App Store Rejection Due To Being Unable To Get Data From Firebase

I have the same error, did you find a solution?

I have the same error. Did you find a solution ? Thanks. Best regards, Dan

To add some more context to this: We're using Firebase via SPM. We're currently using version 9. This is not the latest version, but we're still surprised to see this.

The reviewers are using iOS 16.3. This has been used in prod by many users who have not seen this issue.

The app previously went through a review on iOS 16.2, and we did not have any issues.

We're using Xcode 14.2.

(Continue) After some more investigation today, it appears the issue is with Firebase Cloud Storage rather than with Remote Config. The error being reported is "An unknown error occurred, please check the server response". Some people have suggested it's an issue with the access rules, but these are set as expected. Additionally, a more descriptive error is given when access is not allowed, so we are confident this is not the issue.

To add some more context to the original post about this issue to see if it lines up with’s experience:

We’re using Firebase version 9 with SPM. This version is slightly outdated (current version is v10.x) but this is still surprising behaviour. It appears fine everywhere else.

The App Store reviews are using iOS 16.3. We had a successful review with iOS 16.2, but this has always happened on 16.3. Many users in prod use iOS 16.3 without issue.

We have identified this is happening for Firebase Cloud Storage, rather than for Remote Config. The error reported is “An unknown error occurred, please check the server response”. Some people have suggested it’s caused by storage access rules, however the rules are as expected. Additionally, a specific error is thrown for when the user does not have access.

We are using Xcode 14.2.

We have emailed firebase support, but we're not expecting to hear about for a few more days. We are considering setting up a new cloud storage system in case this continues/ happens again.

I have the same error. Did you find a solution? Thanks. Best regards, Arvi

I have the same issue. Any solution found? Please help me out.

Update - Our version of the app was approved after they managed to get data from Firebase, but we could see from our analytics that this happened after the reviewer moved off WiFi to using data, making it feel more likely this is caused by something on Apple's WiFi. We have not seen the issue for a single user outside of the reviewers.

I reached out to Firebase, and they said they cannot recreate it so will not look into it.

My plan for upcoming reviews is to ask the reviewer to not use their WiFi. If the issue continues, I'm going to move away from Firebase as we cannot have a tool that is causing this much of an issue. Changing will be a fairly big job, but will save time in the long term.

I'll post any other updates here.

With mobile data still no images present

Even with mobile data, it still seems to have issues. Has anyone solved this problem?

I am getting the same issue. Rejected for App Completeness because app is loading (fetching data from Firebase which is ~200kb) takes forever. Firebase storage without even auth needed. Literally, anyone can access firebase storage data (Another security thing but not the point).

The point is that every testflight tester within/outside Australia (Even ones in the US) are getting the data just fine, whilst only the apple team gets a problem with their network.

It does not even crash, so no logs are being detected on our analytics. It's hard to reproduce as well if only Apple testers are getting this problem whilst the rest of the world are fine.

I am really stuck here as I have sent them videos showing that it works.

I’m having the same exact issue and it’s indeed Cloud Storage and most probably something in Apple’s network. I am in contact with Firebase support for the second time and asking them if they shouldn’t contact Apple about this, as this has huge impact. Will post if I find out something new.

I’m also having the same issue. Could this be an issue with a specific bucket location? We are using europe-west3

@ntorring that is an interesting thought, it might be that it's indeed only with specific bucket locations, as otherwise, the impact would be much bigger. I have europe-west1. A Firebase support representative told me that he let the engineering team at Firebase know and they might contact Apple about this. I think they are starting to realize this might be a big issue.

Mine is australia-southeast1 and it does not work for apple reviewers. So apple network does not connect to firebase storage outside US? Can anyone confirm using firebase servers within the US?