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.

• App: RestBud - Kids Screen Time (app.rexcode.restbud) · iOS App (iPhone + iPad)
• Version: 1.0.20260802 (2)
• Submission started: Aug 2, 2026 at 11:43 PM
• Status: ⏳ Ready for Review

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

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.

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.

• Submission ID: 3fa568c0-ca0d-469e-b15c-9d2fa76ec28d
• Review date: Aug 10, 2026 · Devices: iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPad Air 11-inch (M3)
• Version reviewed: 1.0.20260802 (2)

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.

• App Store name: RestBud - Parental Screen Time
• Approved version: 1.0.20260802 · iOS · SKU restbud-ios-001
• Resubmitted: Aug 10, 2026 at 8:12 AM PDT · Approved: Aug 13, 2026 at 2:10 AM
• Status: ✅ Live on App Store
• App Store: Download for iPhone / iPad →

The first update since launch. New: daily limits (a shared daily total for several apps), several unlock windows per lock, and how long each managed app was used today. Fixed: break reminders that actually make a sound, and the store-version report of "my child put the iPad down for ages, picked it up and was locked straight away" — a pause as long as the break now restarts the round.

The Sep 24 build (build 3) had been uploaded but never submitted; all of it is included here, and the version in App Store Connect was simply renamed 1.1.20261005, keeping its copy and screenshots. Submitted through the API at 5:42 PM on Oct 5 — Ready for Distribution at 9:00 PM, about 3 hours 18 minutes, no questions. The launch took 11 days and 3 rejections.

• Version: 1.1.20261005 (4) · iPhone + iPad · 1 item
• Submitted: Oct 5, 2026, 5:42 PM Taipei · reviewSubmission 0f582b98-4bc6-40c4-a696-98d249c28565
• Approved: Oct 5, 2026, 9:00 PM Taipei, released automatically
• Status: ✅ Live on App Store
• App Store: Download for iPhone / iPad → · Release notes →

The new feature is a website allow list: turn it on in parent settings and only the sites on the list open, all day. Everything else is blocked, in Safari and other browsers alike. Add YouTube (with the domains its videos need) or school sites in one tap, or type your own, up to 50; the home screen lists "Websites you can open" and a tap opens them.

It also fixes an iPad report that "pausing wiped everything": after pausing, the rules stay on the settings screen; edits made while paused are saved and take effect on resume; the home screen gets a "Resume management" button; and pausing inside parent settings no longer asks for the passcode a second time. Plus a fix for an occasional false "Screen Time access turned off" entry right after opening the app.

• Version: 1.1.20261009 (5) · iPhone + iPad · 1 item submitted (via API key)
• Submitted: Oct 9, 10:54 PM Taipei (7:54 AM PDT) · reviewSubmission 3b02ffa5-0feb-4894-a8c3-18ca25e74068
• Approved: Oct 10, 2:45 AM Taipei — about 3 hours 51 minutes, no questions, released automatically
• Status: ✅ Ready for Distribution
• App Store: Download for iPhone / iPad → · Release notes →

Two new features. Ask for more time: when an app is locked outside its window, on a day it isn't allowed, or after the daily limit runs out, the lock screen now offers "Ask for 10 more minutes", and after a tap it says the request was sent. Open RestBud and the request is at the top of the home screen; behind the parental gate a parent can give 10 minutes, pick another amount, or say not now. Only that one app opens, and it locks again when the time is up.

Device protections: deletion protection is now switched on by RestBud itself instead of a trip through iPhone Settings, and four new switches add no installing apps, no in-app purchases, date and time locked to automatic, and blocking adult websites. All are off by default.

• Version: 1.1.20261012 (6) · iPhone + iPad · 1 item submitted (via API key)
• Submitted: Oct 12, 11:42 PM Taipei (8:42 AM PDT) · Submission ID 324f21c3-8fb3-4a71-9dc4-9226783f4ad2
• Approved: Oct 13, 9:50 AM Taipei — about 10 hours 8 minutes, no questions, released automatically
• Status: ✅ Ready for Distribution
• App Store: Download for iPhone / iPad → · Release notes →

A platform update with no feature changes. The foldable iPhone Duo went on sale on Oct 23, and apps built with the older SDK show up on it as a small letterboxed window. This version is rebuilt with Xcode 27.1 / the iOS 27.1 SDK, so RestBud fills the screen whether the phone is folded or open. Its layout is all SwiftUI with no device-specific checks, so no code had to change; the now-ignored full-screen setting was removed, iPad's upside-down orientation added, and two new SDK warnings fixed.

• Version: 1.1.20261023 (8) · iPhone + iPhone Duo + iPad · 1 item submitted (via API key)
• Submitted: Oct 23, 11:46 PM Taipei (8:46 AM PDT) · Submission ID 5775705f-c01c-4249-adfe-0aac3695bd71
• Approved: Oct 24, 5:30 AM Taipei — about 5 hours 44 minutes, no questions, released automatically
• Status: ✅ Ready for Distribution
• App Store: Download for iPhone / iPad → · Release notes →

Usage history: under Status & history in the parent area, see which apps your child used each day and week and for how long, with managed apps marked; the week view adds a bar per day and a daily average. Earlier versions showed only today's usage of managed apps; this one covers every app. iOS still draws the numbers inside a separate report extension, and RestBud cannot read, store or send them.

Allow deleting for 10 minutes: on Nov 3 Rex turned on deletion protection on an iPad and then couldn't delete any app either, so Screen Time access had to be switched off entirely. The deletion-protection row now says plainly that it covers every app, and while it is on, a parent can allow deleting apps for 10 minutes; protection comes back on its own.

• Version: 1.1.20261104 (10) · iPhone + iPhone Duo + iPad · 1 item submitted (via API key)
• Submitted: Nov 4, 12:19 AM Taipei (Nov 3, 8:19 AM PST) · Submission ID 37ce95e0-92c7-484f-a15f-d35ac235dc23
• Approved: Nov 4, 1:32 PM Taipei — about 13 hours 13 minutes, no questions, released automatically
• Status: ✅ Ready for Distribution · App Privacy is still Data Not Collected; the privacy policy now spells out what usage history covers
• App Store: Download for iPhone / iPad → · Release notes →