Rejected for Mentioning a Pre-release macOS Version
Apple: “Update and submit your Mac apps for Mojave TODAY!”
Me: Ok!
App Store Connect: Can’t talk about Mojave in your release notes.
[…]
How the hell do I inform my users and potential customers that Screens is ready for Mojave?
This is a longstanding policy, and my apps have been rejected for it as well, but as far as I can tell it’s an unwritten rule. The closest thing I can find in Apple’s guidelines would seem to indicate that you should mention the new OS:
2.3.12 Apps must clearly describe new features and product changes in their “What’s New” text.
rather than imply it.
While Apple’s own apps happily mention Mojave in iWork updates I installed today.
I feel they always try to pull this... most of the time they relent if challenged. It is user-hostile to reject for this reason and wastes our time as one of the top questions we get near a new OS release date is “does it run on macOS 10.x?”
Update (2018-09-24): Greg Knauss:
Apple apparently considers referencing the devices that an application is designed to run on not relevant to its functionality.
[…]
Given Apple’s ad budget, the entire observable universe is aware what the new-model iPhones are called, and there’s simply no reason not to accurately reflect that in release notes. Not doing so makes the notes worse, and at the end of that particular road is a sign that just says, “Bugs fixed.”
Funny. Seems that if you app is being metadata-rejected for mentioning an upcoming OS release by name, you just need to wait a bit and the review will “auto”-continue.
Update (2018-10-19): Patrick Balestra:
App Review team be like
Previously: Weather Alarms Scam.
Update (2018-10-22): Peter Steinberger:
Mentioning iPhone XR in changelog gets you rejected, but mentioning a non-existing iOS version is fine?
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