Repeated rejections

No one here knows anything about you, your app, or your submissions.

Certainly many apps are being approved within the 48 hour estimate. Those people aren't complaining.

I was replying to someone this morning who insists the problem started two weeks ago because that's when they first got rejected. But there are thousands of identical reports starting from earlier this year, about when AI slop really took off. It seems that Apple just turned around and leveraged AI on the review side.

Please note - I'm not asking for additional details. Please don't provide them.

It's obvious nobody knows about my app or submission - I included no details. The specific question was about how the review process works. I have been surprised by the fact that Apple will reject for a question, receive an answer, then reject again with a different question, etc. I asked if this is standard for how submissions to the store work as it needlessly drags out the process and seems rather inefficient for Apple also.

Your answer was not helpful and did not answer the question.

I'm sorry about the previous response. On the whole this community is friendly and practical.

Yes this is unfortunately how app review process has always worked. When wait times were lower it was less of an issue, but with wait times being as high as 30 days it's become a big problem.

My advice would be to stick with the process as opposed to re-submitting. You will be in the queue, it's just very long.

I have been surprised by the fact that Apple will reject for a question, receive an answer, then reject again with a different question, etc. I asked if this is standard for how submissions to the store work as it needlessly drags out the process and seems rather inefficient for Apple also.

Your answer was not helpful and did not answer the question.

Is that what you were referring to with "rinse and repeat"? I thought the primary issue was confusion between your app and some open source software it's supposed to be communicating with.

To answer that question - yes. This is a well-known aspect of how App Review functions. It isn't a testing service. When they find a reason to reject, they do so then and there. App Review handles 15000 apps every day. It's more important to approve more apps that don't violate guidelines than to spend time on apps that do violate them.

I'm sorry about the previous response. On the whole this community is friendly and practical.

There is no community here. Other than a handful of Apple Developer support engineers, who never answer App Review questions, there's only a handful of people who ever answer any questions.

I've been watching the forums for some time. It's been dead as a doornail for a couple of years. Then early this year, right about when AI slop hit, the forums were swamped with these complaints about long enrolment delays, long review delays, and rejections.

For many months, I've tried to just ignore the complaints and look for technical questions to answer, but the latter have almost completely vanished. I've been laid up this weekend so I thought I would try to reply to some of these posts with, what seems to me to be, obvious answers.

Lo and behold! The first two pages right now are almost all technical questions! Cause and effect?

I disagree. I've seen good advice and conversation on these forums, or at the very least developers getting confirmation of the situation where Apple are silent.

While I've also seen a couple of helpful answers from yourself, I've also seen you reply with seemingly deliberately unhelpful reflections usually on entirely unrelated points, or confusing off-topic rants. I've found it hard to tell whether you're being rude or purpose or have no idea that you're doing it.

Either way I think you need to get your head around the context that most developers arrive here with. At the point of hitting the forum to ask for advice they're often at the end of a long process that's taken them from an original idea through starting a business and complete app development. If they're posting on this forum they're usually hitting a roadblock right before the finish line and a successful launch. Sometimes they have only partial control over the specifics, or technical choices, for complex reasons that they cannot change.

Can you see why at this point it's not helpful to suggest that they make a different app? Or to criticise every aspect of their implementation? Or to quote statistics about how many apps have to be reviewed as some kind of excuse for it taking (in some cases) over a month to get a review?

In my opinion what most developers are looking for currently is "I'm sorry to hear how stressful it's been for you, yes review times are extremely long at the moment, no it's nothing specific to you, we're not aware of anything you can do and not hearing from Apple is normal, just stick with it and you will be seen eventually".

Compare that to what you've been saying to people and you might see what i'm getting at.

And since this is quite a strong take, if I'm totally wrong about any of this or I've completely misunderstood you then you have my apologies, and maybe someone else can weigh in to cool my jets. I just think that in the (in my experience) total absence of any communication from Apple, it's other devs on these forums who need to look out for each other. We are a family of sorts and I wouldn't want anyone to feel like they reach out for help and get told it's all their fault, or be made to feel unwelcome.

I've seen good advice and conversation on these forums, or at the very least developers getting confirmation of the situation where Apple are silent.

The forums, for all reasonable purposes, are dead and have been for a couple of years. These forums were originally conceived of as a place to get help with technical problems. It's unique because there are actual Apple Developer support engineers who regularly participate and can provide very useful insight, both positive and negative, to real-world developer problems.

At least, that was the idea. Then it pretty much died. These incessant App Review complaints have revived it, albeit as more of a zombie forum. Apple never replies to those App Review complaints. Very rarely, App Review itself will chime in and say the matter has been resolved and that's that.

While I've also seen a couple of helpful answers from yourself, I've also seen you reply with seemingly deliberately unhelpful reflections usually on entirely unrelated points, or confusing off-topic rants. I've found it hard to tell whether you're being rude or purpose or have no idea that you're doing it.

It's a forum, isn't it? You're always welcome to chime in if you think you can contribute.

Your personal attacks are actually pretty amusing. I've been mostly silent here for a long time, especially once AI slop hit. But one weekend I decide to go in and answer some of these posts and all of the sudden I'm the problem. Fine. Use that little flag icon and report me.

(But just so you know, this is an internet discussion forum after all. From Apple's perspective, all of this bickering is nothing more than "engagement". And there ain't so such thing as bad engagement in this context.)

If they're posting on this forum they're usually hitting a roadblock right before the finish line and a successful launch.

That's an inherent problem in any tech support forum. People invariably only ask for help when they've dug themselves very deep into some rabbit hole. They get very angry at any offers of ropes or ladders when what they clearly need is a bigger shovel.

Can you see why at this point it's not helpful to suggest that they make a different app?

Because what the App Store really needs is another astrology dating app.

Or to criticise every aspect of their implementation?

I would never criticize every aspect of an implementation, only the poor aspects.

Or to quote statistics about how many apps have to be reviewed as some kind of excuse for it taking (in some cases) over a month to get a review?

Yeah! It's only 15,000 apps a day! Come on!

In my opinion what most developers are looking for currently is [coddling]

I don't disagree. But I'm fascinated at how so many people (at least the ones on the internet) seem to feel that Apple is this Big Evil that is blocking all progress. These people have no idea how brutal the real world is. There is no other industry where businesses get this kind of kid glove treatment.

We are a family of sorts and I wouldn't want anyone to feel like they reach out for help and get told it's all their fault, or be made to feel unwelcome.

No, we are not family. This is a business. Most businesses are failures. Can't blame me for that.

You needn't worry so much. This weekend was an anomaly due to personal reasons. I hope to be getting back to my real work very soon now. Then you can resume your previous posting activity too.

Thanks for your post @ttupper92618 and thanks for the great and supportive reply @PlayCulture

App Review team are not monitoring the forums due privacy concerns. If you disagree with the outcome of the review, we recommend submitting an appeal to the App Review Board. When filing your appeal, please ensure that you provide specific reasons why you believe your app complies with the App Review Guidelines. Additionally, please submit only one appeal per rejection. It is also important to respond to any requests for additional information before submitting an appeal. Once you have submitted the appeal, we can escalate it to the App Review Board for review. The App Review Board will contact you directly as soon as they have completed their investigation.

There is a post from the App Review that answers all common questions that you should read before contacting them: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/810791

I am not part of that team and cannot speak for them, but you can be sure they are quite busy this time of year and are working hard to ensure rapid processing. I understand you are a new developer and that the first submission is the most challenging. I would recommend using the forums for technical questions about your app rather than contacting App Review when you need input from engineers. Many people here will be happy to answer your technical questions.

Albert  WWDR