
Ask HN: Has your app been rejected by Apple? - gbourne
I guess my partner and I had been lucky. We have developed several apps and never had major issues submitting to Apple&#x27;s app store. Sure we have had a few rejections, but nothing major...more an annoyance.<p>Our latest app has now entered rejection hell. It is a Kafkaesque nightmare (see the book The Trial - amazing novel) where every rejection seems to have different rules applied and the reason is so opaque we need to divine what we are being accused of.<p>For example, today&#x27;s rejection (and I have lost count of the number - might be around 7) is a new one about changing the purchase button text (same since day 1). We previously had a big issue about using YouTube&#x27;s API to play videos, but that offense seems to have disappeared from the charges.<p>During our “Trial”, Apple offered us to speak with a live person in their San Fran office. I thought that was great and she was very pleasant and professional. However, the conversation became a version of Who&#x27;s On First when we tried to understand what the issue was and what we needed to change. We just got quoted the rule section. When we gave examples of a dozen other apps with similar features, and in the store, we were told “Our app store is a private store.” In other words, our rules and we apply them as we want. We even asked to just tell us what to change and we’ll change it, but were told, “Oh, we can’t tell you that.”<p>So around we go again. We’re doing a new build now hoping we checked all the Apple boxes.<p>What has your experience been and have you ever gotten in this situation and successfully been approved (or just gave up)?
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gbourne
And we were just rejected again. Part of our app is aggregating YouTube
content. At first Apple said we need proof Google allows you to use their API.
Not only did we provide the documentation, but even got a letter from Google
saying so. Now Apple's story has changed to say they don't allow apps that
aggregate YouTube content. Of course they don't care that there are dozens of
apps that do this. We are going to try for the board of appeals, but aren't
holding our breath.

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gbourne
An update...

We got rejected again. This time the Apple tester had trouble logging in. They
used the same registered email as last time, but didn't follow the
instructions to login instead. What is weird, they also gave a comment on the
subscription text you only see after you login.

So back we go again and try for a new build today, and wipe out their previous
IDs.

