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Guideline4.3

Guideline 4.3 Rejection for Similar Metadata

§ 01What this rejection usually means

When Apple emphasizes metadata, they are reacting to the store face: name, icon, screenshots, subtitle, keywords, preview, sometimes category. The binary may be original and still fail.

§ 02What Apple’s wording tells you

App Review
We noticed your app shares similar metadata with apps submitted to the App Store.
App Review
Your app shares a similar binary, metadata, and/or concept with apps submitted to the App Store.

Fix the listing and the visual system first. A new binary that still uses the same screenshots will not help.

§ 03Common causes

  • Icon and screenshots taken from a template’s default theme.
  • Subtitle and keyword set copied from a competitor or a vendor brief.
  • Description that could sit on twenty other apps in the same niche.
  • A localization that still contains the vendor’s English boilerplate.

§ 04How to diagnose your case

  1. Put your listing next to the template’s App Store page, if you used one.
  2. Ask whether a stranger could tell your screenshots from the next four apps in the category.
  3. If the binary is unique but the listing is generic, stay on metadata.

§ 05What to inspect in your project

  • App name and subtitle
  • Icon and promotional images
  • Screenshots and app preview
  • Description, keywords, promotional text
  • What’s New and review notes

§ 06What not to do

  • Do not ship a new build whose first five screens still match the old screenshots.
  • Do not stuff keywords that describe a different app.
  • Do not accuse Apple of not reading the description.

§ 07How to fix it

  1. Reshoot screenshots from the current binary with your actual content.
  2. Redesign the icon if it is a recolor of a known template.
  3. Rewrite subtitle and the first three description lines as specifics, not category adjectives.

§ 08How to verify the fix

  • A colleague who does not know the project should be able to describe what is unique from the listing alone.
  • Compare against the vendor’s store page if one exists.

§ 09What evidence to prepare

  • Updated screenshots
  • Icon source files with dates
  • A short feature table vs. generic apps in the niche

§ 10Suggested reply to App Review

Resolution Center · Reply
Hello App Review,

Thank you for the 4.3 note. We treated this as a metadata similarity issue.

We replaced the icon, screenshots, subtitle, and description so they reflect this product only: [name]. The listing no longer uses vendor or template copy.

The binary is the same product, not a second copy of another app. Happy to point you to the updated store assets.

Thank you.

§ 11Should you appeal?

If you only changed metadata, you usually resubmit the listing rather than appeal. Appeal is for when they still call an original listing a clone after a clear rewrite.

§ 12Questions people ask next

Do I need a new build for similar metadata?
Often no. If the in-app UI is already distinct, update App Store Connect assets and reply. If the UI is the template, you need both.

Related scenarios

Related rejection wording