Hello,
We have a Photo Vault app. We were hiding users' photos behind a semi-functional calculator. But after rejection, we thought "decoy functionality" meant we needed to remove this fake calculator feature. We removed it, and tried many things to solve this issue, but couldn't understand what Apple wants us to change. We've been trying to contact Apple for more details, but they keep sending the same message every time.
Helps appreciated. Here is the rejection message:
.
Your app uses public APIs in an unapproved manner, which does not comply with guideline 2.5.1 of the App Store Review Guidelines.
Specifically, we found that your app uses a decoy functionality to hide a user’s photos, which is not an appropriate use of the Photos API.
Since there is no accurate way of predicting how an API may be modified and what effects those modifications may have, Apple does not permit unapproved uses of public APIs in App Store apps.
Next Steps
Please revise your app to ensure that documented APIs are used in the manner prescribed by Apple.
It would be appropriate to remove any features in your app that use a decoy functionality to hide a user's photos from your app.
If there are no alternatives for providing the functionality your app requires, you can use Feedback Assistant to submit an enhancement request.