App Store Guidelines Case Study - SPAM

App Store Guidelines Case Study - SPAM

This is the first "Case Study" blog post on App Review Guidelines in a series. Today I will cover a SPAM guideline. Let's first see what is considered SPAM by Apple:


4.3 Spam

Don’t create multiple Bundle IDs of the same app. If your app has different versions for specific locations, sports teams, universities, etc., consider submitting a single app and provide the variations using in-app purchase. Also avoid piling on to a category that is already saturated; the App Store has enough fart, burp, flashlight, fortune telling, dating, drinking games, and Kama Sutra apps, etc. already. We will reject these apps unless they provide a unique, high-quality experience. Spamming the store may lead to your removal from the Apple Developer Program.


So in a nutshell - SPAM is submitting Apps on the App Store that:

  1. Have the same functionality

  2. Look the same

  3. Sell to the same market

Why are developers Spamming the store?

There are two possible answers to this:

  1. They are not aware of the guideline

  2. In the past a lot of developers used a simple strategy that worked for a long time: They made one simple app or game and then reskinned it and submitted it again on the App Store via a different name.

This worked well because it brought costs down for the developers but on the other hand, it was saturating the App Store with apps that offer the same experience and most of the time this was also to the same audience.

This approach somehow still works today but you need to know what you are doing since it's gray area and Apple will never disclose what it is "right" or "wrong" in their eyes. However, if you keep the end customer in mind you will always find solutions that are "correct".

Real life SPAM scenario:


Game #1:


Game #2:


Game #3:


You'd think that this is one game, but it's actually not. The developer submitted 3 different apps with the exact same functionality. Changing the color of the background is not enough to change the experience of the game, thus it is obviously against Apple guidelines.

The developer also used the same wording in screenshots in two colored versions of the game.

How developer should fix the issue

In this case, the developer would need to offer different color game modes via the same app and remove two other games from the App Store.

Possible consequences

When Apple will investigate this developer account it will find out that it doesn't comply with guidelines. For the first time, Apple will reject the submitting app (investigation usually happens when you submit one of your apps), with the statement that it is considered a SPAM since it was submitted several times on this account. The developer will need to fix the error.

The severity of the guideline is serious and I saw developers get removed from the Apple developer program because of this (repeated behavior). It's a serious issue but also one of the most common ones, so Apple usually doesn't remove the developer from the App Store (terminate the developer account). if this is a one-time thing. However, Apple is changing and refining its actions against developers that violate App Store policies all the time so there is always a risk if you do something similar yourself.


Publish Date: October 02, 2024