24 replies to this topic

[SethH]

We're hearing reports that Apple is rejecting some iOS apps that include a link to sign up for Evernote. Developers with DropBox integrations reported similar problems last week: http://forums.dropbo...ic.php?id=59350

If your app is rejected because of the Evernote integration, please let us know on this thread.

If you have an app that includes a direct link to create an Evernote account (a link to https://www.evernote...stration.action), you may be able to get through app review by simply removing this link for now.

If you are using OAuth to authenticate to Evernote, you cannot simply remove the link - account creation is a built-in part of the OAuth flow. We are investigating whether we will need to remove this option on iOS.

[abelon.reg]

You should return back old login/password method until investigation is done. My app has been rejected an hour ago.

[youhei sugigami]

Hello Seth,

My new app has been rejected by apple for the following reason.

11.13 Apps that link to external mechanisms for purchases or subscriptions to be used in the app, such as a “buy" button that goes to a web site to purchase a digital book, will be rejected

I am going to apply my new app to ETC.
So, please resolve this problem soon.
Ex:
- Back old login/password method
- Remove link to pro account from OAuth create account web page
- Embedded UIWebView for OAuth authorization

[SethH]

Sugigami-san, I'm sorry for the trouble. You're authenticating using OAuth, correct?

When did Apple do the review? A big set of OAuth cleanup went into last night's web service release, which removed links to pages that referenced Premium. This release went live at approximately 6pm Pacific time yesterday.

We're looking at using an embedded UIWebView for the authorization.

[AndyDent]

We're looking at using an embedded UIWebView for the authorization.

Just checking a matter of American idioms - does "We're looking at" translate as the SDK will be updated if needed to support using an embedded UIWebView and this technique will be demonstrated in the sample app?

Or is it more like we suggest you use an embedded UIWebView in your clients?

Just checking. I have a day job and not many evening/weekends left before the end of the competition

[SethH]

Andy, two things:

1) If it turns out that we need to use a UIWebView in order to solve the app review problems, then we'll build that into the SDK. It should be a transparent change to you.
2) You don't need to have your app live in the App Store for the competition. Just send us an ad-hoc build that works against our production service. http://devcup.everno...m/details/about

[AndyDent]

And indeed the changes Seth mentions above were pushed into the SDK with an update 14th June including an iPad Storyboarded version of the sample app and both iPad and iPhone sample apps showing use of an internal view for the authentication. It's a bit rough, with the web view not being sized to contain the page, but it shows the basics.

One point, it appears you still need to do extra work to be able to logout and log back in with a different user. I'm not sure if this requires server-side work or another update to the SDK?

[Harsh Desai]

Andy, two things:

1) If it turns out that we need to use a UIWebView in order to solve the app review problems, then we'll build that into the SDK. It should be a transparent change to you.
2) You don't need to have your app live in the App Store for the compe*****ion. Just send us an ad-hoc build that works against our production service. http://devcup.everno...m/details/about

Hi Seth, I just submitted my App for review using TestFlight... It shows me that the emails were sent to your entire team ( all devices added to the ad-hoc profile )... Is there anything else I need to do in order to get the app review started by your team ? I am in the process of putting together do*****entation for my app but let me know if anything else is needed.
( I already know that my app submitted to the App Store will be rejected due to the use of the old(er) API. I am in the process of rebuilding the app using your new API, but wanted to go ahead and send my current app for review anyway ).

[SethH]

Andy - yes, we'll be making server-side changes to clean up the way that the login page renders in the iPad login. We'll also be updating the UI to allow you to switch users.

Harsh - No, you don't need to do anything else to share your Devcup entry with us. We won't start testing entries until the submission deadline, so you're welcome to keep working on your project.

[AndyDent]

We won't start testing entries until the submission deadline

It would be reassuring for those of us doing the iOS entries to know we haven't made a mistake and that a smoke test has been done on at least one of the supplied UDIDs.

I'm planning on distributing through TestFlight.

Thanks for the feedback on SDK improvements.

(that forum sanitizer is really driving me crazy, I don't swear in print)

[youhei sugigami]

Hi Seth, Also, My app just rejected on 20 June.
Evernote SDK version that my app using is version 0.1.1.

11.13 Apps that link to external mechanisms for purchases or subscriptions to be used in the app, such as a “buy" button that goes to a web site to purchase a digital book, will be rejected

The application has a link to navigate users to create evernote account.

Thanks for the new SDK version 0.1.2.
I will retry to apply by using new SDK.

[Van Wrinkle Inc.]

Hi All, Just FYI, my app, Retrospection (retrospectionapp.com), has been recently approved by Apple twice (original and updates) using the old style Evernote authentication and sdk. Who knows what Apple's reasons are...

Here's what my implementation looks like (although I'm presently converting it to OAuth):




So it may not be a completely lost cause for those of us still using the older style authentication and sdk. (At least until November

Regards,

Robert

[youhei sugigami]

Finally, My app status is Ready for Sale !
I use the Evernote SDK version 0.1.1, and I had to apply for Apple on June 21.

Thank you, Seth.

---
My app is here http://zow.susiea.jp/

[Brian111]

My App was rejected today because of the OAuth authentication has a signup button.

But as far as I can tell their photo is not current with what I see. I see that you have already removed the link to create an account.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We found that your app provides access to external mechanisms for purchases or subscriptions to be used in the app, which is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines.

Specifically, we found that your application contains a "Sign Up" mechanism for Evernote.

Please see the attached screenshot/s for more information.

To be in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines, it would be appropriate to remove the access to these mechanisms - including fully qualified links to the site that could indirectly provide access to these mechanisms, such as links to web pages for support, FAQ, product or program details, etc.

On occasion, there may be apps on the App Store that don't appear to be in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines. We work hard to ensure that the apps on the App Store are in compliance and we try to identify any apps currently on the App Store that may not be. It takes time to identify these occurrences but another app being out of compliance is not a reason for your app to be.
--------------------------------

Attached Files

•  Signin.png   57.88K   24 downloads

[Van Wrinkle Inc.]

My App was rejected today because of the OAuth authentication has a signup button.
But as far as I can tell their photo is not current with what I see. I see that you have already removed the link to create an account.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Brian,

This is concerning to me, since I have an app update in review now that implements the OAuth Evernote authentication scheme. I must say though, that I don't know how Apple would have got that screenshot from any recent version of the Evernote iOS sdk. Maybe Seth or someone from Evernote can shed some light.

Here's what users will see in my app during the OAuth authentication step (which I'm hoping passes Apple's muster): https://skitch.com/r...ce/eenu6/iphoto

Regards.

Robert

[SethH]

@brian111 That's quite concerning to me as well. We removed the "Create an Account" link a month ago, on June 20th. I assume that you submitted your app to Apple after that date, so that they must have tested it since then?

You submitted an app that was using www.evernote.com for OAuth, and not sandbox.evernote.com, right?

The "Create an Account" link is omitted based on user-agent, so there's a chance that Apple is testing with devices that report a non-standard user-agent. I'm not sure what the purpose of such testing would be.

[Brian111]

Yeah they finally got around to testing it on July 17th, asked questions and then rejected it on July 20th. I have tested in the simulator and my iPhone and I don't get the screen that they show.

It is pointing at www (not sandbox) and I have tested logging in to my production account to validate that.

Thanks,
Brian

[Benjamin Schuster-Boeckler]

I've said this here before, and I'm sure you're doing your best, but it's really critical that we get an account creation page back into the iOS SDK. This must be possible, I've personally talked to people at Apple about this during WWDC and Dropbox and others show that you can get this through review. Our app, and many others out there, can only be used with an Evernote account. I'm sure we all agree that just showing a login screen without even the possibility to redirect the user to a website is not an acceptable user experience. While I understand that Apple's ambiguous and arbitrary policy is the root of the problem, the bottom line is that we need a solution. When I've mentioned this before, I've been assured that you're trying to fix this. Where are we on this? I'm getting a bit nervous because I wouldn't want to release our app without a signup mechanism, but I have no idea if this will ever happen, or how I could work around this issue.

[agiletortoise]

I just had a rejection on these grounds over the weekend. What's the current best answer? My version of the SDK is a couple months old, will refreshing my SDK and resubmitting fix now?

[Brian111]

I still haven't heard back. It appears to be a server side issue, so I doubt that the SDK will fix it. But I could be wrong.

I still haven't gotten my app approved.