Performance - 2.3.1 & Business - 3.1.1
Your app contains hidden features that enable users to purchase content by means other than in-app purchase API.
For this reason, your app will be removed from sale on the App Store at this time.
Our app has been removed from App Store.After that we submitted a new version but it has been "waiting for review" for more than a month.What should we do to update our App?
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From the rejection line it seems like your app is wrongly using any payment options rather using inApp purchase.
As per apple rules if you know we have to use inApp purchase option for non physical existence products. Like for ex : Earn coins, points etc.
So make sure you are using the payment options as per apple guidelines. If all things are checked & as per apple rules than try to submit it again by sending appeal to the apple review team.
So by that way you can give them more information about your product & get approval.
Hope it will helps.
Related
I never worked on mobile application and I have fixed all the issues from apple team and now the concern is In App Purchase and that's a big confusing part for me, because I don't know anything about it.
How do I manage my packages because everything is being managed from the backend APIs. I have little bit knowledge of app store but the confusing part is how to manage my packages from apple store and how to charge for them?
If anyone has an idea for REACT NATIVE then please guide me, it's very difficult for me now to get approval from the app store.
Guideline 3.1.1 - Business - Payments - In-App Purchase
We noticed that your app offers a subscription with a mechanism other than the in-app purchase API.
Specifically, subscriptions to digital videos can be purchased by means other than the in-app purchase API.
Next Steps
To resolve this issue, please revise your app to ensure that the subscription for products used within the app is offered using the in-app purchase API, with the exception of the content specified in guideline 3.1.3 of the App Store Review Guidelines.
Please see attached screenshots for details.
In order to get get approval from the app store, you should use in-app purchases. If by any means your app doesn't encourage users to pay for any form of content, please give more context about the purpose of your app. I've also just been through a long review process, so maybe I could give some advice!
Apple's review guidelines
3.1 Payments
3.1.1 In-App Purchase:
If you want to unlock features or functionality within your app, (by way of example: subscriptions, in-game currencies, game levels, access to premium content, or unlocking a full version), you must use in-app purchase. Apps may not use their own mechanisms to unlock content or functionality, such as license keys, augmented reality markers, QR codes, etc. Apps and their metadata may not include buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms other than in-app purchase.
I have an app which has some purchase option. However, I don't want to make it through the app itself. For that, I already have a website for the purchase.
So can I create a redirection page from my app to the respective webpage?
Will my app get rejected?
or is there a better solution?
It depends on what you are selling, if you are offering "Physical Goods and Services Outside of the App" you cannot use IAP and must use something else as described in the App Store Review Guidelines
3.1.5 (a) Physical Goods and Services Outside of the App: If your app enables people to purchase goods or services that will be consumed outside of the app, you must use purchase methods other than in-app purchase to collect those payments, such as Apple Pay or traditional credit card entry.
If not then you must use IAP and will be charged a 30% fee. However, if you are offering subscriptions this rate will drop down to 15% for users who have been subscribed for over 1 year. Check out Offering Subscriptions for more info if you are interested.
There isn’t any,
According to Apple’s official guidelines
If you want to unlock features or functionality within your app, (by way of example: subscriptions, in-game currencies, game levels, access to premium content, or unlocking a full version), you must use in-app purchase. Apps may use in-app purchase currencies to enable customers to “tip” digital content providers in the app. Apps and their metadata may not include buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms other than in-app purchase.
You must use in-app purchases and Apple’s official API’s, if it’s not a physical item
Otherwise your app will be rejected
if you want to sell tokens/credits/gold coins/gems or whatever as consumables in a game they also must be through In App Purchase. Meanwhile for Physical elements that we brought from any e commence app that must should go through your requirement.
hope this work
for more info refer this link blog post describing it
Firstly, let me answer your question based on my experience(bad :( ) with Apple
So can I create a redirection page from my app to the respective webpage? - NO
Will my app get rejected? - YES
or is there a better solution? - Depend on types of app.
The In-App guidelines are recently updated with few more changes so it's depends on what kind of feature you are subscribing. For example:
3.1.4 Hardware-Specific Content: In limited circumstances, such as when features are dependent upon specific hardware to function, the
app may unlock that functionality without using in-app purchase (e.g.
an astronomy app that adds features when synced with a telescope).
To be honest, DON'T trust these exceptions and build your app based on this. In our case, app works exclusively based on a connected physical device device. After rejection from Apple, we appealed with this exception but we didn't hear from Apple for more than a month..!
Using subscription through website
Many thinks that they can get away In-app purchase by offering subscription through website and removing t from app. But Apple will still reject your app and confirmed with Apple team. If you are thinking about Spotify and Netflix cases, there is a category of apps it's only permitted called "Reader app". Please refer 3.1.3(a) of Apple guidelines.
I am developing an iOS application where all payment related things are on existing website, our app don't have any payment related thing in it. A user adds payment details on website and select appropriate plan and can use it on both website and iOS app.
So please tell me that if i have nothing on app for using In-App purchase then it will be get approved on app store or get rejected just because app is not giving them their 30% share?
I need some expert advise...
I just read through that exact section of the developer guidelines, and it confirms that that is prohibited. A recent example of such apps being rejected: apps using Dropbox were being rejected (the Dropbox API had a button that could navigate users to their website to upgrade their account instead of having it take place in-app, where Apple would have gotten a percentage).
A quote from that article:
In case you’re wondering what the reasoning these apps are getting for rejection, here’s what Apple is responding with:
11.13
We found that your app provides access to external mechanisms for purchases or subscriptions to be used in the app, which is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines.
Specifically, your app enables to user to create accounts with Dropbox and Google.
Well that sucks. Apparently at some point when using an app that utilizes the Dropbox SDK, you can create an account for the service if you don’t already have one. At that point, there’s a link to a desktop version of Dropbox that lets you upgrade your account. That’s exactly what Apple isn’t a fan of.
My suggestion would be to make them available for purchase via an in-app purchase, charge 30% more for it (so you make the same amount as if the user made the purchase on the web or on Android), but make the user's job post last for 30% more time. This isn't quite fair for you because, if you make $100 off John for an 30-day listing, you would still only make $100 off me for a 39-day listing (assuming I bought the listing via the iOS app). That said, there is no incentive for me to pay for the listing via the iOS app because I am paying $130 (30% more than John) for it and the additional days.
Best of luck.
http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/05/02/apps-using-dropbox-are-being-rejected-because-apple-is-playing-hardball/
The link on App Store Review Guidelines mentions:
3.1.3(b) Multiplatform Services: Apps that operate across multiple platforms may allow users to access content, subscriptions, or features they have acquired
elsewhere, including consumable items in multi-platform games, provided those
items are also available as in-app purchases within the app. You must not directly or indirectly target iOS users to use a purchasing method other than in-app purchase, and your general communications about other purchasing methods must not discourage use of in-app purchase.
I am not sure how Netflix does this. New users cannot signup on iOS App, but can sign up on website, purchase subscriptions and use in iOS App.
I have developed an app like money wallet (e.g. paytm), where user can request money to each other and transfer money to each others account. with every transaction of user, Admin will get some fixed percent commission.
As app is for one small town only,right now user will have to manually contact admin to load money in his wallet or to withdraw it.
I want to submit my app on iTunes store. I know to use any digital content, services, unlock features we need to use In App Purchase. And for any physical good we need to go with any other third party payment gateway.
So I am confused that will apple approve my app or not. Please help.
Thanks,
First, you never know if Apple will approve or not. The only way to know for sure is to submit and see what happens.
Your description of features sounds like you are probably taking the correct approach.
Its important to use In app purchase for unlocking content/features:
Apps that unlock or enable additional features or functionality
with mechanisms other than the App Store will be rejected
And equally for real world purchases to use something else:
Apps using IAP to purchase physical goods or goods and services used
outside of the App will be rejected
The complete guidelines can be found here https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#purchasing-currencies
And again, its Apples own words:
This is a living document, and new Apps presenting new questions may
result in new rules at any time. Perhaps your App will trigger this.
I tried to submit using paytm integration sdk, and after that my app got rejected
following is reply from App Store
Guideline 3.1.1 - Business - Payments - In-App Purchase
We noticed that your app or its metadata enables the purchase of content, services, or functionality in the app by means other than the in-app purchase API, which is not appropriate for the App Store.
Next Steps
While the payment system that you have included may conduct the transaction outside of the app, if the purchasable content, functionality, or services are intended to be used in the app, they must be purchased using in-app purchase, within the app - unless it is of the type referenced in guideline 3.1.3 of the App Store Review Guidelines.
Please see attached screenshots for details.
Since your App Store Connect status is Rejected, a new binary will be required.
I am developing an iOS app which allows in-app purchases.
The in-app purchases are basically different themes/characters for the app.
I offer the default for free (obviously), and some more paid themes.
I implemented the store UI as a table view.
Now this is the part I'm concerned about: I added a free in-app purchase entry for the default theme. My code can identify the free products when it gets the product list from Apple infrastructure, and I treat the free ones as if the user has already purchased them (UI is set as product was purchased, user can use the theme).
My question: is this behaviour is acceptable by apple reviewers or my app/in-app purchase will be rejected for this?
What is the purpose of adding the free in-app purchase? I don't know much about the review guidelines, but it sounds like the kind of thing they would reject your app for. It would probably be easier to detect the default kit in some way other than a free in-app purchase.
EDIT: An alternative would be to add the default theme to the list after the list is retrieved from IAP. You could create a class that holds all the same information, but can be constructed with either data from IAP or from the default theme data.
I do something similar, and it's been approved by Apple for a long time now. However, for my "free" content there is no actual SKU in the Apple infrastructure. Rather than create a SKU with some 'dummy' price (since you can't make an in-app purchase any less than Tier 1), I just present the free option in the UI as a peer of the purchasable options.
I would worry that if you do have an actual SKU with a price, but you give away that SKU, Apple may reject your product out of concern that you are doing an end-run around Apple payment and depriving them of their percentage of the sale. It's also possible they may not reject your app the first time, but will reject some later version when a more thorough tester pokes around. (Yes, really. I have twice had apps rejected that had had the offending behavior through three or four approved versions. Consistency? What?)
Relevant references:
11. Purchasing and currencies
11.1
Apps that unlock or enable additional features or functionality with mechanisms other than the App Store will be rejected
11.2
Apps utilizing a system other than the In-App Purchase API (IAP) to purchase content, functionality, or services in an App will be rejected
...
11.7
Apps that use IAP to purchase items must assign the correct Purchasability type
from App Store Review Guidelines