Review date：2026/8/10 · 審核機：iPhone 17 Pro Max ＋ iPad Air 11-inch (M3)
審核版本：1.0.20260802 (2)
怎麼選的：改名字，而不是投兒童類
RestBud 的使用者其實是家長——設定、時段、語音錄製全在家長閘後面，孩子那一側只看得到小芽遮罩。真正的定位是「家長用的管理工具」，不是給小孩玩的 App。所以正確答案是改名字： RestBud - Kids Screen Time → RestBud - Parental Screen Time
一個字之差，把「給小孩用」改成「家長用來管螢幕時間」，名稱與分類就一致了。
2026 · 08 · 13🎉 審核通過 · 正式上架
改名後 8/10 重新送審，8/13 凌晨兩封信同時進來：Review is complete 與 Your app is "Ready for Distribution"——RestBud - Parental Screen Time 正式上架。從首次送審（8/2）到核准共 11 天，中間 3 次退件：少權限、兒童類四題、名稱與分類不一致。這是這系列 app 裡退最多次的一個。
An indie developer's honest App Store submission log
RestBud is a screen-time timetable for parents, adding the two things iOS Screen Time leaves out: weekday grouping and per-session limits. This page logs every milestone of its Apple App Store journey, shared for fellow indie developers on the same path.
2026 · 08 · 02🚀 First Submission · iPhone + iPad
Another submission night that ran up to midnight: 1.0.20260802 (2) was archived and uploaded, and at 11:43 PM a Draft Submission went in on App Store Connect — the iOS app plus the three optional tip-jar in-app purchases, 4 items in total. Weekday lock windows, a 30-play / 5-rest cycle, and a reminder recorded in a parent's own voice — completely free, zero ads, no data collected.
The Xcode Organizer archive panel reads Version 1.0.20260802 (2), Identifier app.rexcode.restbud, Type iOS App Archive — the build is in App Store Connect.
② Submission finalized: the app plus 3 IAPs
The Draft Submission shows Items Ready to Submit (4): iOS App 1.0.20260802 (2) together with In-App Purchases (3) — the three optional tip-jar products. The version reads Ready for Review, and the page notes that this version has been added for review; swapping it out means removing it first.
Xcode archive — 1.0.20260802 (2) · app.rexcode.restbud (click to enlarge)App Store Connect — Draft Submission: the app plus 3 IAPs, 4 items (click to enlarge)
The first rejection came from automated analysis: Apple detected Screen Time APIs (Family Controls / Managed Settings / Device Activity) but the submission did not carry the Family Controls entitlement, so review couldn't proceed at all. That entitlement has to be requested from Apple and configured after approval.
Worth noting the knock-on effect: all three tip-jar in-app purchases were returned with it and flipped to Rejected — they only re-enter the queue when the app is resubmitted. IAPs aren't reviewed independently; they ride on the app.
Type: automated message · review could not proceed
Returned with it: restbud.tip.small / .medium / .large
Status: 🔴 Family Controls entitlement required first
2026 · 08 · 06🔴 Rejection 2 · The Guideline 1.3 four
The second was automated too, and an old friend by now: the four Guideline 1.3 Kids Category questions (third-party analytics, third-party ads, data shared with anyone, any other user or device data). LetCube and LetAbacus received the identical letter, word for word.
RestBud's answers are "no" on all four as well: no third-party analytics or ad SDKs, nothing shared, and nothing collected beyond the local rules and voice recording — even what Screen Time returns is an opaque token, not a readable list of usage.
2026 · 08 · 10🔴 Rejection 3 · 2.3.8 name vs category
The third was finally a human reviewer, and the most interesting one: Guideline 2.3.8 Accurate Metadata — the app name contained kids, implying it is made specifically for children, yet the app was not submitted as a Kids Category app. The two don't line up, so it doesn't ship.
Apple offered a choice: remove every term from the name, subtitle, icon and screenshots implying the main audience is children, or select "Made for Kids" in App Store Connect's Rating section and genuinely go into the Kids Category.
Review date: Aug 10, 2026 · Devices: iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPad Air 11-inch (M3)
Version reviewed: 1.0.20260802 (2)
Which one, and why: rename, don't reclassify
RestBud's actual user is the parent — every setting, window and voice recording lives behind the parental gate, and the child's side shows only the sprout shield. It's a management tool for grown-ups, not an app children play with. So renaming was the honest answer: RestBud - Kids Screen Time → RestBud - Parental Screen Time
One word, and the name stops promising "for kids" and starts describing what it is — matching the category.
2026 · 08 · 13🎉 Approved & Live
Resubmitted under the new name on Aug 10; early on Aug 13 two emails landed together: Review is complete and Your app is "Ready for Distribution" — RestBud - Parental Screen Time is live. From first submission (Aug 2) to approval: 11 days and three rejections — a missing entitlement, the Kids Category four, and a name that didn't match its category. The most-rejected app in this series.
