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Got a rejection for mentioning Apple pre-release software, but I am not

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Re: Got a rejection for mentioning Apple pre-release software, but I am not

#11
The little experience I had with AppStore approval is that it’s mostly a game of persistence. They probably see some benefit from a little friction to prevent spam or perhaps it’s just pure stupid bureaucracy.

I was rejected for asking access to the camera. The App applied filters to images taken. I stated as much in XCode, something along: this app needs access to the camera in order to apply its effects. Rejected for not being clear enough. I reworded, basically adding more cruft: accepted.

I doubt the second version was clearer, in fact, it probably wasn’t. It feels much more like a test to see how much does this account want/need to publish and are willing to cooperate, than actually following rules that make any sense.

Re: Got a rejection for mentioning Apple pre-release software, but I am not

#14

Getting rejected on Google Play sucks, but at least you can still sideload apps while you dispute it. Getting rejected by Apple should be illegal until they provide a way to use an alternative app store.

This is for Mac though, the App Store is not obligatory.

Re: Got a rejection for mentioning Apple pre-release software, but I am not

#15

Would it have killed Apple to highlight the offending words in the original review?

This is the most annoying part of rejection. They won’t point to anything specifically, but continue to send vague summaries of the issue. If you’re staring at a plist file and there’s an issue, why not just tell me you found an issue with the plist? It’s infuriating.

Re: Got a rejection for mentioning Apple pre-release software, but I am not

#16
What I find interesting is that we seem to perceive the App Store Review process as some kind of black and white thing, while it isn't. Like a pure function that only works with the input variables provided and no side effects. Guess what, there is an actual human on the other side that is reviewing your app (with support of automation tools obviously). That person will make mistakes, will bring his/her own opinion and might not be consistent and often won't be very elaborate. Kind of refreshing actually.

Interestingly, that's probably how most customers are handled by many of the submitted apps, if at all.

Re: Got a rejection for mentioning Apple pre-release software, but I am not

#18
post #6

TL;DR Apple re-used the term "Continuity Camera", which now applies to both a preexisting feature from iOS 12 and a prerelease feature in iOS 16. The app's description refers to the preexisting feature, but app review metadata-rejected the app anyway. Also, app review initially neglected to mention the specific problem, instead simply hand-waving about the rule against mentioning prerelease features.

Appreciate the TLDR. I was reading the tweets and confused on what the problem was.. Apple's naming scheme here seems awful.

Re: Got a rejection for mentioning Apple pre-release software, but I am not

#19
post #16

What I find interesting is that we seem to perceive the App Store Review process as some kind of black and white thing, while it isn't. Like a pure function that only works with the input variables provided and no side effects. Guess what, there is an actual human on the other side that is reviewing your app (with support of automation tools obviously). That person will make mistakes, will bring his/her own opinion a…

No, it's a distopian fucking horrorshow. You're right, of course. Humans are involved, it's not consistent, you're witnessing a state machine where 'opinion and carefulness of the human(s) that are part of this process' is a significant chunk of how it works.

But, __the escalation features__ are clichéd Catch-22-esque lunacy, and the actual information you receive in order to ascertain which part of the big state machine caused the rejection is non-existent.

If this was how a government worked, I'd expect literal "shoot a leader in broad daylight and storm their palace" levels of unrest in a week.

Apple (and other corps) are perfectly capable of reasoning beyond the almighty dollar. Tim Cook did it, presumably, in a rather famous incident yelling down someone on the earnings call questioning apple's decision to spend extra cash on environmentally friendlier packaging and distribution processes. Possibly Tim really is a short sighted moron who just thinks its worth wasting money on the environment ('wasting money' in the sense of the amoral stockholder only, of course!), but I'm assuming someone of Tim's caliber is a bit more intelligent than that, and Tim's thought through the (potential) brand damage, let alone the benefits of exuding an imagine of being environmentally friendlier than needed. Which isn't just "brand", but also staving off government intervention.

So, given that Tim and co are presumably capable of thinking through the repercussions of how the company operates, are they truly making the call that causing people the kind of pain and frustration that makes posts like this rise to the top of hackernews is somehow 'worth it', or are they, at least in this highly specific regard, short-sighted morons / dangerously uninformed about how their own company's processes work?

I just do not understand. Whatever it costs to stop pissing off and chasing away developers for your platform whilst arming the masses to demand regulatory intervention HAS to be worth it. And if Apple and co can't see that, I say; Heck yeah. Bring on the fucking regulators. I know and accept it'll suck and they'll make a hash of it, but odds are good it won't be such a shitshow as what app review is today, and examples need to be made.

Re: Got a rejection for mentioning Apple pre-release software, but I am not

#20
post #16

What I find interesting is that we seem to perceive the App Store Review process as some kind of black and white thing, while it isn't. Like a pure function that only works with the input variables provided and no side effects. Guess what, there is an actual human on the other side that is reviewing your app (with support of automation tools obviously). That person will make mistakes, will bring his/her own opinion a…

Isn’t this only a good thing if the human being on the other end makes reasonable decisions in the interest of (1) the App Store and (2) iOS developers?

I understand I am biased by only seeing stories from developers who have issues getting apps approved, but these stories rarely end with a reasonable outcome.

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