Why did my drone controller app get rejected this year by App Review but not last year?

My app is getting rejected over and over for what I consider a bogus reason. After 5 days of back and forth I finally just cancelled and will resubmit it in a few hours to hopefully get a new reviewer.

I followed the rules.

This app was published before using the same information on a different account(which is now gone so I am moving the app over)

I updated the background images and colors to use SwiftUI. This app was published on a new apple developer account. Same app, no new features(actually has less features)

I provided an equal quality video to demo the features and how I use WiFi.

I also provided the video from the previous app review and a new video to show the updated UI. 3 videos in total, all showing the same drone controller with different colors.

https://youtu.be/hDjZirlId_Q

What can I even do? This is absurd because now I'm going to miss out on christmas downloads of my app. Is there any way to escalate or get a new reviewer?

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It was accepted. Hope this helps anyone with a similar issue in the future.

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Got rejected again.

My provided App Review Information

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDjZirlId_Q

requires Tello drone made by DJI, video demonstrates network capability and general app usage

  1. press connect, iOS app uses NetworkExtension framework to find drone's wifi network based on SSID prefix "TELLO-"
  2. when connected, iOS app sends message to drone to enter a command-able state
  3. when drone tells iOS app it can be commanded, command-able state, iOS app shows controller view
  4. drone starts sending video and status data, takes a moment to appear for user
  5. it's just a drone, it flys and does flips, nothing else.

Response from app review team member

We're looking forward to completing our review of your app. Before we can continue, we need a video that demonstrates the current version, 2.1, in use on a physical iOS device, pairing and interacting with the designated hardware.

  • The demo video does not show a physical iOD device and the drone and how these interact and connect via Bluetooth.

Keep these requirements in mind as you make your demo video:

  • Only use footage of your app running on a physical iOS device, not on a simulator.
  • Make sure the video clearly documents all relevant app features, services, and user permission requests.
  • You can use a screen recorder to capture footage of your app in use.

  1. The app doesn’t use bluetooth.

  2. The demo video is recorded on a physical iOS device, the video is not recorded on a simulator.

  3. I clearly show how I use the WiFi and in my App Review notes I explain how I use wifi. This is made by Apple and is in included in the Apple NetworkExtension framework

  4. This is the second time I have been rejected for this despite following guidelines and requirements provided by the App Review team. This app was approved last year using the same exact video

Here is a link from last year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwFQsfQwglY

From this submission: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDjZirlId_Q

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  • the typo was in the response they sent btw

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It was accepted. Hope this helps anyone with a similar issue in the future.

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