We submitted our application and the Apple Review Team replied back with:
Guideline 3.2 - Business
During our review, we found that this app was designed for a specific business or organization and not for general distribution on the App Store. Business apps available on the App Store are meant for use by a wide variety of external customers around the world.
As this app is not intended for general distribution, it cannot be made available on the App Store. We encourage you to review the other ways to distribute your business app and choose one that better meets your business needs.
I responded back to them with the below. We looked at the Business App options and the one we are looking for is the App Store option. Our application is similar to a banking app in that in order to view your account specific details, you must create an account with us.
"I updated our category to Business. Is there anything else we need to do? In looking at the business options, we would want the App Store option so it is simple for our customers to download. We don't want the Custom or the In-House option. Please let us know if there is anything else that needs to be updated."
Apple then responded back with the same message as before (not providing any additional information):
Thank you for providing additional information.
Regarding 3.2.0, this app was designed for a specific business or organization and not for general distribution on the App Store.
It cannot be made available on the App Store
To resolve this issue, it would be appropriate to review the other ways to distribute your business app and choose one that better meets your business needs.
We look forward to reviewing your resubmitted app.
We checked the 3 2.0 Guidelines and all it says is "The lists below are not exhaustive, and your submission may trigger a change or update to our policies, but here are some additional do’s and don’ts to keep in mind:". Apple isn't telling us exactly what the issue is, so I responded back with the below:
Can you please provide the item in 3 2.0 that you are referencing? We aren't seeing how our app doesn't meet the qualifications for general distribution. We would like to address the item in question, however, in looking at the Apple Review Guidelines 3 2.0, it only references acceptable and not acceptable items, and we aren't sure what item is being addressed in the reject.
Could you clarify if it is how our app is made or if it's how we are submitting it? Our app has a similar business model to Ash Brokerage, an app that is available on the Apple Store for general distribution today. We are both Independent Marketing Organizations and our goal for the app is to be viewable by everyone on the apple store, however, to see your account specific data you must have an account with FIG (similar to banking or financial services app).
They again responded back with the same verbiage as before:
Thank you for providing additional information.
Regarding 3.2.0, this app was still designed for a specific business or organization and not for general distribution on the App Store.
It cannot be made available on the App Store
To resolve this issue, it would be appropriate to review the other ways to distribute your business app and choose one that better meets your business needs.
We look forward to reviewing your resubmitted app.
Does anyone have any additional information that could help here? We aren't getting the clarification that we are asking for and it's almost like no one is reading our responses/questions. They just keep saying 'regarding 3 2.0 but aren't saying what we are specifically in violation of or what we need to do to resolve.
We do not want a custom or in-house application. We want our application visible and downloadable to everyone on the app store. Once you download the app, it will require you to log in to view your specific data, similar to banking applications. We aren't sure what we are doing wrong or what we need to fix.
Help please! 🙂
