[MonoTouch] Worst app approval process ever!

Fri Mar 30 22:35:49 UTC 2012

Hi, thanks for the info. What do you mean about links?

Like a Text in screen with a link?
An address to be passed to safari?
And adress to be passed to UIWebView?

Another thing?

Thanks,

Karl

From:  NC Software <neal at nc-software.com>
Date:  Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:00:20 -0700 (PDT)
To:  "monotouch at lists.ximian.com" <monotouch at lists.ximian.com>
Subject:  [MonoTouch] Worst app approval process ever!

Hello MonoTouch'ers:

I've had my iOS app on the App Store for about two years now and the app
review process has always been fast, easy, and no road blocks.  This week I
released a major update to may app, while the same overall functionality
hasn't changed.  A free app that uses an external "cloud sync" system
(subscription) to get data to/from the desktop app.

I've never had a problem with Apple with this model, others use it too.  The
app never cripples and at no time is a subscription required to use the
functionality of the app.  The subscription is completely external and for
use of the "cloud" system to port data to/from the desktop.  Well, this week
was the worst week regarding Apple!  I used to use the UDID but saw online
(9to5Mac I believe) where Apple was cracking down on UDID use so I got that
out before ever submitting.

I think ultimately I had a bad reviewer that didn't know the rules and for
whatever reason I was stuck with that reviewer through numerous iterations.
My first submission was rejected because I had a link in the app (a site map
of our main web site) that pointed to a subscription and he provided a
screenshot of that subscription "Cloud Backup" which has nothing to do with
this app whatsoever, it's a backup system for our Windows software.  The
reviewer cited Apple's section 11.13 which states you can't have a mechanism
for buying something for this app outside of Apple.  I responded via their
resolution center that what they pointed out was something not even related
to the app and resubmitted.  In doing so I removed the links to my web site
to avoid confusion, it's a dynamically download XML file that generates
these links so obviously it was something I could restore.

2nd submission - rejected again!  Now they point our that my app has a link
to http://logbookpro.com/affiliate and http://logbookpro.com/sync.  The
first link is to our free affiliate program - WTF?  Then the second link
points to our cloud sync portal - NOT the subscription and the portal has no
reference to the subscription system, it's just a system to monitor the data
to/from and also information to setup your pairing of device to desktop app
- FREE to all.

3rd submission - and at this time I filed an appeal to the review board as
well that this reviewer does not seem to know the rules. I pointed out the
section 11.13 terms that specifies "purchasing an external mechanism for use
IN THIS APP (i.e. a book for a reader app - ala Kindle)".  Now he points out
that I have a link to http://logbookpro.com/schedule yet provides a
screenshot that has a different link (again the /sync link) - rejected
again!

4th submission - app modified to remove all links, good grief, this is
clearly a witch hunt!!!  I'm guessing someone complained about what we've
been doing for over a year, heck iTunes/App Store even pointed to our cloud
sync subscription info.  Now the app seems to be fine but he rejects the app
again because my "marketing material" which I assume is the iTunes info
and/or Marketing link in the app meta data pointed to
http://logbookpro.com/iphone and he provides a screenshot of a completely
different area of our web site which outlines our subscriptions.

5th submission - I modified the app meta data and thankfully the app was
approved!

Beware and be careful!  If your app has links in it that point to anything
external on your site, etc. that could be a problem, it may!  Again, I
really think this was a reviewer in the wrong and I've never had a problem
before!  The moral of this story is you want to cross the app review process
as little as you can!  Spend a lot of time testing, reviewing, and getting
your features right up front so you can avoid the process at all costs!
While typically it's an okay process, this process was devastating!  We've
spent months on this update and poured our heart and soul into it, we got a
taste of the bad side of this process this go round.  I figured I'd share it
with you to help you avoid this nightmare.

The app is now live, thank God! :)

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