An Easy Mistake with iTunes Connect & Metadata Rejections

February 2, 2015

Do not click “Submit for Review” after getting a Metadata Rejection

This past week, I had to wait an extra week for an app update to be approved. I received a metadata rejection which is a common way for Apple to request more information about an app. I responded to their message in the resolution center and clicked the “Submit for Review” button. ” I did NOT reject the binary and then resubmit which would put me back at the beginning of the review queue. However, resubmitting the build after the metadata rejection put me back at the beginning of the queue, and a week later the app was in review. The app was given another metadata rejection, but this time the reviewer indicated that I only needed to respond to their message with the required information for the build to go back into review. The “Submit for Review” button became active again, but I dared not click it. I responded to the reviewer’s message in the resolution center, and the build went back into review within 30 minutes.

In the past, resubmitting the build after a metadata rejection was the correct course of action. With the new iTunes Connect released last fall, things seem to have changed. The documentation still states that you should “submit the app for review again” after receiving this type of rejection. However, this experience and the response from the reviewer indicate that you only should respond to the reviewer and wait.

The problem here is that the “Submit for Review” button should not become active again after a metadata rejection.

Radar filed.