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App removed from Top Charts after DPLA notice, What now?
I got a “DPLA violation” email. About an hour later my app disappeared from Top Charts in multiple countries. The app is still live, searchable, and on the product page it still says “Chart No.2 – Education.” I only posted it on Reddit and made lifetime free to get feedback from the community. Here's the email: "Notification of Apple Developer Program License Agreement (“DPLA”) violation: Hello xx, We're writing to inform you that your company isn't in compliance with the Apple Developer Program License Agreement (DPLA). Section 11.2 (Termination) states: (g) if You engage, or encourage others to engage, in any misleading, fraudulent, improper, unlawful or dishonest act relating to this Agreement, including, but not limited to, misrepresenting the nature of Your Application (e.g., hiding or trying to hide functionality from Apple’s review, falsifying consumer reviews for Your Application, engaging in payment fraud, etc.). Be aware that manipulating App Store chart rankings, user reviews or search index may result in the loss of your developer program membership." The weird part: • The product page still shows ranks like “Chart No.2 – Education” (Hong Kong, and similar positions in a few other countries). • Search still finds the app normally. • But in the actual Top Charts lists the app is gone. Territories affected (so far): Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Portugal and a few more. I did not buy installs, did not pay for reviews, did not gate features behind ratings. After the email I double checked and removed any copy that could be read as an incentive for reviews, just in case. I have already emailed Support (Search & Discoverability and App Review). I am waiting, but thought I should ask here too. My questions 1. Has anyone else seen their app silently removed from charts right after a DPLA warning? 2. Did it come back on its own? How long did it take? 3. Is there anything specific I should fix besides waiting and cleaning wording? 4. Is there an official appeal path for chart suppression, not full removal? Reddit posts for context: • https://www.reddit.com/r/iosapps/comments/1m4klxs/giving_away_lifetime_free_for_limited_time_i/ • https://www.reddit.com/r/SideProject/comments/1m5d7gh/im_giving_away_free_lifetime_access_for_my/ Thanks in advance for any guidance or shared experience.
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What URLs can I include in an app?
I'm working on my first app, and I want to be careful to avoid violating restrictions that will prevent it from being listed. My question is about links to other products that may not be in the App Store. What I mean is that along with the app's primary functionality, I want to include value by allowing it to connect to other company's resource files that they sell or provide. I would have a Settings page that lets users set up a link to the files that they have on their machines. Can I provide a link to some of the popular resource files so users recognize that my app will work with those files — and the link would help them get those files. For example, let's say I have a movie app and there were versions of IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes databases that they sold. Would I be able to specify the URLs for IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes so they know they could go buy the resource file from those companies and then incorporate it into my app?
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One app connects multiple servers
I have a non-public app on the Apple App Store that is downloaded via the non-public download link provided by Apple. Under normal circumstances, it connects to the headquarters' server, but some subsidiaries need it to connect to their own servers, and some subsidiaries may even have different features. The app should automatically download the version that connects to the respective subsidiary's server without requiring users to manually switch. Currently, I developed the app using an Apple Individual Developer account. It seems that a single app cannot be repeatedly listed on the Apple App Store by only modifying the server address. What should I do now? Please, someone skilled, help me.
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Can't upload to AppStore an App with WebRTC - claims to use non-public APIs
I've got an app that uses WebRTC. When I try to upload it using Xcode I get the following error: Validation failed The app references non-public selectors in Payload/{MyApp}.app/{MyApp}: initWithURLStrings: (ID: 61a6dbe5-dac2-4910-a836-b4b9b2e891b4) This API is not private, it's just unfortunate that WebRTC chose to use this name as well, and it is falsely identified as a private API by Apple. Has anyone seen this? The funny thing is, I have the exact same app with different configuration in TestFlight internal only for staging, and I could upload it without any issues. And yes, I've tried uploading this app for test flight internal only. No success either.
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3rd time rejected: Guideline 4.3(a) - Design - Spam
My app keep getting rejected after changing complete UI. It's an finance tool app. any advice Guideline 4.3(a) - Design - Spam We noticed your app shares a similar binary, metadata, and/or concept as apps submitted to the App Store by other developers, with only minor differences. Submitting similar or repackaged apps is a form of spam that creates clutter and makes it difficult for users to discover new apps. Next Steps Since we do not accept spam apps on the App Store, we encourage you to review your app concept and submit a unique app with distinct content and functionality. Resources Some factors that contribute to a spam rejection may include: Submitting an app with the same source code or assets as other apps already submitted to the App Store Creating and submitting multiple similar apps using a repackaged app template Purchasing an app template with problematic code from a third party Submitting several similar apps across multiple accounts
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Subscription price for existing subscribers unchanged after price increase
We scheduled for a price rise for July 3rd. We have >90% of subscribers on a standard monthly subscription (without trials or offers), and we gave more than the requisite notice (we scheduled these on May 20). We also chose in the price increase flow to apply the new price to existing subscribers. On July 3rd, the price for new subscribers went up as expected. However, we are still seeing all our renewals at the old price. My own subscription to the app renewed today (July 15th) - but at the old price. In my Settings app, I can see that the next renewal (August 15th) will be at the new price. I also haven't had any notifications/email from Apple about the rise (which should happen 27 days before the rise, so will likely happen for me on July 19th....but that should've been June 19th). So it appears that while the new price will be applied to existing subscribers, it is happening a month after the scheduled price rise. Some of our customers are being contacted by Apple about the price rise...for August, when it should have already taken place. Given that we scheduled this way more than 27 days ahead, why would the price rise for existing subscribers not take place at the planned date? Are there other reasons that are not documented? The only two reasons we can see are a) insufficient planning notice and b) trial periods being respected - neither of which apply here. We can see significant cancellations from July 3rd in countries where customers have to opt-in for a price rise, primarily Germany. So it seems that the price rise definitely came into effect for our existing subscribers, causing opt-in cancellations, but the customers aren't actually paying the higher price for another cycle. Any ideas?
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Why can't I find my app by searching the keyword of my app in App Store
Hi, Dear Sir/Madam, I released the Chinese version of my app and it has got approval from Apple reviewer on last Friday. But I can't find it by searching the Chinese keyword of my app in Chinese Apple store market till this Monday. I have checked my app and found that the name and other information of the app has been correctly localized. Why can't I find it? Look forward to your reply. Best Wishes,
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How can I publish a standalone application built with Python on Apple Store?
Hi guys, I am new to publishing applications on Apple Store. Now, I have a standalone application built by Python and packaged to an .app file by PyInstaller. I used PyCharm as IDE instead of Xcode. So far, I did codesign and notarization processes. How can I prepare it to release it on Apple Store? Is there any guide that I can follow to do it?
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Can't enroll in developer program (Hong Kong)
I want to transfer a few of my apps from my personal developer account to my company developer account. I registered my company in Hong Kong and registered it with Apple Developer, but now I cannot make the payment. I tried using my Airwallex bank cards (in Hong Kong, VISA) and my Thai bank cards (Mastercard and Visa), but I always encounter payment errors. I emailed Developer Support, but they did not help; they always tell me to try different cards or register again. It does not work. I tried four different bank cards, all of which are 100% functional. I tried everything I found on the internet: saving a card in Apple ID, switching my Apple ID to Hong Kong, and trying different addresses. Nothing is working. Please help!
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Apple WeatherKit on macOS
Hi all, I have WeatherKit working on iOS and watchOS, but am having problems getting it to work on macOS. I have all entitlements enabled and everything seems to checkout, but I get the following error: "WARNING: error = 3→(76) INVALID_PERSONA; It is undefined behavior to look up a container with a persona other than personal or data separated. Please adopt a persona first. Assuming personal. given persona = (<MCMUserIdentity: 0xb3d0288c0; posixUser = (501|20|danuff|/Users/danuff), identifier = 501, personaType = unspecific, personaUniqueString = E90578C5-AAE4-44DD-9E41-CC3F97B34F0C, kernelPersonaID = 1001>) Message from debugger: killed Any ideas?
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Certificate of Tax Residency
Hi all, Has anyone here managed to get a Certificate of Tax Residency (for example, for 2025) from Apple’s Irish legal entity? What is the process to request this certificate? Do I need to contact Apple directly, or is it possible to get it from Irish tax authorities? Any advice or experience would be appreciated! Thanks!
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Can't Sign Up To Google Ads Or Message Support..
Hi, We have previously created a Appls Ads account before around a week ago. And now everytime we login it brings us to the "create account" sign up page. When we fill this page in again with out details and press "Sign Up" it won't let us, as an account has already been associated with the emails. The problem is I also cannot contact support using the form on the website - Everytime I fill it in it says "please fix errors below" - Even though there are no errors. I have tried messaging various other apple support people to try and put me through specificaly to the Ads support but I am having no luck there.. So we are now stuck, we cannot login or sign up again - Any ideas?
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App Icon - Requirements
I've been able to submit my app without issue so far until today, but it looks like app icon requirements either changed or being enforced differently? Validation failed Missing required icon file. The bundle does not contain an app icon for iPhone / iPod Touch of exactly '120x120' pixels, in .png format for iOS versions >= 10.0. To support older versions of iOS, the icon may be required in the bundle outside of an asset catalog. Make sure the Info.plist file includes appropriate entries referencing the file. See https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/information_property_list/user_interface. (ID: 954a36b1-b212-4d7f-8a12-db2d6abe83e2) Validation failed Missing required icon file. The bundle does not contain an app icon for iPad of exactly '152x152' pixels, in .png format for iOS versions >= 10.0. To support older operating systems, the icon may be required in the bundle outside of an asset catalog. Make sure the Info.plist file includes appropriate entries referencing the file. See https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/information_property_list/user_interface. (ID: 7ded4fb3-a0f0-4542-9373-a3dcf9ace3ef) Validation failed Missing app icon. Include a large app icon as a 1024 by 1024 pixel PNG for the 'Any Appearance' image well in the asset catalog of apps built for iOS or iPadOS. Without this icon, apps can't be submitted for review. For details, visit: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode/configuring-your-app-icon. (ID: 43a6785a-3917-4ac9-90b1-dc85d5b2fdd8) Contents.json I already have a 1024x1024 PNG for 'Any Apperance' so not sure what that one is about. The others I cannot find slots for, to provide a generic icon even though they wont be used since my app is only for iOS18+ I attempted adding a new icon set "App Icon" with the 120x120 PNG but that did not seem to work so I removed it. Any suggestions? *note I am also using the .Icon file created by Icon Composer (v3)
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Trouble Accessing FINANCE_DETAIL Reports & USD Proceeds via App Store Connect API
Hi everyone, We’ve been working on integrating Apple’s App Store Connect API into our internal tools to backfill financial data and came across a couple of roadblocks that we’re hoping the community (or someone from Apple) can help with. Problem 1: FINANCE_DETAIL reports return 404 We’re calling the /v1/financeReports endpoint with the following parameters: filter[reportDate] = 2025-05 filter[reportType] = FINANCE_DETAIL filter[regionCode] = ZZ (also tried other specific country codes like AE, US, etc.) filter[vendorNumber] = <our_vendor_number> Even though the FINANCIAL report type works fine, whenever we use FINANCE_DETAIL, we keep getting: json Copy Edit { "errors": [{ "status": "404", "code": "NOT_FOUND", "detail": "No report is available for the selected date." }] } We’ve tested with different dates and region codes, but no luck. Problem 2: No USD data in the financial reports The reports we do get back (with reportType=FINANCIAL) only contain local currencies (e.g. AED, INR, etc.). We’re trying to figure out: Does Apple publish USD-converted proceeds anywhere via the API? Or, is there any official exchange rate mapping used internally by Apple that developers can access? We’re trying to keep our revenue dashboards consistent with what we see inside App Store Connect, so knowing how Apple handles currency conversion would be really helpful. Would appreciate any help, guidance, or workarounds from folks who’ve dealt with this before. Thanks in advance!
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App Store updates are being throttled down
After posting a new version of our app, we used to have 80% of our userbase on the new version pretty quickly (usually 72 hours, sometimes less). Over the past few weeks, we've noticed that the App Store has throttled down app updates, and it now takes much longer for a new version of our app to reach 80% (approximately 15 days, so 5 times slower). He is an update graph before: And a similar update graph after: We've published several versions over the past couple of weeks, and we've seen the same slow update behavior for all of them. What could explain these differences ? At the time of this writing, the update graph has very slowly reached 80% and is now flat. In the past it would easily reach 90% (the last 10% were always slow to get).
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How to Enable Auto-Update for iOS Enterprise App on macOS ARM Devices
We are an Apple Enterprise Developer account holder distributing an in-house iOS application via an itms-services installation workflow. On macOS devices with ARM architecture (Apple Silicon), our app is supported and can be installed as a compatible iOS application. However, when an update is detected, and we attempt to reinstall the app using a .plist manifest file (still via itms-services), the system installs the new version as a separate app—even though the bundle ID is exactly the same—resulting in duplicate app icons appearing on the macOS home screen. We would like to know: Is there a recommended approach to prevent this duplicate icon behavior? Is there a supported way on macOS to programmatically remove or replace the existing version of the iOS app before installing the updated version?
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