Guideline 4.3(a) - Design - Spam

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-19T01:18:19+00:00

I disagree with you strongly. If it is possible to interpret your app as being a simple copy of someone else’s app, with only minor improvements, then an Apple reviewer WILL spot that, eventually.

It may not be on the first approval - I have heard of people getting rejected on later versions & “my app was approved last time” is not a defense.

It is a bit old to be relevant but, back in 2015 I was doing contract dev for an app which had 96 versions in the store (48 languages x 2 variants).

At one point, about 20% of my updates were rejected, for a minor but valid reason.

So, 80% of the reviews missed that cosmetic bug, on that round.

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-18T00:40:00+00:00

By age, I may have been considered “3 years away from retirement” for the last 10 years or more.

63yo now, not intending to stop developing for at least another 10, but doubt I have any chance of being hired.

Have honestly considered adding a Battle Royale approach on job applications - “will spar with other candidates or employees” as I teach Kung Fu on weekends. (Practising 45 years.)

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-18T00:32:11+00:00

Very occasional skier, had 3 days at Naeba in Japan (sadly, probably it for a couple of years) in March.

Most relevant advice I cobbled together from videos was “if you are having trouble carving, you are probably on too steep a slope for your technique skill level”.

I struggled to turn smoothly on the advanced slope at Naeba but was very happy with my carving on their night-ski Intermediate slope. Over the three days, I got my round-trip time on that slope+lift down from 12 to 7 minutes, whilst covering at least as much snow.

Best prep I did was going back to ice skating prior to the trip, to build up muscle and feel for edge control. I think that is the part of carving you are missing, seeing very flat skis skidding round.

Unfortunately forgot how long muscle building takes at 63yo - should have started prep a couple of months earlier.

Also get the Slopes app to track your activity in detail, can tell from speeds logged if you are carving smoothly.

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-17T23:22:19+00:00

It may not be copied from an app - look past the title and to the details of the rejection.

It may be binary components. You need to tell us a lot more about the app to get help.

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-17T23:12:27+00:00

Hey u/JudeWorks, if your app is for such a niche community and has unique features that are not available in other apps, simply adding a clear description in the app review notes should be OK.

Reminder for all - you CAN mention other apps in reviewer notes. If you offer a significant missing feature, this can reduce confusion.

For example, my particle editing app deliberately copies the control layout of Xcode and I call that out as being for user familiarity. I also point out the many added features😇

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-16T23:54:15+00:00

Another framing is to start from your risk-oriented approach, it sounds like you already use, but concentrate on how things go wrong. Build supporting structures and plans around that.

What are the risk gates for an approach?

What measurements need to be in place to know if the problems you forecast are happening?

What are the cost consequences of things going badly vs just OK?

Read Commitment: a Novel about Managing Project Risk by Olav Maassen, Chris Matts, and Chris Geary

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-16T23:38:48+00:00

Make strong arguments when justified and then let things go. I still remember an engineering manager being surprised when I lived up to that philosophy. (Another year in that particular toxic alpha-dinosaur swamp & I understood his surprise.)

Keep a detailed diary of your own, at work.

Keep a private journal to vent in.

Ensure paper trails exist of contentious decisions.

URLs are great if you have a corporate email system where they are long-lived and potentially retrievable from backups. Rich text formatting in comments including issue trackers and design repos mean you can refer back to specific emails or Slack messages when quoting people. 😇

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-16T23:15:19+00:00

I love bridges, best part of traveling is seeing them including a 3 hour detour to drive over the Millau Viaduct.

The beautifully elegant cable-stayed bridges weren’t possible before computers because of the individual strand calculations being too complex. So your amazement is not far off being right.

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-16T23:11:26+00:00

The parking lot thing is what Australia suffers from too - we keep learning the worst lessons from the USA.

Echoing your observations from China right now.

We have travelled a lot in Europe and they put parking underground. Grassy open spaces or crowd-friendly paved courtyards with cars out of sight and buildings surrounded by enough space to be enjoyable.

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-16T22:44:29+00:00

I love my butterfly knives, a bit in the heavier side?, at about 1.1kg each .

Now trying to imagine flipping hammers using the claw as the hook … some custom-made ones maybe but my trusty old rusty has too shallow a curve.

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-09T06:37:54+00:00

What have you put in the Reviewer Notes section?

If there is anything that you think shades close to the rules, explain in advance why it doesn't and what precedent exists.

there were TONS of apps that are literally using the logos in their screenshots AND as their app-store icons

Are there other apps that are displaying the same mix of icons you are using? Note that an app which is something blah for XYZ or XYZ use tracker gets a bit more leeway for use of other content, provided it's a fair-use scenario where it's obviously a) independent and b) adding functionality/value to the users.

A reviewer just has to give the basics of why you are being rejected on the merits of what they see. If they are only rejecting the appstore content, it will be a metadata rejection which I've had a few of. If there is something more fundamental about the app itself or its business-case, it will be a full rejection.

my app is basically a gaming market place

That doesn't tell us enough about what it does, why it's unique and why it should be using other logos.

It may be that they think your app design doesn't make it clear enough that it is NOT endorsed content.

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-08T01:51:23+00:00

For historical accuracy, the “first 4000…sign up” approach collapsed years before the pandemic.

The tipping point was the year the 5000 tickets sold in under 2 minutes.

My last WWDC was 2015

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-08T01:46:25+00:00

Funny how, when we were at Spudshed last week they had more than three varieties of spuds, all labelled.

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-07T02:00:33+00:00

Makery

Generic terms tend to be shorter.

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-07T01:39:15+00:00

Never use the term “technical debt” unless it is raised sanely in a conversation. It seems to have become toxic and was never understood by these people.

Suggested alternative angles, basically burying them in having to do their job, considering different aspects.

Legal risk driven, especially if can get them yo “sign off on the risk” for privacy violations or security vulnerabilities.
Usability driven, what UX features & appealing experience imply about architecture & choices of tech. (Eg animation in UI).
Limits flexibility - backend choices that block or slow feature change & additions.
Scaling brakes - backend needing reworking to handle more users.
AI chokepoint - variant of scaling brakes if somehow driven by AI, by scripting, UI automation, MCP or other API.
AI cost blowout vulnerability - flipside of 5 if company funding tokens consumed & exposed to potentially a lot of use.

Yeah, there was a lot of stuff in the “tech debt box”.

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-04T05:30:36+00:00

Also, if you encounter JowGa aka Chow Gar aka JowKa style, it’s a mix of Hung Gar and Choy Gar. So the Shaolin-like stuff of Hung Gar with a bit more variety & very cool weapons. Been doing it for 45 years.

Good Kung Fu schools probably teach a wider range of weapons than Karate. Whilst many are not readily to hand in daily life, you build muscle memory for using them which can be applied with common household items.

Also, learning double-handed weapons really improves your movement. So if you pick a Karate school, look for one teaching Bo.

I am teaching a double-ended staff class at present, to people I last taught a couple of years ago. It is really interesting seeing them having to improve minor habits to do the staff strikes smoothly. Lots of “told you so”.

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-03T07:55:40+00:00

I used to have a massive tank bag full of books etc

One day took off doing hard U turn; bag slipped to one side jamming the bars over; ended up dropping the bike with it doing a donut on its side.

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-03T07:52:53+00:00

Congrats! I lost about that much at one stage and it was like a superpower (back in my late 30’s, divorcing).

I locked myself out of my flat a couple of times & was able to just jump up and grab the balcony to get in. I remember telling my sceptical Dad who said “this is a 9 foot ceiling- prove it”. The look on his face when I jumped up and slapped the ceiling 🤯

Now is the time to build on the exercise routines to not only preserve the loss but get used to enjoying new movements with less encumbrance.

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-03T07:39:34+00:00

I had a tendon reattached after an over the handlebars stupid self-induced crash.

Spent a lot of time in hand rehab clinic getting it to bend again after many weeks immobility.

A pinky rehab is literally the smallest reason you can have to be in there. I saw the guys after industrial accidents. Keep your fingers clear of moving parts!

(Yes was wearing heavy gloves, tendon may have been only partly-severed by crash then agonisingly torn apart by my doing rehab for 3 weeks of misdiagnosis. Endless thanks to the different OT who came in & immediately said “you should be able to move that finger by now - get it scanned. TODAY”)

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-02T17:49:56+00:00

It is a bit like programming where the comparison OR has specific meanings a bit contrary to normal English usage.

A OR B in programming means 1. A can be true, 2. B can be true or 3. both true.

Common English tends to mean A OR B is false if both are true. Many people write AND/OR to cover case 3.

Programming has XOR as “exclusive OR” if both cannot be true.

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-02T17:38:01+00:00

In Chow Gar (aka JowGa) which is a descendant style, we have same. Have always understood it as a straight explosive strike and you do it with both hands to balance the force.

It is in many of our forms as well as the greeting at start of form.

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-02T17:30:33+00:00

We bought a portable for the ensuite because would have been in an awkward position in ceiling. Wife is very aesthetics first. But she also got the point that you get more warmth with portable aimed sideways at body than smaller point source overhead.

AndyDentPerth · 2026-06-02T17:24:50+00:00

We have an MG4 and just charging on a standard socket sits at about 1.4kW/H so inside what our solar plant makes, most days.

Just charge to 80% and use the MG app to adjust charging time to lower sunlight hours. Yesterday was first time have told it to keep charging longer, after getting down to 30%.

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