I’m looking for some advice on how to overcome an App Store limitation.
My app has been rejected because Apple deems it unnecessary for users to register an account.
They insist that the app can be used without user registration, and should users want to logon to their “account” from another device, they can then optionally register.
Is there a way to transparently create an account when the user launches the app for the first time?
I don’t particularly want to go that route, since if the app “logs out” accidentally all user data will be lost.
Perhaps there is another way to prove Apple that registering an account is necessary, or create some dummy functionality that would justify a user registration?
Looking for any sort of ideas here!
PS. My app is a habit tracker where users can create habits and tick them off, then see historical progress over the month.
In my experience it is quite possible to explain to Apple moderators that user registration is essential. Some hints which might help:
don’t start the app with “Sign-up” screen. Put yourself into the shoes of a user: you download the new app and immediately it asks you for your email. Apple moderators don’t consider this to be a good user experience. So what I usually to - put a welcome screen series (3-4 screens), which explains app functionality from marketing perspective (what benefits user gets when they use the app). Only then you suggest a user to sign up.
it is highly advised to provide login/password for Apple moderators to access the app. In my experience I’ve rarely seen them signing up manually. Help them to save their time
you can mention that your users can get their data not only from the app but also from the web platform. This makes your requirement legit.
be sure that you have some user personalisation inside the app. If you create a signup system and then never mention their name, don’t have profile page, etc. - it makes Apple think that signup isn’t required.
Moderation is a manual process and sometimes when another person reviews your app, everything goes just fine.
Hi, I’m not sure why Apple invited you to add in-app access without login. It sure sounds like your app needs it to save the periodic user track…
Maybe you need to provide Apple with credentials from a test account to let them in.
Or, answering your question, you can create a button that allows them to enter the app without logging in, sort of like guest mode, but you’ll have to add alerts that link back to the account creation form whenever a user-related action (click, update, create, etc.) is requested.
Alternatively with a random ID you can have users automatically register the first time, with random name and email, after which instead of having a form that registers the user, it will just do a mail password and name update.
First point is a good suggestion. I’m going to add a welcome wizard / guide before the login/sign up screen. I had it AFTER sign up, but I’ll move this to pre-signup i.e set it in Adalo as “Welcome Screen”.
I have provided a login to Apple moderators, of course. I don’t think you can even submit an app for review without including credentials.
Yes, I did say that. But Apple is trying to say that sign up should not be mandatory, it should be optional if they want to access their data somewhere else.
I have a profile page, very basic but it allows them to change their password and timezone.
@Eugen
I was thinking about the possibility of a Random ID. I know a few apps in the App Store are created that way but I think this will lead to more problems. For example a user starting to use the app, then decides to sign up to “save progress / settings” and ends up with a blank profile with all data lost. I’ve used several apps that run into these kind of issues and it’s very frustrating if Apple is driving developers to this kind of practice. I was going to ask how this would work technically in Adalo but I don’t think I’ll even attempt that route.
I’m going to go with Victor’s suggestion of doing a “preview” of the functionality before redirecting to a sign up page and try submitting the app again! Hopefully that will be enough.
If your app doesn’t include significant account-based features, let people use it without a login.
So what you need to prove is that your app includes significant account-based features. Adding more profile-related functionality may help.
Just in case, don’t forget about “account deletion” option - nowadays Apple could be quite strict about that.
In regards to auto-login: this is a workaround. There were numerous topics in the forum discussing that. However, keep in mind that if you remove a “pseudo” user record from the Users collection, the app may stop working properly for that particular user. The authentication token is stored in a user’s device in the app data; so the app on the device will still think that it is “logged-in” and will open the Home screen. You can imagine that app functions which require logged-in user will start being very glitchy.
