App Store Review & Rejection Recovery Consulting
Your iOS app got rejected and you have 14 days to respond. Or you're about to submit a build that might land in a grey zone. Apps launched across consumer, medical, and intimate wellness categories. My guideline readings track what App Review enforces in practice, which often diverges from the written document. Rejection recovery, pre-submission audits, and grey-zone categories.
- grey-zone categories: intimate wellness, regulated health, reputationally sensitive content
- rejection recovery within the 14-day response window
- reviewer notes that turn a 3-round rejection loop into a first-pass approval
What clients say
"Vadim was instrumental to the success Epsy enjoyed on iOS, taking it from an idea on a Miro board to the highest rated and most downloaded app of its kind on the store."
James C. · Mobile Engineering Lead, Epsy
"We had a strict deadline, and Vadim managed to complete the job in time. He gave us meaningful feedback and suggested better approaches, not trying to blindly stick to our specification."
Founder · Pre-seed streaming service
"I can say with confidence that it will be difficult to find a better developer. Vadim is achievement-oriented, highly organized, with very good communication skills."
Alex Z. · Co-Founder, eda.so
Related work
Common engagements
Pre-submission audit
Half-day to one-day review of a build before you submit. I map every likely objection to a specific guideline, predict the reviewer's two-minute path through your app, and tell you what to change. Saves you a round of rejection and a two-week clock.
Rejection recovery
You've been rejected and the clock is 14 days. I read the rejection, identify the guideline driving it (often not the one cited), and prepare the response and binary update.
Write your reviewer notes
The most under-used artefact in submission. A good set turns a 3-round rejection loop into first-pass approval.
Pricing
Architecture reviews, hiring help, second opinions on that thing that's been bugging you.
Available nowFeatures, MVPs, migrations, firefighting. Minimum 5 days.
Available nowPriority support: review agency code, join architecture calls, catch problems before they ship.
Questions
Will you help me submit an app that violates the guidelines?
No. If your app breaks a rule, you'll need to change the app. I can help with that.
Can you guarantee approval?
No. Nobody can. What I can guarantee is that you'll go into the submission with the objections pre-answered, the reviewer notes written, and a recovery plan if the first round doesn't pass.
What if we've been rejected multiple times already?
That's the most common entry point. Send me the rejection history and the current metadata. A one-day review usually surfaces the pattern. It's almost always the same underlying issue rephrased as different guideline citations.
My app was rejected for Guideline 4.3. What's the recovery path?
4.3 is almost always about perceived category saturation, whatever guideline text the rejection cites. Recovery hinges on figuring out what the specific reviewer saw that triggered it, and what to change so the next reviewer doesn't see the same thing. Usually faster than teams expect, once the trigger is diagnosed.
My app was rejected for Guideline 2.1. What does the reviewer want?
2.1 is Accuracy, which means the reviewer failed to see something working. Usually it traces to demo account state, account gates, flaky network on their end, or feature parity missing between your description and what they touched in their 2-minute pass. Most 2.1 rejections resolve without shipping a new binary, once you know which of those it is.
Can you help with a metadata rejection (5.1 or 1.1.6)?
Yes. Metadata rejections usually trace to one of three things: a feature shown in a screenshot that isn't in the current build, marketing copy written before the last sprint cut, or a privacy string that doesn't match what the app does with the data. Quick to diagnose, quick to fix before resubmission.
How fast can you turn around a resubmission?
Same day for a pre-submission audit. For rejection recovery, the response plan and binary diff are usually ready within 48 hours, with the resubmitted build going out inside the first week of your 14-day window. The faster the turnaround, the better the chance of catching the reviewer who flagged you.
The reviewer said they couldn't find the feature we're being rejected over. How do we prove it exists?
This is what reviewer notes are for: the field in App Store Connect most teams fill in with one sentence. Done right, a good set walks the reviewer through the exact path to your feature, gives them the credentials and account state to see it, and pre-empts the next question they'd reach for. A 3-round rejection loop often becomes first-pass approval once this is rewritten properly.
Apple asked me to provide a video walkthrough and a list of external services. What's this about?
This is Apple's 2.1 'Information Needed - New App Submission' request, rolled out heavily in 2026 after the wave of AI-generated app submissions. Apple now wants a specific bundle of artefacts: a screen recording, a purpose statement, test credentials, an external services and SDK list, regional notes, and regulatory credentials if applicable. Getting this right on the first reply is the difference between a same-week approval and weeks of back-and-forth. I handle this as part of pre-submission audits and rejection recovery.
How quickly can you start?
Advisory calls can happen within days. For project work, I typically need 1-2 weeks notice to clear the calendar, though I keep some buffer for urgent firefighting. Check the availability badges above for current openings.
Do you work with early-stage startups?
Yes, from pre-seed to Series C and beyond. For very early teams, the advisory tier often makes more sense than project work: you get architecture guidance without committing to a large engagement before you've validated the product.
What's included in the day rate?
Everything: code, architecture decisions, code review, documentation, async Slack availability during working hours. No surprise add-ons. I bill for time spent working on your project, not for "thinking about it in the shower."
We're in a different timezone. Will that slow things down?
I'm currently in Vancouver (PST), with full overlap for North American teams. For UK and Europe, I'm online by their afternoon. For Gulf or APAC, we'd agree on overlap hours and handle the rest async. I've worked with teams from San Francisco to Dubai.
Areas I cover