Guideline 4.3(b) Rejections: When Apple Calls Your App 'Spam'
What reviewers actually pattern-match
Common triggers: the same codebase submitted with different skins (even across different developer accounts), entering categories Apple has flagged as saturated (fortune tellers, soundboards, simple utility clones, drinking games), and apps whose core loop is indistinguishable from the top results in their keyword.
Portfolio developers get extra scrutiny: if your account ships many structurally similar apps, a new one inherits the suspicion even when it's original.
What genuinely works
Differentiate the mechanic, not the paint: one feature that changes how the core loop works beats ten cosmetic changes. Rewrite the store metadata to lead with what is unique. If the rejection cites similarity to your own apps, consider consolidating overlapping apps before resubmitting.
An appeal is worth one shot when you can name concrete differentiators the reviewer may have missed. But repeated resubmission of the same build is how accounts earn a reputation — and some categories are effectively closed regardless of quality; recognizing that early saves months.