As with any large organization, there is always someone who feels that they are not being respected or appreciated by their colleagues and/or superiors. When this happens, it is important to be aware of how to handle these situations so as to avoid any potential flare-ups. If you are ever faced with such a situation, here are some common approval rejections and what you can do about them!
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Avoid giving into demands if at all possible. Do not agree unless you really have to – agreements should be made with confidence. It is best to address the issue directly instead of using vague terms like ‘I need…’ or ‘My job requires me to….’
Be careful when letting others know why an item needs to be approved. Make sure your reasons are sound and clear. Do not say things like, “You just never understand my priorities” or something similar. Keep conversations friendly and professional; do not get personal.
Too many complaints
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As mentioned before, creating app reviews is completely free to do so. However if you are very passionate about an app or a certain developer, it is understandable that your enthusiasm can sometimes be slightly over-the-top.
If your comments get too negative then this may hurt the reputation of the app or developer and could prevent other people from buying their product or service.
Apps experience a lot of criticism due to things such as poor quality or bugs, but they also face positive feedback for improving their products and services.
It is important to keep conversations constructive by responding to points using logic and evidence instead of just praising or criticizing.
Your app isn’t useful
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A common reason for rejection is your app doesn’t seem very engaging or interesting. You may have invested too much time into creating it, but you won’t get anywhere if no one wants to use it.
If your app does something completely unique, then that's fine! But let me tell you – being totally unique is extremely hard.
It's almost impossible to be totally original these days due to the sheer amount of content out there. This is why having practical applications is so important. If your app is only helpful for small milestones in someone's life (e.g. For when they wake up, or before going to sleep), then its value is limited.
Your app needs to do more than just help people achieve simple goals; it should make them feel good. It should inspire them to keep using it and spread word-of-mouth about it.
This could mean giving it a 5-star rating or writing an article about it, sharing it on social media or talking about it on forums.
In fact, the best way to ensure your app gets noticed is by actively promoting it yourself. People will share apps that they think are cool or helpful, and your friends and followers can easily read reviews.
So how can you improve the chances your app will succeed? By adding some features and fixing any major issues.
But first, you need to find a way to validate that your app has enough value.
Your app isn’t consistent with other apps in the store
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A common reason for rejection is that your app doesn’t look like every other app in the marketplace. You may have unique UI, branding, or features that set it apart from the rest.
That’s fine as long as you don’t feel the need to stand out more than necessary.
Apps that break rules of good design will never find success in the market. Even if they are very well designed, their bland looks will keep them from getting attention.
Your competitors’ designs all contribute to creating a feeling among users about what the market average looks like. They create an illusion of consistency which makes it easy for people to compare your app to those similar ones.
This effect can be negative for you since people might view your app as not being serious enough or not belonging in the marketplace.
Your app isn’t adhering to the Google Play Store policy
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A while back, we mentioned some of the more common reasons why your app might get rejected from the Android App Gallery. While most of these issues can be easily corrected or at least resolved, one thing that sometimes gets people disqualified is ads.
Apps will routinely require you to include an Privacy Policy as well as disclosures for third-party services used for advertising within the app.
It’s not uncommon to see apps get rejected due to this!
There are several ways to avoid this by having adequate disclosure statements, but what if you don’t? You could still keep yourself out of trouble, just make sure you’re doing everything possible to prevent your app from being flagged.
You’ve cheated your users
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As mentioned earlier, apps can be rejected for many different reasons. But one of the most common is when an app or game features rewards or incentives that are not fully transparent to players.
This happens very frequently with free-to-play games. Some versions of a game may have additional content or features that cost money, but you have to purchase them outside of the app itself.
Many times, these extras are heavily marketed and promoted as part of the app, making it seem like they are built into the software, but unfortunately, you have to pay for them separately. This changes from app to app, so it cannot be said with certainty which ones do this and how much it costs individuals per person.
This article will focus more on F2P (free-to-pay) games, as well as examples of some sneaky ways developers trick people into buying extra things.
Your app isn’t secure
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A common cause of rejection is poor app security. Apps that ask for excessive permissions are red flags to most users.
If your app asks permission to access certain files or folders, make sure you really need it. Also, be aware that some apps may not require special permissions at all until later in their use.
For example, take a look at the following screenshot. You can see that Netflix requires access to the SD card only after you have logged into its service. This is because it uses the data from the service as quality control for movies you watch.
However, this doesn’t mean going ahead with the installation is safe! Because even if an app seems harmless, sometimes they contain back-door features or additional tools designed to do malicious things.
This could potentially give other people full access to your device, account, or both. It also cannot be removed easily without root access.
We recommend never giving anyone else access to important parts of your life unless you know them very well. Make sure to read our article about why it is bad to delete your Google accounts to learn more about how serious this situation can get.
Your app isn’t up to date
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“Your app is using API levels that are no longer available or compatible with our apps, services, and devices.”
This is one of the most common reasons why your app gets rejected at the Google play store. It seems like every week another company releases an app version that uses outdated APIs and technology.
Google makes it very clear what they will not accept when their review guidelines say:
"Apps containing features or content requiring low-level platform functions (such as accessing device sensors, graphics processing, or networking) can still be accepted, but only if there is a direct connection between those functions and the advertised product or service."
In other words, you cannot use this functionality for something that nobody actually wants. For example, an app that allows users to scan documents may be acceptable because people want to check documents online, but an eReading app would get rejected.
Because of this, many apps contain outdated technologies or features that are now deprecated or removed completely. This includes things such as Java, Adobe Flash, and even some mobile operating systems.
These applications may work for now, but they could suddenly break down and not work correctly.
Your app isn’t compatible with our devices
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A lot of apps focus too much on features, but sometimes it is those feature-heavy apps that are the biggest turn off for people.
If you have an app that requires Android 5 or higher to use some features, then your app may not be very accessible to users who own older phones.
That can really hurt your app’s success because many users will purchase new technology just so they can use your app!
It's totally normal to feel discouraged when you discover such a limitation at the last minute, but hopefully we've gathered some helpful information here for you.
Top Android Apps Niches
The apps in this top list are hard to get rejected, but they’re also not very popular. That means it can take quite some time before you find someone who has an exact same passion for them as you do!
There is one common reason why people reject these applications though – they feel that the app market already has enough of those types of apps, so there’s no need to make another one themselves.
This doesn’t really make sense because even if there’s already something like what you want to create, your app still has a chance of success since people will always be willing to pay money for things they enjoy.
What is the most useful Android app?
The best way to find out if an app is worth downloading is to test it for yourself by installing it onto your device.
If you are not comfortable giving this app full access to your account, you can still use it as a trial version or limited user. This is helpful because some apps require you to pay in order to fully enjoy them.
You will get a feel for whether the app is intuitive and easy to navigate, if it has enough features, and if it is responsive and fluid when used. You will also get a sense of how much control you want over the app’s settings.
There is no need to settle for mediocre apps that waste your time.
Conclusion
As we can see, approval or rejection is not always an easy process. It can be really frustrating when you spend hours creating and perfecting your product and then nothing happens!
As we have seen in this article, there are many reasons why your app may get rejected at the review stage. If you want to make sure that your app gets approved, make it clear and simple so that no one has the chance to reject it.
Also, keep experimenting with new features and seeing what works for your app, but remember to avoid any content or UX trends that have been done to death.
