was the first time I received a 4.3 Spam error. It was the first time I'd encountered this error

The title of your topic says Notice.' What do you mean by an error? And how do you go from an error to a termination notice?

Answer 2

Kyoz OP

5d

Hi Tomato, thanks for pointing that out!

"Error" was a misnomer, I meant the initial 4.3 Spam rejection for Scream Bird.

After that rejection, the build was surprisingly approved later. But recently, publishing a new game (Hopscotch) triggered another 4.3 rejection. This automatically removed Scream Bird from the store and escalated the account to a Pending Termination Notice.

Hope this clears things up!

Answer 3

lazyvar OP

4d

It might help to read the specific guidelines in question.

Apple is saying that your apps are very similar to others that already exist in the App Store in concept.

Say for example your game is a Flappy Bird clone with near identical gameplay, then it doesn't matter if you designed and created all the assets yourself and every single line of code is handwritten by you, the problem would be that it's yet another game with similar gameplay.

That's the issue when they refer to spam.

I recommend you take the time to be very honest with yourself and figure out if your games are truly unique or something that the App Store already saturated with (could very well be unique, I haven't taken a look), and decide your next steps based on that.

Answer 4

Kyoz OP

4d

Hi @lazyvar, thank you for your insightful feedback!

I completely understand your point about idea saturation. However, my game mechanics are quite different—for example, Scream Bird relies entirely on real-time voice/microphone controls rather than conventional touch controls. However, you're right, while the mechanics are different, the gameplay is quite similar, so it could be considered spam; if so, I accept that and agree if my game isn't approved.

The main issue I'm facing is inconsistency: the game was approved after initial rejections (oddly, a version that had just been rejected was approved again, which is something I've never experienced before). But then it triggered a "Account pending termination" message when I submitted another game (Hopscotch). That's why I'm requesting Apple to officially review it.

To elaborate on Hopscotch, it's a hopscotch game, quite unique and, in my opinion, quite challenging. You tap the left side of the screen to land with your left foot, tap the right side to land with your right foot, and tap both sides to land with both feet. It's a rhythm-matching game, not a music-based one. I came up with this mechanism myself. Before creating it, I looked at similar Hopscotch games on the app store, but none of them did it this way. Also, everything from the characters, UI, and every line of code was created by me. I only used one or two CC0 music tracks (the ones they gave me to download the certificate for), which I've included in the game.

When I uploaded the game Hopscotch, Apple rejected it with a Guideline 4.3(a) error - Design - Spam. I replied to explain, but while waiting for their response (they didn't reply immediately), they removed my Scream Bird game and added a Pending Termination Notice with error 3.2(f) to Scream Bird.

Here are some images of the Hopscotch game.