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Apple App Approval Tips Nobody Told Me About

139 points by michaelbuckbee 16y ago

lotusleaf1987 16y ago
Summary: Be proactive and do as much work as you can to provide evidence on your own behalf, don't expect them to do the work for you.
- petervandijck 16y ago
  Sounds like tips for getting hired :)
- michaelbuckbee 16y ago
  That's a reasonable summary. From looking at my server logs I can tell that they only spend a few minutes using the application during the approval process, so it is vitally important that you tee up as much information as possible for them.
- WasabiVentures 16y ago
  That is how it is for everything when you are submitting something for approval. Always provide everything you can to make their job easy.
gte910h 16y ago
You can actually call up the developer relations people and find out if anything is particularly troubling they can think of before you go through an expensive dev phase. Their comments aren't binding (or even something I'd reference), and the approval criteria is constantly evolving, but they're pretty good at pointing out concerns from a 30 second description of the app. This is good to do if you're doing something you think may get you in trouble, but think it won't necessarily do so. They've been very helpful in the past about their criteria for the different GPS APIs etc.
- palish 16y ago
  What's their phone number?
  - icey 16y ago
    Let me google that for you: http://developer.apple.com/contact/phone.html http://developer.apple.com/contact/phone.html Literally the first result when searching for "apple developer support phone number".
    - bittermang 16y ago
      And herin lies the problem of this attitude. The original commentator posed a solution, "Call them" but no phone number. The second commentator realized this gap, and asked, "What is the phone number?" One could reasonably expand upon this, it certainty hasn't occurred to me that you could call them and talk to them either. Do you need to be enrolled? Is the number secret? Where is the number. Clearly the first commentator must know this and more, as he is posing it as a solution. At the very least, he must have the number, or know where to get the number. You, the third commentator, come in with the Google Result. Obvious to some, just Google it. Not obvious to others. If it wasn't obvious that you could call them, it would be less obvious that the number is simply publicly available. Further, search results can sometimes be inconclusive, and while this one was the first result and directly on Apple.com, other queries are not so obvious. Again, the first source clearly had the information, and he was directly asked when he did not provide it. That is why communities, question and answer sites, forums, Stack Overflow, and everything else exist. Direct knowledge from people who are verified or profess to having the information that you seek. Some people feel better about direct conversations or direct answers from people vs. casting their fishing hook out in to the giant open Internet and hoping they catch their answer. Some people aren't any good at searching. Sometimes just asking someone who knows can be quicker.
      - gnaritas 16y ago
        > Some people aren't any good at searching. You don't need to be good to Google most things. > Sometimes just asking someone who knows can be quicker. Google knows the answer to most simple queries like this. You shouldn't ask a question where the answer is trivially Googled; Google first, then ask when you can't find the answer. The previous poster had the right attitude by saying let me Google that for you, it's such a pervasive problem that sites like http://lmgtfy.com http://lmgtfy.com have to exist to help educate lazy people. Yes, some people prefer to ask a human rather than Google; those people are lazy and need to be educated, not pacified.
adnam 16y ago
This is ridiculous! Why not offer fellatio and be done with it.
r00fus 16y ago
The tip about some previous hackernews apps being rejected for the word "Hacker" sounds like it might be best to describe Hacker News as just news.ycombinator.com "YCombinator is a startup incubator...".
- gabrielroth 16y ago
  You might want to put 'Hacker News' in the app's title, though.
- BenSS 16y ago
  Interesting, I didn't have trouble getting my hacker news app accepted at all. Never thought the name would be an issue.
code_duck 16y ago
There has to be some middle ground between Apple's style and Google's style. Apple overdoes their control a bit, and Google doesn't exercise enough control. You shouldn't have to make an anonymous reviewer think about puppies to get your app passed. I'd just like an app market where Apps are guaranteed to not be privacy violators, trojans, or capable of damaging my hardware.
- Steko 16y ago
  "There has to be some middle ground between Apple's style and Google's style." Isn't Apple's approach actually the middle ground? Traditionally when you bought software in a store you were looking at quite a bit more curation then Apple does now. "You shouldn't have to make an anonymous reviewer think about puppies to get your app passed." You don't. I guess it could help if your app was in a gray area but I don't see it helping that much. "I'd just like an app market where Apps are guaranteed to not be privacy violators, trojans, or capable of damaging my hardware." While we're going all wishlist let's go scammer free and get an astroturf resistant rating system with much higher discoverability.
  - code_duck 16y ago
    I'm specifically saying middle ground between Apple and Google's styles, though. Traditional software publishing is obsolete and we don't really need to worry about how that worked. As for thinking about puppies, my point is that the 'human factor' in Apple's review process seems to count for too much. It should be cut and dry: it is legal, does what it claims and does nothing behind your back, and has no trojans.
- blub 16y ago
  There is: Nokia's Ovi store. Unfortunately, Symbian isn't doing that great compared to Android and iOS, at least in the minds of tech influencers.
zbowling 16y ago
I would love to contribute to how to get accepted faster, but I honestly can't. I've followed all the rules the last couple years and really haven't been rejected when I've tried to get through. About 1-2 weeks each time for each app and update. Two years ago when the app store was new, I did test the rules and got rejected in static analysis pass but that was under my own personal user and for obvious stuff. I really don't know what it takes to get rejected on top of the already existing ground rules they spell out on their site. Apple really hasn't given me any trouble at all (except emailing after accepting to change a little artwork to clean up an icon next pass).

139 points by michaelbuckbee 16y ago

lotusleaf1987 16y ago

Summary: Be proactive and do as much work as you can to provide evidence on your own behalf, don't expect them to do the work for you.

petervandijck 16y ago
Sounds like tips for getting hired :)
michaelbuckbee 16y ago
That's a reasonable summary. From looking at my server logs I can tell that they only spend a few minutes using the application during the approval process, so it is vitally important that you tee up as much information as possible for them.
WasabiVentures 16y ago
That is how it is for everything when you are submitting something for approval. Always provide everything you can to make their job easy.

gte910h 16y ago

You can actually call up the developer relations people and find out if anything is particularly troubling they can think of before you go through an expensive dev phase. Their comments aren't binding (or even something I'd reference), and the approval criteria is constantly evolving, but they're pretty good at pointing out concerns from a 30 second description of the app. This is good to do if you're doing something you think may get you in trouble, but think it won't necessarily do so. They've been very helpful in the past about their criteria for the different GPS APIs etc.

palish 16y ago
What's their phone number?
- icey 16y ago
  Let me google that for you: http://developer.apple.com/contact/phone.html http://developer.apple.com/contact/phone.html Literally the first result when searching for "apple developer support phone number".
  - bittermang 16y ago
    And herin lies the problem of this attitude. The original commentator posed a solution, "Call them" but no phone number. The second commentator realized this gap, and asked, "What is the phone number?" One could reasonably expand upon this, it certainty hasn't occurred to me that you could call them and talk to them either. Do you need to be enrolled? Is the number secret? Where is the number. Clearly the first commentator must know this and more, as he is posing it as a solution. At the very least, he must have the number, or know where to get the number. You, the third commentator, come in with the Google Result. Obvious to some, just Google it. Not obvious to others. If it wasn't obvious that you could call them, it would be less obvious that the number is simply publicly available. Further, search results can sometimes be inconclusive, and while this one was the first result and directly on Apple.com, other queries are not so obvious. Again, the first source clearly had the information, and he was directly asked when he did not provide it. That is why communities, question and answer sites, forums, Stack Overflow, and everything else exist. Direct knowledge from people who are verified or profess to having the information that you seek. Some people feel better about direct conversations or direct answers from people vs. casting their fishing hook out in to the giant open Internet and hoping they catch their answer. Some people aren't any good at searching. Sometimes just asking someone who knows can be quicker.
    - gnaritas 16y ago
      > Some people aren't any good at searching. You don't need to be good to Google most things. > Sometimes just asking someone who knows can be quicker. Google knows the answer to most simple queries like this. You shouldn't ask a question where the answer is trivially Googled; Google first, then ask when you can't find the answer. The previous poster had the right attitude by saying let me Google that for you, it's such a pervasive problem that sites like http://lmgtfy.com http://lmgtfy.com have to exist to help educate lazy people. Yes, some people prefer to ask a human rather than Google; those people are lazy and need to be educated, not pacified.

adnam 16y ago

This is ridiculous! Why not offer fellatio and be done with it.

r00fus 16y ago

The tip about some previous hackernews apps being rejected for the word "Hacker" sounds like it might be best to describe Hacker News as just news.ycombinator.com "YCombinator is a startup incubator...".

gabrielroth 16y ago
You might want to put 'Hacker News' in the app's title, though.
BenSS 16y ago
Interesting, I didn't have trouble getting my hacker news app accepted at all. Never thought the name would be an issue.

code_duck 16y ago

There has to be some middle ground between Apple's style and Google's style. Apple overdoes their control a bit, and Google doesn't exercise enough control. You shouldn't have to make an anonymous reviewer think about puppies to get your app passed. I'd just like an app market where Apps are guaranteed to not be privacy violators, trojans, or capable of damaging my hardware.

Steko 16y ago
"There has to be some middle ground between Apple's style and Google's style." Isn't Apple's approach actually the middle ground? Traditionally when you bought software in a store you were looking at quite a bit more curation then Apple does now. "You shouldn't have to make an anonymous reviewer think about puppies to get your app passed." You don't. I guess it could help if your app was in a gray area but I don't see it helping that much. "I'd just like an app market where Apps are guaranteed to not be privacy violators, trojans, or capable of damaging my hardware." While we're going all wishlist let's go scammer free and get an astroturf resistant rating system with much higher discoverability.
- code_duck 16y ago
  I'm specifically saying middle ground between Apple and Google's styles, though. Traditional software publishing is obsolete and we don't really need to worry about how that worked. As for thinking about puppies, my point is that the 'human factor' in Apple's review process seems to count for too much. It should be cut and dry: it is legal, does what it claims and does nothing behind your back, and has no trojans.
blub 16y ago
There is: Nokia's Ovi store. Unfortunately, Symbian isn't doing that great compared to Android and iOS, at least in the minds of tech influencers.

zbowling 16y ago

I would love to contribute to how to get accepted faster, but I honestly can't. I've followed all the rules the last couple years and really haven't been rejected when I've tried to get through. About 1-2 weeks each time for each app and update. Two years ago when the app store was new, I did test the rules and got rejected in static analysis pass but that was under my own personal user and for obvious stuff. I really don't know what it takes to get rejected on top of the already existing ground rules they spell out on their site. Apple really hasn't given me any trouble at all (except emailing after accepting to change a little artwork to clean up an icon next pass).