App Review Like a Pro

Today’s the day! You’ve finished your app and are ready to show it to the world. You’ve polished each button until it sparkles, nailed down every last menu item, and swept the remaining bugs under the rug (just kidding, just kidding - you would never). The last thing to take care of? App review.

In order to get your app in front of users you need to get it in the App Store and the Play Store. In order to get your app in the App Store and the Play Store you need to send it to Apple and Google for review. They’ll poke and prod your app to make sure it doesn’t bite and nothing smells like burning before they set you loose on the world.

In this article I’m not going to talk about the technical steps involved in app review: where to upload your binaries, which buttons to click, and which forms to fill out. You, being a smart cookie, can figure that stuff out yourself. Instead I’m going to give you some high-level tips and tricks for a successful review process.

Here at Treefort we handle the review process for our customers. The tips in this article are based on what we’ve learned first-hand, having gone through app review a goodly number of times.

How it works

When your app is ready, you’ll submit it to Apple through App Store Connect and Google through Google Play Console. After some period of time (this is unpredictable: hours to days in our experience) a reviewer will download your app and take a look at it.

The reviewer has exactly one job: to see if your app follows the App Review Guidelines (App Store) or the Google Play Developer Program Policies (Play Store). In most cases if your app follows these rules then it will be approved and if your app does not follow these rules then it will be rejected. If your app is rejected, in almost all cases you’ll have a chance to make changes and re-submit.

Before you submit

The best time to prepare for review is before you submit. It’s a lot harder to overcome a rejection than it is to catch and rectify silly mistakes before the reviewer ever sees your app.

Test, test, test

Test your app thoroughly before submitting for review. Test on real devices. Test on different OS versions. Test with a bad network connection. And above all, test the first-time download experience: the experience that the reviewer (and your new users!) will see. Do not treat the review process like a quality assurance check on your app, leaving testing up to the reviewer. A sufficient number of rejections for a broken app can lead to increasingly slow review times and eventually the removal of your app.

Read the manual

Both Apple and Google publish detailed app review guidelines (see above). If this is your first time submitting an app then it’s worth reading the guidelines front to back. They’re not that long and there is a lot of valuable information in there. If you are familiar with these rules then you’ll be less likely to get rejected, and if you do get rejected you’ll be better prepared to understand the reason for the rejection and rectify the situation.

Be meticulous

When preparing your app for review there is a lot to think about. You’ll be asked a million questions about how your app collects data, which ages your app is appropriate for, whether your app falls under certain regulations, etc. You’ll need to upload icons, marketing graphics, code bundles, etc. We have been rejected more times than I care to admit because we forgot to fill out a form field, failed to follow a simple instruction, or uploaded the wrong asset. Answer questions carefully, double-check all of your work, and stay organized.

If you get rejected

It’s not the end of the world. It’s not uncommon to get rejected on your first try. Carefully read the reason for the rejection, make any necessary adjustments, and re-submit for another review. Stick to the tips below and you’ll make it!

Be polite

It can be easy to get frustrated after a rejection. How can the reviewer not see that your app is the best of all the apps! After a rejection, do not let your emotions get the best of you. A polite attitude is both the Christian approach and the approach that is most likely to get your app unstuck. Assume the reviewer is on your team and trying to be helpful^[1]. Never get upset or complain. Always thank the reviewer for their time.

Be clear, confident, and correct

Providing ambiguous or incorrect information to the reviewer is a sure-fire way to gum up the review process. If the reviewer asks you a question, give them clear, consistent, correct answers. If you’re not sure how to answer a question: do some research and find an answer you can be confident in. Don’t make assumptions, guesses, or estimates. And it should go without saying: never lie to or hide anything from the reviewer. That’s the best way to get banned permanently.

Don’t argue

Avoid arguing based on the rules (e.g. “What we’re doing is actually allowed according to App Store rule 5.2.2…”). The reviewer knows the rules better than you do. They know how to interpret the rules and when to apply them. Accept whatever the reviewer tells you as law. Do provide helpful context if you feel the reviewer has misunderstood your app, but if you find yourself arguing about the rules - you’re probably wrong, and you’ll certainly lose.

Don’t ask questions

As mentioned before, app reviewers have exactly one job: to measure your app against the rules. If your app does not follow the rules then they will tell you which rule(s) you broke… and that’s it. A reviewer will not go into much detail; they won’t tell you how to fix your app and they won’t answer questions about the rules. It’s up to you to figure out what to do based on the rules, the rejection, and your knowledge of your app. Asking the reviewer questions like “How should I fix this?” or “What does this rule mean?” will only stall the process.

Stop, stop, it’s too much

I hope this guide helps you through the review process. I’m confident you can make it! On the other hand if you’d rather not run the gauntlet yourself… consider a Treefort app! We handle app review for you so you can focus on what matters in your business.