App was rejected from App Store because of UIWebview

Question

This is the message I got from them:

We found that the experience your app provides is not sufficiently different from a web browsing experience, as

Answer 1

From that message (and since you didn't give a description of the app at all), it seems like you just made an app that encapsulated an UIWebView to load an specific page, since you can do that via Safari, they reject apps like that.

You can:

• Make the app fetch the data from the web server, BUT, display it with native controls (with UITableViews, UIButtons, UIImages, etc). This would require quite a bit amount of work.

• Drop the app and tell the users, on your site, that they can add that website as a web clip on their phones.

Answer 2

They want to ensure that all app's include functionality beyond the base components in the SDK that they provide to you. It seems from reading their response that there is a UIWebView in your app, yet there is not really any new functionality provided to the end-user beyond the standard UIWebView.

Would need more details about your app to better understand the circumstance though. Could you expand a little on what it does?

Answer 3

just change it with WKWebView and it will be accepted cause its a new guidelines imposed by apple recently

import WebKit


var webView: WKWebView!

override func loadView() {
    let webConfiguration = WKWebViewConfiguration()
    webView = WKWebView(frame: .zero, configuration: webConfiguration)
    webView.uiDelegate = self
    view = webView
}
override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    let myURL = URL(string:"https://www.apple.com")
    let myRequest = URLRequest(url: myURL!)
    webView.load(myRequest)
}

Answer 4

They're saying that you can't just make a UIWebView that is linked to a website and call it an app. You have to incorporate more features. According to the description, your users can accomplish the same tasks by just going to your website. Are you able to incorporate push notifications, tabs, any features that makes your iOS app unique?

Answer 5

As of 2018 App Store Review Guidelines:

4.2 Minimum Functionality

Your app should include features, content, and UI that elevate it beyond a repackaged website. If your app is not particularly useful, unique, or “app-like,” it doesn’t belong on the App Store. If your App doesn't provide some sort of lasting entertainment value, or is just plain creepy, it may not be accepted. Apps that are simply a song or movie should be submitted to the iTunes Store. Apps that are simply a book or game guide should be submitted to the iBooks Store.

Assuming:

Apps that are simply a websites should be submitted to the Safari. ;-)