Every new app rejected under 4.3 / 4.2.6 in the same minute, twice, even after redesigning the game

App Store Distribution & Marketing App Review
JauntyM OP
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Hello,

I'm an individual developer (Team ID 23TUK9MCR7). I write my apps myself: no template, no app builder, no white-label code. I'm trying to understand whether my account has been flagged and what I should do next.

What happened

  • On 6 October, five apps on my account were rejected under 4.3(a), 4.3(b) and 4.2.6 with the same standard message, and all five rejections are timestamped within the same minute (02:16-02:17 UTC). The apps are different products: a physics puzzle game, a children's colouring book, a cooking game, an action puzzle game and a city chat community.
  • I answered all nine questions for each app in the Resolution Center. The follow-up replies said only that "the previously identified issues remain unresolved" and that I should "submit a unique app with distinct content and functionality".
  • I then made substantial changes rather than resubmitting the same builds:
    • The cooking game was redesigned into a different game: a new name, a new story and new core gameplay.
    • The chat app was rebuilt as a native SwiftUI app, and a feature that falls in a saturated category was removed.
    • The colouring app received a large content and feature update.
  • On 16 October, three of them were rejected again with exactly the same 4.3 / 4.2.6 message, again within the same minute (18:14-18:15 UTC), with no detail about what they were matched against.
  • Updates to my two apps already on the store were approved during the same period (9 and 10 October).

For reference, the submission IDs of the three rejections on 16 October:

  • 8afbafa4-eafc-481b-abea-687e3a060640
  • 7775d4d0-1668-4b49-b6ff-1751223adc92
  • 26a794d0-4b21-4dc2-8245-e2c8cf3d9f52

My questions

  1. When unrelated apps get identical rejections in the same minute and a redesigned game gets the same default message, does that mean a flag on the developer account rather than on each app?
  2. If so, what is the right way to resolve it? Should I wait, request a call, book an App Review appointment, or appeal to the App Review Board?
  3. Is there a way to learn which existing app, category or template a submission is being matched against, so that the changes actually address the concern?

I'm not resubmitting anything until I understand this, and I'm happy to give any detail App Review needs.

Thank you.

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InspiratioNULL OP

We can’t tell from out here whether this is account-level or app-level, and I’d be careful with anyone claiming certainty.
Apple’s guidance is to reply to the rejection message with specific clarification first, and to appeal to the App Review Board if that exchange doesn’t resolve it.
Booking an App Review appointment is probably good for yourself as a developer since you've experienced the issue multiple times, and this may help you with your third question.
The one thing I'd suggest, a narrow question tends to get further than a broad one: which specific aspect of this submission raises the concern, and what information would address it.

There are some similarities to my own situation that I’d rather not go into. I may well be reading a pattern into a coincidence, so please don’t take it as more than a hunch. One habit worth starting now either way: keep your own copies of the review messages while you can still see them.
Tomato OP

When unrelated apps get identical rejections in the same minute and a redesigned game gets the same default message, does that mean a flag on the developer account rather than on each app?

That's Apple, Inc's latest approach in tackling a surge in the number of software submissions. Instead of increasing reviewers, they are on a mission to discourage you to sumbit apps. They accept your annual membership fee. But they refuse to review your submissions, accusing you of copying and repackaging someone else's work. When you don't even use an SDK, they accuse you of using a commercial template or a 3rd-party SDK. The 5-trillion dollar software giant is totally out of hand. We are all little people. FTC is not going to step in to stop Apple's unethical conduct based on falsehoods. But stock holders must love it.