PDFScanner Bugfix Rejected
Last week, I submitted update 2022.1 of PDFScanner to the Mac App Store, for which I - besides other changes - updated a few third party libs.
Unfortunately, one of those libs introduced a regression which made recompressing existing PDF documents impossible. This is not the main use case of PDFScanner, but still something lots of customers use the app for.
I immediately rolled back the affected library and submitted the fixed version 2022.2 to the Mac App Store. This update does not change a single line of code, so I expected it to go through quite fast.
But App Review had other plans. So the next morning, I got the mail that my App Store submission was rejected. Specifically, it gave the following explanation:
Before we can complete our review of your app, we need a video that demonstrates the current version of your app in use on a physical macOS device.
Specifically, we need a demo video that shows the macOS app in use with a scanner.
The demo video should:
- Show your app running on a physical device, not on a simulator.
- Clearly documents all relevant app features, services, and user permission requests.
Okay. To be clear, PDFScanner has been on the App Store since the beginning (2011), has been reviewed probably a hundred times and never was there any demand like this. The app has even been featured on the front page of the Mac App Store:
So, did all the reviewers before not know what "scanning" means? "This must be a misunderstanding", I thought, and contacted the App Review Board, which is supposed to offer a quick resolution in such cases:
Version 2022.2 is an urgent bugfix update to 2022.1. Nothing - not a single line of code - in functionality was changed!
Now the app was rejected because I need to provide a video showing it in action with a real scanner, something that was never required for the 11 years this app has been working this way and sold on the App Store. It was even featured on the Main Page of the App store.
The App Review process states that bugfix updates are not rejected anymore for such reasons (see https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=84w3e5bm)
Of couse I can create such a video, but that takes time, and the bug this release is fixing (recompression failing when saving existing documents) is hitting real users right now!
Please approve version 2022.2 of this app. I can create a video of the app in use for the next release if this is really required.
Every reasonable person would understand that and allow the bugfix to go through. Especially as I linked the official Apple Developer update that states:
For apps that are already on the App Store, bug fixes will no longer be delayed over guideline violations except for those related to legal issues. You’ll instead be able to address guideline violations in your next submission.
Just a few hours later, I found this lovely boilerplate text in my mail inbox:
Hello Felix Rotthowe,
We are writing to let you know the results of your appeal for your app, PDFScanner - Scanning and OCR.
The App Review Board evaluated your app and determined that the original rejection feedback is valid. Your app does not comply with App Store Review Guideline 2.1.
When trying to reproduce the issue, please ensure you are running your app on a device with the most up-to-date version of iOS. Note that apps are reviewed in a production environment, not on a simulator.
For other questions or to provide additional information about your app, please respond in the App Review section of App Store Connect, where a reviewer who is familiar with your app can assist you.
We hope you will consider making the necessary changes to be in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines and will resubmit your revised binary.
Best regards,
App Review Board
Great, please tell me how I can test my Mac app on an up-to-date version of iOS! They did not even address a single part of my complaint at all? What use is this Review Board if it's run by the same dumb morons that do the App Reviews?
So, I did what every reasonable person would do: I created a quick and dirty video of me scanning a page with PDFScanner and submitted it to the App Review. Now I'm sitting here with my fingers crossed that they will approve the fix and not to many people will encounter the nasty bug.