Does Rejection History Affect Acceptance?

We have been struggling for about 6 weeks now to get an app accepted. The guideline that is getting in our way is 4.2 (app must have enough user benefit). Reviewers consistently cite our app as being not beneficial (enough) for users. The app displays traffic and weather details that are localized using iBeacons.This includes emergency messaging and navigation info to assist users in getting around problem points on roadways or emergency situations. This feature would seem to benefit users dramatically. In some cases, this kind of info can save lives!


We were stuck in a cycle wherein Apple would reject our submission, we would guess as to what could be changed to impress upon the reviewer the app importance, make app changes, re-submit, get rejected (with no specific reason given), guess again, resubmit, e.t.c. On 2 occassions, we would appeal. Our first appeal got us knowhere as the review board provided no reason for rejection other than citing guideline 4.2. The second appeal was helpful in that the review board gave us specific changes that we could employ to make the app more usable (instead of showing content within launched apps such as Safari, we would show content in app screens). We made changes as specified by the review board and were rejected again with no specific reason, just citiation of guideline 4.2


I am beginning to think that guideline 4.2 is a catch-all that app reviwers and review board memebers can simply cite when they have no other reason to reject an app, but want to reject an app ... for some reason. Perhaps, reviwers see that our app was rejected before with citation of 4.2 and, because they are crunched for time, simply reject us and cite 4.2 again. If we did not have a history of rejections based on 4.2 citations ... maybe we would have a decent shot at acceptance?


The whole process has us questioning the value of developing iOS apps at all. We dev apps to make a living, and getting app accepance is key to getting paid. With our having no control of the app review process for iOS apps, we risk financial peril if we continue to support iOS app dev for our clients.

Replies

Instead of lobbying devForums, not liking not knowing how the internal processes work, and regretting the last 6 weeks, you need to come up with something unique that showcases the platform and makes Apple excited about seeing in the store.


The road you seem to be on now is an apparent dead end. Until app review can be convinced otherwise, nothing else matters, and how you convince them is non-trivial since a 4.2 rejection essentially means more than just tweaking...it means ya got nothin', especially if you had to find out from review that "we would show content in app screens". More work ~ less lament.


Good luck.