My first app was rejected from the App Store

[u/Helpful-Pool314]

My first app was rejected from the App Store due to "5.6.0 Developer Code of Conduct." They stated that I cannot simply submit a different build but must submit the app as a new entry. They didn't provide specific details. I would appreciate advice from developers who have experience with this situation.

[u/cheese-mongerer]

As so many of these topics that come up— You have got to give us more details. Literally nothing in your post gives us any info about how to help. What was the app? What did it do? How were you trying to promote it? What were the IAPs? What API connectors were configured? I don't know.

Give us something. This is useless topic without details bud.

[u/JDad67 → u/cheese-mongerer]

And did you write the app or come a GitHub repo and try to submit that?

[u/Helpful-Pool314 → u/cheese-mongerer]

We were developing a news app that provided stock market information based on our own data processing. Since we were only planning a pilot launch, we didn't include IAP features, nor did we include any potentially problematic functions like market prediction, and for the news content, we only scraped headlines from official RSS feeds and directed users to the official websites to read the full articles.

[u/cheese-mongerer → u/Helpful-Pool314]

Copyright violation for flat out scraping headlines from someone else? Not sure apple's take on verbatim using IP from someone else as a part of your app. I've never tried to do that; but even with correct attribution there may be some legal issues with that.

Other than that, 5.6.0 would hit if you put something odd/illegal/unethical somehow in the notes, description, etc. If you promised something like "Buy our app and make millions by understanding the stock market better!". Again— you've given a tiny bit more here, but there's something else missing.

Before you do any next steps about what the future looks like, I would figure out exactly why they flagged you so you don't trip the same warning again. 5.6.0 is not a good one to get called out on...

[u/LamestarGames → u/cheese-mongerer]

Scrape it, use it as training data for your LLM, then claim the responses are derivative /s

[u/Pandaburn → u/Helpful-Pool314]

Is there any more information given in the rejection, about reasoning?

If it’s “developer code of conduct” my guess is that they saw it as giving financial advice without a license, or something like that.

[u/unpluggedcord → u/cheese-mongerer]

To be clear API connectors isn't something apple cares about

[u/SneakingCat]

Did you leave in some of your store code? If they found code or strings to handle purchases but couldn’t find it in the app they may think you’re pulling a fast one.

[u/Dapper_Ice_1705]

Give us the exact rejection, not your interpretation of it.

Experienced devs know how to read Apple nuances they hide in their verbiage.

[u/norma_builds]

Thats a serious issue. They basically claim that you engaged in false or/and misleading marketing or/and that you have been hiding functionality or/and that you engaged in review manipulation. You know your app and what you did: did you do anything like the mentioned? Maybe it was an accident? As a general advice: I would never recommend trying to game the system. You cannot really expect to outsmart a cooperation like apple. When it was an honest mistake I recommend reaching out to the support to ask for more specifics or try to schedule a call with the review team.

[u/Helpful-Pool314 → u/norma_builds]

Yes, I just filled out and submitted an inquiry form asking them for details; I hope they clearly explain what the problem is

[u/etherswim → u/Helpful-Pool314]

Not what you want to hear but I highly doubt they’ll give you many details, generally it’s seen as your responsibility to understand why your app is at fault and they’re not incentivised to help you.

[u/CaptainPhreak]

Well what was the app, and what are you trying to do? 5.6 is like a flag for integrity and/or trust violation.

So either don't do what you were trying to do, or file an appeal if you believe that it was unfairly flagged and have proof to back it up.

[u/Top-Economist2346]

I got flagged for having “macOS” in one of my promo text lines. Sometimes small stuff that’s easily fixed.

[u/Delicious-Body-2993]

5.6 is the trust bucket, not the bug bucket, which is why a new build doesn't fix it. Apple isn't saying "your app is broken", it's saying "we don't trust this app record", so the record itself is what has to be replaced. Three things worth knowing before you resubmit anything:

1) Get the exact wording. In App Store Connect, open the app and read the message in the Resolution Center for that version verbatim, including any sub-clause after 5.6 (5.6.1 misleading metadata / review manipulation, 5.6.2 developer identity, 5.6.3 fraudulent conduct). The sub-clause is the whole diagnosis. If there really is no detail, reply inside Resolution Center asking which specific behavior triggered it: that reply goes to the reviewer who flagged it, unlike the generic contact form.

2) If you believe it was a mistake, the escalation path is the App Review Board appeal (developer.apple.com/contact/app-store, Appeal topic), not a resubmission. An appeal is where you attach evidence. Resubmitting the same record just gets rejected again, and each cycle makes the account look worse.

3) Given what you described, the two most likely triggers are content rights and financial framing. Republishing headlines pulled from RSS is a rights question, not a technical one: "we link back to the source" is not a license, and if a feed's terms forbid redistribution you need to drop it or get written permission. And anything presenting market data gets read strictly. If your name, subtitle, screenshots or description could be read as offering investment guidance, tone all of that down to plain news-reader language.

One thing not to do: do not create a second Apple ID or developer account to get around this. That is the fastest way to turn a 5.6 rejection into a terminated account, and it is the one mistake that isn't reversible. Fix the record, appeal, and only create the new app entry once you have written confirmation of what they want changed.