My app has a feature called "Alarm". It will make the phone vibrate and play sound repeatedly (for 5 times, about 10 seconds) when users near some specific place.
In order to make it works even when the screen is off, I have to enable UIBackgroundMode for location service and audio. However, after reviewing process, my app is rejected because:
The audio key is intended for use by applications that provide audible content to the user while in the background, such as music player or streaming audio applications.
Please revise your app to provide audible content to the user while the app is in the background or remove the "audio" setting from the UIBackgroundModes key.
I did tell them that this is an 'alarm-like' feature but nothing changed.
How can I make it vibrates and sounds multiple times without 'Audio background mode' or should I summit an appeal to Apple Review Board ?
If you feel that this rejection was made in error, and believe your app is in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines, you may submit an appeal to the App Review Board
Thank you.
Why do you need the audio background mode? If you ask CoreLocation to monitor for a specific region, doesn't it wake up your app in the background?
I am curious if you have you tried this and why you think you need the 'audio hack' to keep your app running.
The fact is that because your app does not fit the narrow guidelines and thought process at Apple of what a third-party app should do, you will have to get creative with the review process. An appeal is not a bad idea in this case.
Background modes are extremely restricted because iOS already has a hard time making the battery last a full day with regular use but if you provide them all the information about what your code is doing, they will likely approve it. You could alternatively add a background audio feature that plays nice sleepy music for the napping commuter so that you have a feature that Apple deems worthy of using the background mode.
Sometimes even just removing the current build and submitting a new one will get you into the queue again - and a different reviewer will approve it. I am only speaking from experience here. The same thing has happened to multiple developers when an update to a previously approved app gets rejected without any actual feature additions and vice-versa.
Related
I distributed an iOS app on AppStore, but the app was rejected because we are requesting permission for user location in background.
I already answered the reviewer many times explaining why we need to use background location for our users, and I also added a disclaimer in the application description as stated on other questions here on stack overflow informing the user that the usage of GPS in background can increase battery depletion speed. But the app is still being rejected for the same reason that is Apple performance guideline 2.5.4.
2.5.4 Multitasking apps may only use background services for their intended purposes: VoIP, audio playback, location, task completion, local notifications, etc. If your app uses location background mode, include a reminder that doing so may dramatically decrease battery life.
I noticed that apps that request user location in background have an additional Information field called Location.
App with Location field
But my app does not contain that field
App without Location field
So I presume, that instead of adding that disclaimer on the app description on iTunes Connect form, I should place it somewhere else, but looking at my iTunes Connect account on App Information session there is no text field where I can input that information. And consulting Apple Docs I also wasn't able to find where I should input that.
So my question is where I can set that information that is shown on iTunes, via iTunes Connect?
So my question is where I can set that information that is shown on iTunes, via iTunes Connect?
Nowhere. Apple adds that, not you.
I already answered the reviewer many times explaining why we need to use background location for our users
Well, that is what you need to attend to. You are evidently trying to use background location in some skanky way, and you are busted. So use background location legitimately or not at all.
I've made an app that connects to BLE Device.
But my app got rejected from appstore review process.
They said I have to send hardware to submit.
How can I submit this for review? Its true that my App can't work without hardware. The hardware does connect over BLE only and is not MFi.
It can also connect to android app.
I just want to get some clarity on what I need to do to get this app through the review process and into the App Store.
Some answers said that their app passed review process by using Video.
But, I'm not sure it works 'cause when I submitted, I included a url of video at memo field.
Actually the video was very short and not included everything.
I'm not sure What am I suppose to do.
I need your help.
------------------Received Text------------------
Hardware required
We began the review of your app but are not able to continue because we need the associated hardware to fully assess your app features.
At your earliest convenience, please send the necessary hardware/accessory to the address below.
NOTE: Please include your app name and app ID in the shipment; failure to provide this information can delay the review process.
Additionally, it may take several business days for us to receive the hardware once it has been delivered to Apple.
Apple just rejected my app saying the following:
"Upon further review, your app's previous submission was improperly rejected for 11.1. Since the sensor functionality of your app is dependent on the associated hardware, it would be appropriate to offer the sensor functionality to all users through achievements or In App Purchase."
Does this mean, I should resubmit the first version because it was ok?
If not, do I have to implement achievements from the Game Center, or what kind of achievements do they mean?
Any thoughts that can help me to get this app on the App Store?
Thank you
Additional information:
first version
In the first version I had "a kind of"-achievement, where users can provide a code they receive with the purchased associated hardware. And they could buy this functionality if they wanted to test for example the device of a friend or a public one.
Rejected: Because they claimed that the user can bypass the purchase of the function by providing a code.
second version
In the second version I took out the In App Purchase because we do not want that our clients need to pay again.
Rejected: see above.
From my experience with the App Store I can say that except for some definite rules (no pornography, hate speech, etc...) most of the review process and decisions are ambiguous and inconsistent.
In fact Apple's App Store policy is vague on purpose so they can exercise a bit of freedom with App rejections. However, from my own anecdotal experience and research, they've always been fair. I have yet to come across an issue where they've rejected an app without having a valid reason for it.
In your case, I believe your app was rejected the first time around since a user could bypass a purchase through purchasing something outside the App Store environment. This means you could sell your code without going through in app purchases and having Apple get its 30% share. This will most likely get rejected again if you submit it.
I'm a bit unclear on what happened with the second case..
Yes,
This rule clearly states that any advertising or marketing activity by Push Notification could cost your a ban in App Store.
So how about Groupon and other special offer focused apps? Each day I receive notifications from Groupon with clear marketing content, and when I open it I'm redirected into the view with big "Buy" button (Btw. do you know any other live apps using push in similar way? I mean not exact Groupon-clone apps).
Ofcourse user need to have a choice if he wants to receive such notifications or not, and from who (like in Groupon you can choose subscribed cities), privacy policy need to clearly state what kind of notifications user will receive. Maybe the frequency of notifications does matter (1 per day for Groupon)?
Ok lets get back to the point of my question:
Whats the receipe for such app which explicitly bends the 5.6 rule to stays up and running in App Store?
Have you ever trying to submit similar application?
App reviews rules are not strict, since Groupon is just that, an advertisement platform, an app is expected to send these kind of push notification.
But if, for example, the Facebook app would be using push notification to tell there users to download some other app the rulle 5.6 will come in to play.
But just that some other app got approved does in no way mean that you app will, even if it has the same functionality. So the answer you are seeking for will not do you any good, since even if someone got there app approved will not mean you will get it approved.
So basically my questions is: Can newsstand kit be used in one single app for several different magazine subscriptions? From the wwdc 504 session it doesn't really appear that this is true. In my understanding it appears that a magazine/newspaper subscription is coupled with 1 app. For instance the UIApplication setNewsstandIconImage only has a single UIImage parameter, so I can only deduce from this that one and only one newstand image can exist or rather be active for a single application. Am I missing something here, can someone confirm or deny my suspicions? Thanks in advance!
setNesstandIconImage sets the icon of your app. You app only ever has one icon, so it doesn't make sense to set it to multiple images. This, in an of itself, does not limit Newsstand to being used for one publication only. Just set the icon to whatever the newest issue is, regardless of publication.
While subscriptions are coupled to an app (you can only purchase a subscription from the app it's linked to), there is no limit to the number of subscriptions your app can offer. And what you do with those subscriptions is completely up to you. The only thing Apple will tell you is the subscription ID, if it's active, and when it was purchased (and a few other meta). What you download/enable/unlock based on that information is up to you.
So there's no technical reason your single app couldn't offer subscriptions to Time, Newssweek, and the Wall Street Journal (and maybe a fourth subscription to all three for a reduced price).
There may be usability or design reasons you wouldn't want to do that. But technically the API supports it.
You're right that the way Newsstand is today managed and displayed by iOS makes it more suitable for one-app-one-magazine apps than multi-magazine ones.
Technically making a multiple magazine Newsstand app is not impossible. All in all Apple limits pushes to one per day, but it doesn't mean that in your push notification you can add a payload that refers to multiple issues to be downloaded at a time: as far your app is moved in the background from the push notification you will be able, based on payload data, to schedule as many downloads as you want (they will be serially queued in the NK download queue).
Of course the single UIImage parameters is a real limitation. Normally you should add on it the latest downloaded issue: intact the rule is that the cover must be updated once the magazine is ready in the device, so typically you will update the cover after magazine download and installation. Eventually for a multiple-magazine app you can consider a generic cover and then keep the user informed of the latest download thanks to the badge in the icon.
Anyway I agree with you: the user experience is improved by Newsstand mainly on single-magazine apps.