Apple Rejected My App

Last week I missed my Tuesday deadline. Not because I didn’t finish an app — I did. Apple rejected it.

The rejection came back a few days into review. The reason was vague, as these things tend to be: something about the app not providing enough functionality to justify a paid price point. I’ve read that guideline a hundred times and I still find it subjective enough to be almost useless. The app does one thing and it does it well. Apparently that wasn’t enough.

I resubmitted with some adjustments and a more detailed review notes explaining what the app does and why it costs what it costs. That was six days ago. Still in review.

So this week’s Tuesday is tomorrow, and I don’t have a shipped app to show. The resubmission might come back approved today, or it might come back with another rejection, or it might just sit there for another week. I have no visibility into the queue and no way to speed it up.

This is the part of indie Mac development that nobody talks about enough. You can build something in a week. The App Store review process does not care about your schedule.

I’m going to keep the challenge going. If the resubmission gets approved before midnight Tuesday, I’ll count it. If not, I’m still shipping something next week — either this app if it finally clears, or something new. A missed week isn’t a failed challenge. It’s just Apple being Apple.

More details on what the app actually is once it’s through review. Don’t want to announce something I can’t link to yet.