In search results your icon sits next to a handful of competitors at a fraction of the size you designed it at. At that size it has one job: tell people what the app is before they read anything. Plenty of icons that look great at 1024x1024 don't manage that.

Four mistakes that come up a lot:

1. The app name inside the icon. It's unreadable that small, it shrinks the actual symbol, and the name is already printed right next to the icon anyway.

2. Three objects in one icon. A heart, a chart and a plate turn into one colored blob once it's shrunk. Pick one object and let it fill most of the canvas. My rule of thumb is around 60% of the space.

3. The category's default color. Finance is blue, fitness is green, meditation is purple. If yours is the eighth blue icon in a row, the eye skips it. Check which color your search results use least.

4. Thin line art on a gradient. Looks clean in Figma, turns into a grey smudge in search because the lines run into each other.

A quick test:

- Search your main keyword on your phone and take a screenshot.

- Paste your icon over one of the competitors, at the same size.

- Put the phone down an arm's length away and notice where your eye lands first.

If it doesn't land on yours, I'd change the icon before touching screenshots or copy. In search, the icon, name and first screenshots are most of what people see before deciding whether to tap.

If you get enough traffic, you can also A/B test icons with product page optimization in App Store Connect. The alternate icons have to ship in your binary first, and people who install from a variant keep that icon on their home screen, so plan for that.

What's the most common icon mistake you see in your category?

I built an iOS app that checks the weather at the exact time and place of your calendar events (e.g. "rain at your 2 PM meeting, bring an umbrella").
Where I am: 55 downloads, zero marketing, a few paying subs. Update in Apple review.
My goal: 100 annual subs in 60 days ($18/yr), with a $200 budget. 278 would be the moonshot.
My plan: test organic hooks first, then put a small part of the budget behind whichever brings real installs.
What would you do differently? Any channel you'd put the $200 into?

We submitted our app for review on October 1, and nearly four weeks later, we're still waiting for approval.

Here's what happened:

• October 1: Submitted our app for review.
• After waiting for quite a while, we contacted Apple to follow up. Only then did we get our first review.
• Apple flagged a minor issue, which we fixed immediately and resubmitted.
• Since then, our app has been stuck in "Waiting for Review" again.
• We followed up with Apple a second time, but haven't received any response.

It's now October 28, and the whole process has taken almost a month.

I understand that review times can vary, but this feels unusually long, especially since we addressed the issue right away.

A few questions for fellow developers:

1. Has anyone else noticed significantly longer App Store review times recently?
2. How long have your initial reviews and resubmissions been taking?
3. Has anyone found an effective way to get a response from Apple or speed up the process, other than just waiting?

Would really appreciate hearing about your experiences or any suggestions. Thanks!

Hi! I’m the dev behind PostSpark, a tool for creating beautiful image and video mockups of your apps and websites.

I recently launched a new feature: Mockup Animations.

You can now select from 25+ frames & devices, add keyframes on a simple timeline, and export a polished video showcasing your product. It’s built to be a fast, easy alternative to complex motion design tools.

Try it out here: https://postspark.app/device-mockup

I’d love to hear your feedback!

hey folks!

just wondering if anyone can help me, I got a review for my new app that is completely unfair. For context I made an app that combines a study timer with your to do list. I spent best part of year bringing it to life and now I got a malicious review stating that it hacked someone’s phone. I don’t even collect any data from the user - this is impossible.

It’s completely tanked my app score and honestly demotivated me. is there anything I can do about this as a solo dev!

Thanks in advance

Posting in case this saves someone else the digging.

Three of my paywalls were showing RevenueCat's plain fallback screen instead of the design I'd built.

The cause: newer RevenueCat SDKs (5.87 and up in my case) load the paywall layout from a separate remote config they call workflows, not from the offering directly. A paywall that was only ever created through the API or the AI editor doesn't get a workflow, so the SDK has nothing to render and falls back.

The fix was boring: open each of those paywalls once in the dashboard editor. After that they had a workflow and rendered properly.

One more thing I hit while I was in there: RevenueCat's paywall already mirrors itself for right-to-left languages. I had a hand-mirrored Arabic copy, which ended up flipped twice. The dashboard preview doesn't mirror, so check RTL on a device.

This was in my app Echo, a photo memories app for iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6775021634

Hi all,

I'm hoping other non-US developers with US LLCs can help. App Store Connect is prompting me for a W-9 even though I don't live in the US, and I'm not sure what the correct form and answers are.

My setup:

US single-member LLC, treated as a disregarded entity

I'm the sole owner and a non-US resident living in [country]

The LLC has an EIN

The LLC has a US bank account [Mercury / Relay / etc.]

My Apple Developer account is enrolled as an Organization under the LLC

The problem:

In App Store Connect, the tax forms section is asking for a W-9. Since the LLC is owned by a non-resident, I'm not sure whether I should complete the W-9 or whether I should be giving Apple a W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E. [Add any specific error or rejection message here, or the step where you're stuck.]

My questions:

For a foreign-owned disregarded LLC, is a W-9 the right form to submit to Apple, since the LLC itself is a US entity? Or should I be providing a W-8?

If W-9, how do you fill out Line 1 (name), Line 2 (business name), the LLC tax classification box on Line 3a, and the TIN section? Do you use the LLC name and EIN only?

Did anyone have Apple reject or flag their form? What fixed it?

Beyond Apple, are there other obligations I should confirm with a CPA, like Form 5472 and the pro forma 1120 filing for foreign-owned disregarded LLCs?

Any "here's what worked for me" experience would be hugely appreciated. Happy to provide more details with sensitive info removed. Thanks!

I really love playing padel, and since I’m also an app developer, I decided to combine my two passions and build something useful for the padel community.

That’s how PadelScore was born! 🎾

It’s a completely FREE app, with no ads, no subscriptions, and no hidden costs. I built it simply because I love the sport and wanted to create something that other padel players could enjoy too.

You can track match scores, use your Apple Watch as a scoreboard, organize tournaments and leagues, and much more.

📱 Currently available for iOS only (iPhone & Apple Watch).

📲 Download PadelScore on the App Store:
Download Padel Score

I’d really appreciate it if you could give it a try and share your honest feedback. What do you like? What’s missing? What could be improved?

I’m developing it myself, and every suggestion means a lot to me. ❤️

Thanks so much, and see you on the court! 🎾

it's been 6 months and we couldn't release any app to ios. yes our games is not the one of the kind, it's like other mobile games, there's a big cake and we are trying to feed on crumbs. we are curious that there's too many similar (almost same) games in app store, how they got approved?

first game was bus jam style named bus jam traffic rush. we got rejected then we changed icon, level designes, bonus chapters, vehicles, pedestrians, name of the game but same result. we're developing a block blast style game named block mellow, it just got rejected spam 4.3 a.

we gave up on bus jam game, but we want to release block mellow. its been 6 months and no succes on ios front.

we are searching for solutions, please share your experiences with us.

My first submission was rejected on Oct 14. Among other things, App Review asked for videos of the app working with the Bluetooth hardware it supports on a real iPhone, and of its background location and audio in use.

I wrote my reply in the Resolution Center and saved it as a draft while I finished the videos. Then I fixed the other items and resubmitted a new build. I didn't know that resubmitting closes the resolution center thread to replies, so the draft seemingly never went out.

- On the website the draft looks like a sent message, but there's no Send or Reply button anymore.
- The App Store Connect iPhone app still shows it as "Draft".
- The new build has been "Waiting for Review" for two weeks, and the App Review page still shows the red exclamation mark.

As an attempt to mitigate I've tried:

- Added the videos to the App Review Notes as hosted links, since the notes only take one attachment and I have more than one video.
- Sent the full reply through Contact Us, twice. No answer to either yet.

My worry is that on Apple's side it looks like I never answered their request, and the build will either sit there or get rejected for the same thing.

So:

1. Has anyone had a Resolution Center draft get stuck like this? Did it sort itself out?
2. If I remove the build from review, does the thread open up again so I can send the reply? Or would I just lose my place in the queue?
3. Is there a better way to reach App Review about this, like a phone call or an expedited review request? I’ve submitted a case on this 2 weeks ago and still have not gotten a reply

Thanks for any experience or advice.

Hey everyone,

I'm in a pretty frustrating situation with Apple's App Review and could really use some advice or shared experiences from this community.

Here is the context:
- Total review process duration: 3 months so far
- Current status: In Review (stuck for over 3 weeks with no updates)
- Prior situation: The reviewer previously repeated the exact same question even after I responded with detailed answers.

I have already tried reaching out through the Resolution Center and submitted an expedited review request, but I haven't received any meaningful update.

Has anyone experienced a similar endless review cycle or a stuck status for this long?
Is my app stuck in some background investigation (e.g., policy or account-level review)?
What would be the best next step to break this loop—submitting a new build, filing a formal appeal, or contacting Developer Support via phone/ticket?

Any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to enroll in the Apple Developer Program as an individual. My country isn't one of the regions where in-app enrollment through the Apple Developer app is supported, so I have to enroll on the web instead.

I don't have a passport. I only have a national ID card, and the language on it isn't one of the languages Apple lists as supported. I've heard that web enrollments often end up with a manual ID upload, sometimes with a request for certified English translations, while in-app enrollment usually verifies the ID automatically.

I haven't paid yet because I don't want to get stuck after payment.

My questions:

1. Has anyone enrolling on the web managed to pass the ID verification automatically, without a manual upload?
2. Does it make a difference whether you start the enrollment on an iPhone or on a laptop?
3. Any tips for the ID photo (lighting, background, resolution, file format) or for how the name and address should be entered?
4. If Apple did ask for a manual upload, how long did it take, and did you need a certified translation?
5. Is it worth getting a passport first to avoid the hassle?

Thanks in advance. Any experience, even from a different country, would really help.

Hey iOS devs! 👋

I'm curious how everyone handles situations where ads fail to load, especially with Google AdMob.

For example:

• Do you retry loading ads automatically?
• How many retries do you allow?
• Do you use a fallback when an ad fails?
• How do you handle "No ad to show" or "No fill" errors?
• Do you track ad failures in analytics?

I'm currently working on monetization in my iOS apps and trying to find the best approach without affecting the user experience.

Would love to hear how you're handling this in production apps! 🚀

Hello all! I've been reading this sub for a long time (on my personal account - this is one I spun up recently to post as my business) and you've all really helped and inspired me along my journey to being published on the App Store, which is something I've wanted to do since the store launched in 2008. (I was in high school at the time)

Oughtyo is an audio player for playing your local files such as audiobooks, voice recordings, music, or even podcasts. You can add your files from the Files app, and gain powerful playback controls such as shorten silence and granular speed controls, and my favorite feature - bookmarks with transcription. Tap to create a bookmark, and the 20 seconds of audio before the timestamp and 10 seconds of audio after are transcribed on-device (nothing leaves your phone) and added as context to the bookmark. I use this all the time in my book club, where the note on the bookmark is my thought on the content, and the transcription is something I can cite back to my group.

You can check it out on the App Store, but what I'm really here for today is to give away some codes for it as a way to say thanks for the years of community!

All you need to do to enter is leave a comment on this post with the title of your favorite audiobook, and I'll pick a couple of winners tonight!

Edit: Thanks for all of the entries! Everyone who posted the title of their favorite audiobook received a code, plus a couple of other lucky winners!

Many thanks for checking out this post, and Oughtyo. Being on the App Store has been a lifelong dream of mine, and I'm so excited the day is finally here. I hope you enjoy the app!

One month ago, I posted an update about my app here: it had reached #18 in the Entertainment category with 7.14K downloads. Now, two months after release, it has reached 16.5K downloads.

These numbers are completely organic, and I haven’t spent anything on ads. Marketing has always felt like one of the hardest parts of being an indie developer, so I’m really grateful to see it work out this far.

My main marketing platforms are Threads, TikTok, and Twitter. Even after two months, I still don’t know why some posts go viral. I don’t know the best time to upload, the best type of content, or any secret ingredient for getting lots of views.

But there’s one thing I always do when I post about my app: I never do hard marketing with long text introducing it. I just post videos of myself using the app. Since I built the app starting from my own needs, a lot of people relate to it, and surprisingly, many of them want to use it too. My account has reached 900K total views on Threads and Twitter, and that makes me really happy.

Seeing something I built reach this many people still feels a little unreal.

Now I’d love your advice: at this stage, what should I focus on to make sure the app stays sustainable in the long run? And if you were in my position, what’s the single best thing you would do next to help the app go further?

And if you’re one of the people using ProwlLog, thank you so much. I really appreciate every single one of you.

Most rejections I see posted here come from the same handful of guidelines. Quick pre-submit list, all checkable in Apple's App Review Guidelines:

1. Login required? Put a working demo account in the App Review notes. A missing or broken one is one of the most common reasons for a 2.1 rejection.

2. Users can create an account? Then they need a way to delete it inside the app (5.1.1(v)). A "email us" link isn't enough.

3. Subscriptions? The paywall needs the price, the billing period, and links to your terms and privacy policy (3.1.2). Add a Restore Purchases button too.

4. Offering Google or Facebook login? You likely need Sign in with Apple or an equivalent privacy-focused option as well (4.8).

5. Screenshots should show the actual app, not just marketing art (2.3.3).

6. Asking for permissions? The purpose strings should say why in plain words. "This app needs your camera" usually gets flagged.

What got you rejected that isn't on this list?