Just wanted to give everyone a heads-up about an Apple policy which caused a bunch of my apps to be rejected last week. 2.20: Developers “spamming” the App Store with many versions of similar apps will be removed from the iOS Developer Program. Apparently, if you submit a number of apps that use the same basic framework/structure, even if their content is completely different, Apple will reject them based on this policy. I was building college football trivia apps, and had 7 approved by Apple before they rejected the next 14. Each app had the same menu structure and quiz component, but each had different colors, photos, custom graphics and fonts. Yet, all were deemed too similar. Apple's solution is for me to build one jumbo container app and use in-app purchases to unlock the different teams. Not at all an elegant solution, and certainly not a plus for the user experience of having a custom app that mimics the school colors and fonts. But, I lost my appeal today (as have a bunch of others). So, if you're building trivia apps, or similar apps based on a template for several clients, be aware you may find yourself rejected for this same policy violation. I found a couple developers who have run into this -- one who was doing college apps sort of like mine and one who was doing local movie theater apps. Now... I'm working on figuring out the programming for In-App purchases. If I get it working, I'll post my results and a tutorial. Wish me luck.

Maybe if you didn't send them all together they would have approved the apps, dont you think? Good luck! And let us know about your progress!

Unfortunately, I think that may be the case. Although I didn't initially send them all together, it's just the approval time was taking so long. I was sending one or two every day or so over a 2 week period. But what I've been told by more than one source (including the reviewer at Apple I talked with) is that once you hit double digits, they crack down.

This is good to know MG, I recently submitted a bunch at a time, now I think I may just reject binary on a few of them and submit them later after the current ones get approved. Thanks for the info - and best of luck with your apps! David.

Sorry, just wanted to understand something you said. When you said double digits, do you mean if you have 10 or more apps in the store, or did you mean submitted for review. (IE I could have 20 apps approved, and only 2 in review - or 2 approved, and ten in review). David.

Steve, the reviewer from Apple said, double digits of similar apps in the store. The other sports developer I found actually has contracts with all the major colleges. He was doing official apps for them and was rejected by Apple. He was so ticked he wrote a long blog post about it and switched all his efforts to developing for Droid. I won't give up on Apple, but I am very excited about the upcoming release of 1.5 for Droid. All these apps are going into the droid world as soon as I can!

Lets pray to god then that there is a 1.5 apple to android converter for buzz with that release! Thanks for the info again MG. David.

For sure Apple has a problem with what they determine to be 'the same apps.' Tough to understand but for sure the case. I can think of several examples of larger organizations that get passed this scrutiny without much trouble. Small devs...a whole different story. I'll save my Apple rant but do feel strongly that they are making a huge mistake long term by applying different rules and decisions to different developers based on their 'size' and 'credibility.' Sigh...one at a time in the process is the best approach.

So I won't have a problem with approval for a third app that has a similar menu but different colors and info I hope...

so...to be clear, is the consensus that we can avoid this issue by uploading apps individually with time between uploads as opposed to bulk?

I think a one app at a time approach is fine. Just beware that at some point they may reject one of your apps if you get 10 or more in the store. By the way, my already-approved apps are still fine (which is another inconsistency). They haven't retroactively un-approved any of the apps, although I am concerned about trying to do an update on an app.

MG, thanks. We were planning a similar strategy, and I had a sneaking concern...which you have now confirmed. Sigh.