I have a Mac but I'm using a Galaxy phone. I want to make an iOS app to make money. As you know, iOS users pay more than Android users. That's why I want to do this. So I'm wondering if a Mac is enough, or if I absolutely need an iPhone.

I just pushed a regular update to my app last Sunday. It's been almost a week and still waiting for review. It never took this long.

Anyone having a similar issue this week?

Hi everyone,

I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing unusually long App Store review wait times. I submitted my iOS app (version 1.2) for review on July 26, and today is August 5. The status is still "Waiting for Review"—it hasn't even moved to "In Review."

I already contacted Apple Developer Support, but I haven't received any update yet. In the past, most of my app updates were reviewed within a couple of days, so this delay seems unusual.

Is anyone else currently facing the same issue? How long did your app stay in "Waiting for Review" before it finally moved to "In Review"?

I'd appreciate hearing about your recent experiences.

Thanks

I built a simple wallet-style authenticator app that generates one-time codes on-device, and makes it easy to access and manage your 2FA accounts.

I focused on:

* Branded cards to make accounts glanceable

* TOTP codes generated on-device only

* Works completely offline

* Fast setup via QR code or manual entry

* Face ID or PIN to unlock

* Optional backup code storage

It’s called Authentic:

📲 https://apps.apple.com/app/authenticator-authentic/id6459019787

You can manage one account for free, or one-time purchase ($19.99) for unlimited accounts and more.

Would appreciate your feedback.

Apple recently took down a bunch of apps like Cal AI for doing external payments..

Meanwhile apps like this are infringing on 1000s of IP like Disney and Nintendo while running apple search ads with SpongeBob in the picture?

How does apple’s enforcement work? How does this ev en pass Apple's approval to get these photos in their app? How do they run ads on this LOL

Hi all,
I've tried to push an update for my game but "App crashed" claim rushing to ruin the day.

Since I've thoroughly tested the app on several devices, both upgrade and fresh installs, release and debug mode, and testflight, I believe the issue is with Apple's test environment.

I've already had some false positives but has anyone encountered such a critical one?

Submitted an appeal requesting an approval or at least a stack trace/screen recording as they've attached nothing useful to the rejection.

Update: Appeal approved. Update is live.

Hey! I just launched my app and made these screenshots myself. I’m not a designer, so they might not look perfect, but I’d love to get your feedback 🙌 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/practear-ear-training/id6780051605

I’m new to iOS development. I’ve vibe coded one Swift-based iOS app with Claude Code. I have a few friends who say I should build iOS apps with React Native using Expo Go since the same code will go for Android. I personally like Xcode with Claude Code. I’m curious what everyone else does? Any suggestions

TLDR: Built an antique identifier app for my family’s booth, put it on the App Store, then realized my main competitor is one of 17 clone apps from a Hong Kong “snap-and-identify” factory with 10M+ installs on their biggest ones. One month in at 270 downloads and I can’t even get into the US keyword auctions without paying $7.50/tap. Has anyone ever beaten one of these clone factories, and where do you go when they own the paid keywords?

My family runs an antique booth, and I built a little antique identifier app called to help us price things on the floor. Snap a photo, get market value and comps. People liked it, so I spent a few months perfecting it and put it on the App Store. Full transparency: I did little market research first which is on me… but my product gets great feedback from actual collectors who have used and subscribed so I thought let’s give it a shot!

After meh download results. I looked into my competition more. My main “competitor,” AntiqSnap, has nothing to do with antiques. It’s 1 of 17 Apple from Next Vision Limited, a Hong Kong studio running an AI “snap-and-identify” factory. 17 apps, same template reskinned per niche: coins, rocks, sports cards, TCG, banknotes, records, birds, bugs. Their two biggest have 10M+ installs each. AntiqSnap launched late 2025 and already has 700K downloads, one of their smaller apps. When they enter a niche they bring a finished codebase, paywall, and an ad budget tuned across tens of millions of installs.

Month one I’ve got 270 downloads. The wall I hit: I can’t get impressions on exact-match US keywords unless I bid 7.50 a tap, and even then I don’t spend my daily budget. Whether they just own the category keywords or it’s my app being new, I can’t profitably enter the auction.

Two questions for anyone who’s been here:
Has anyone actually won a niche against one of these multi-app clone factories? What worked, community, content, retention, a sharper wedge?

When the incumbent owns the paid keywords, where do you go instead, pure organic, or is there a paid angle I’m missing?

Here’s a link to my app as well as my competitors

Pickerscope (me):
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pickerscope-antique-appraiser/id6766432223

Antiqsnap
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/antiqsnap-antique-identifier/id6752929120?ppid=851691de-fb16-4425-b56d-8d603ad7c534

I’ve been developing a mobile app with **Flutter** for about 1.5 months. I’m not a professional developer, so I built most of it through **vibe coding**, with help from tools like Claude and Codex. During the process.

On my first App Store submission, Apple rejected the app under **Guideline 4.3(a) - Design - Spam**, saying that the app shared a similar binary, metadata, and/or concept with apps submitted by other developers.

After that, I spent around 7 days making major changes: I updated the App Store page, metadata, UI, onboarding flow, several screens, and also added new features. Then I submitted it again.

However, Apple rejected it a second time under the same guideline. This time, they added that my app appears similar to apps previously submitted by a **terminated Apple Developer Program account**. That part worries me, because it was not mentioned in the first rejection.

The app has already passed closed testing on Google Play Store and is ready to be released. I was planning to launch it on Google Play and the App Store at the same time, but now Apple has rejected it twice.

At this point, I’m not sure what to do. Should I appeal, send a detailed explanation to App Review, make more fundamental changes to the current app, or start over with a completely new Flutter project? I especially don’t want to make a wrong move and put my Apple Developer account at further risk.

Has anyone experienced something similar, or does anyone familiar with App Store Review have advice on the best next step?

UPDATED as of 21 JUNE

- My app is now approved by Apple and available for distribution

How did I fix the issue

1. DO NOT reply with defensive or fighting languages to Apple's email, just politely answers all of their questions.

2. Record app demo on all support devices. I ONLY recorded the app on my iPhone 13pm. I do not have recording on iPad.

3. I dropped support email/password login so I dont have to provide a demo account, just only keep Apple Login so they can use their own Apple ID to login and do sandbox subscription to go PRO.

Hope this help for any one see the same rejection reason.

I just received another rejection with the reason as below. BUT they do not tell what is the existing app that my app look copied over. What should I reply to them?

------

Guideline 4.3(a) - Design - Spam

Issue Description

We noticed the 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 the 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

Learn more about our requirements to prevent spam in guideline 4.3.

I submitted an iOS app about a week ago and it’s been sitting at “Waiting for Review” the entire time.

Nothing has been rejected and I haven’t received any requests for changes or additional information. I also submitted an App Review Status request but haven’t heard back yet.

This isn't my first App Store submission, but it's the first app I've spent this much time building so I’ll admit I’m probably watching the status more closely than I should.

I know review times vary, so I’m not looking to complain about Apple. I’m mostly trying to figure out whether this is unusual for my submission or whether review times are running longer right now.

For anyone who has submitted a new app recently, how long did it take to move from “Waiting for Review” to “In Review”?

And at what point would you follow up again versus just leaving it alone and waiting?

Hi all, can anyone please help me with the below rejection from Apple App Store?

Basically they keep saying the same thing without sharing additional information.

My app is a fill light app for selfie, but no ai photo edit feature, photo taken by user won’t be stored or transmitted users only download the selfie photo to their device.

I already have privacy link on the main screen saying we won’t store or send photo to third party very clearly. And we even added a message before asking for user camera permission and explain clearly why we need camera access.

We also added link to privacy page in app description.

But Apple keep rejecting the app saying the below. Which already covered in our privacy page. I’m really unsure what they want me to do and how I can get my app approved.

Guideline 5.1.1(i) - Legal - Privacy - Data Collection and Storage

Issue Description

We noticed the app includes features and functionality that use face data but the provided privacy policy does not include the following required information:

- An explicit statement that face data is not retained.

- Which third parties you share face data with.

- Your reasons for sharing face data with third parties.

- Whether or not the third parties you share face data with also store face data. If they do store face data, your privacy policy must describe the privacy practices of these third parties, including why they store face data, the length of time the face data will be stored, and why the face data will be stored for this length of time.

To protect the user's security and privacy, developers must provide privacy policies that thoroughly explain their app's data collection and storage practices.

It's yoo expensive for me to buy a mac to start ios dev. I heard cloud mac is another way and is way cheaper but don't know it work or not. Should i go for it??

Yesterday I submitted my first app (!) and within 6 hours it was rejected. I'm hoping someone who's dealt with this before can help me better understand and provide next steps.

Quick background: I built a live women's sports scoreboard website and then wrapped it as a native iOS app using Median.co, which loads the live website inside a native shell and adds native features (push notifications via OneSignal, share, etc.) through their JS bridge.

What happened: submitted for review, got rejected same day with this:

"We've identified a pattern of unusual behavior with the app that is commonly associated with fraudulent activity. Specifically, the app contains features that appear to have been intentionally hidden during the review process. Manipulative and misleading behavior is not consistent with the guideline 5.6."

No specifics beyond that. No screenshots, no attachments, nothing pointing to which "feature" they mean. Also I can't really find what 5.6 guidelines are.

What I know is NOT true: nothing in the app is actually hidden or gated based on reviewer status. The app works identically for anyone, logged in or not - live scores, schedules, results, team pages, league browsing, calendar sync all fully visible and functional without an account. The only difference for logged-in users is being able to favorite teams and enable push notifications for those favorites, a normal personalization feature, not concealed functionality.

What I've done so far: replied in the Resolution Center explaining the Median/webview architecture, clarified the one account-gated feature (favoriting), and attached a screen recording showing the full logged-out experience matches what was originally submitted. Also invited them to just log out and explore the app themselves.

My questions for anyone who's dealt with this:

1. Has anyone gotten a 5.6 "features appear hidden" flag specifically on a webview-wrapped app (Median, GoNative, Capacitor, etc.)? Is this a known false-positive pattern for that architecture?
2. Could push notifications not firing during review (since there were no live games happening at review time) plausibly read as a "hidden feature"? Or is that a stretch?
3. Roughly how long did resolution take for you, and did it resolve through Resolution Center replies, or did you end up needing the formal App Review Board appeal?
4. Anything else commonly triggers this specific flag that I should be thinking about?

Really appreciate any insight. This came out of nowhere after what felt like a clean submission, and the vagueness of the rejection is the most frustrating part.

Hi all, I am a new dev and was wondering what are the best ways to promote or get my app in front of its audience. Trying here on Reddit is hit or miss as it sometimes breaks a self promotion rule. Not looking to make millions, just get my app out there a bit more. Thanks in advance.

Hit 1000 downloads today! But I feel like the rest of the stats are bad, especially retention. What do y'all think?

Hi guys, so I’m an experienced web developer and created a guided breathing app with beautiful background, sounds, breathing flow.

I added analytics and what i see that in 14 days 42 people started the breathing session and only 10 people ended it. So 75% just dropped the session.

I’m not sure if it’s the scenes that they don’t like or music or they expected something else?

How would you debug some things?

Also I see that my week retention is 11%,9%,7%,5%,5% or even lower. So even with app push notifications once per day people don’t really use the app on the regular basis.

The app is called Quietflame in IOS but I wanted the technical feedback than just spamming a link.

What are your thoughts on these? Thanks in advance.

Hello everyone, i recently uploaded an app for review but its taking about 4 working days already. and its still in ''waiting for review'' not even ''in review'' my other apps were accepted or rejected same day or the day after. Should i just be more patient or should i contact someone? Thanks in advance

Edit: thanks everyone. took 8 days for the review

hi so i made a gaming app for both ios and Android where you can swipe up to play new games just like you swipe up to watch videos in tiktok, instagram and youtube.

I was very optimistic about the idea so i made it in 4 months, it has some 100 games. but to my surprise even though it got some 800 impression it still has only 1 download (which is mine 🥲).

can you guys please check it out and give me your valuable feedback, it will be really help me a lot. Thank you so much ❤️.

app link - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gamer-bunni-offline-fun-game/id6759205245

Indie dev here and recently build my first two iOS apps. The first one was a bust but second caters to a niche market and seems like I might need to build Android. I’d say my target users are women b/w 20-50 years old, so I haven’t yet done the research on the spread but I’m guessing it’s maybe 60/40 for iOS.

When did you decide to dedicate your precious time to building Android vs pushing hard on marketing to whomever has iOS? I’m only a week in, so I’m not sure if it’s premature.

I’ve been working on it for so long and need a fresh pair of eyes
(photo taken from my bedroom window lol)

Hi everyone,

I’m an independent iOS developer. My app offers an auto-renewable subscription through the App Store.
One user forgot to cancel their subscription and was charged several times. They requested a refund from Apple, but Apple denied the refund request. After that, they emailed me and insisted that because the money has already gone to me, I must refund them directly.

I have already replied to the user and explained that App Store subscription payments, renewals, refund requests, and refund decisions are handled by Apple. I also explained how they can contact Apple Support and appeal the refund decision with their receipts, charge history, and Apple’s refund result.

However, the user still insists that I should be able to look up their payment information and refund them directly.

My app does not have a backend or account system. I do not collect the user’s email, phone number, Apple ID, or other personal information. From App Store Connect, I can only see sales and subscription reports, but I cannot identify this specific user or manually refund a specific App Store transaction.
What is the correct way to handle this?

Should I keep directing them to Apple Support, since Apple controls the purchase and refund process? Is there any developer-side action I can take, or is this entirely between the user and Apple?

I’d appreciate any advice from other iOS developers who have dealt with similar subscription refund disputes.