App rejected because of real rewards system

The only public declarations are found in the ASRGs. See 3.2.2 Unacceptable - I think (vi) is perhaps one of the related topics you're up against. Maybe in your case they just started looking closer at such schemes and you get the honor of being one of the first under any new metrics, etc.

>the app had passed review several times before now

Not sure how that matters now....I'm sure you didn't submit the identical binary as in the past, so something new in your latest update was different enough and/or you just got lucky before. Keep in mind they stop on the first thing they find, so even if you win this one, there may be something else coming up.

Otherwise, only App Review knows what will trigger rejections, they aren't here, and there are no pre-reviews. Good luck w/your appeals.

You could certainly appeal stating that the primary purpose of your app is a gambling app "where users can make IAPs to purchase coins to play the casino games". Unless that isn't the 'primary purpose'.

Is there a possibility that they meant to point out guideline 4.2.2 which is:

4.2.2 Other than catalogs, apps shouldn’t primarily be marketing materials, advertisements, web clippings, content aggregators, or a collection of links.

This guideline sounds like it would generate an objection like:

"The primary purpose of your app is to encourage users to watch ads or perform marketing-oriented tasks, which is not appropriate for the App Store."

Thanks for both of your replies, it helps to see outside opinions.

The the purpose of our app is twofold. We have been contracted by a group of land based clubs to build a social casino, the main purpose of the app is to play casino games and allow users purchase coins thorugh IAPs to play the games on the app. A secondary benefit of the app is that we give users stars which can be redeemed for vouchers in the app. These vouchers can be used in the clubs to get a free coffee or meal etc.

Its very important that earning stars is not related in anyway to IAPs as the user should not be rewarded real money rewards in exchange for coins as this would be real gambling.

It seems the stars are the problem for the reviewers. We have taken any marketing based incentives out of the star rewards process e.g rewarding users for social sharing or time spent in the app, currently we just give a set amount of stars to users on a daily basis regardless of what they do. Is this type of business model possible to implement on the App store or is there another we to implement this in accordance within their guideines?

We're looking for a way to reward the users with stars in a way that meets Apples guideliness but its proving difficult. Any suggestions appreciated.

When they log in, do the users see ads? That's a marketing oriented task.

No we don't show any ads, videos, 3rd party apps etc

You can appeal stating " the main purpose of the app is to play casino games".

Or you can redo the app so it is obvious to App Review that "the main purpose of the app is to play casino games".

That makes your app a gambling app and it will have to satisfy the gambling guidelines

https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#gaming-gambling-and-lotteries