Our Experience w/ an Apple Kids App

Our app got approved by Apple but rejected by Google (see my wild guess below).

Unity.Ads is definitely something that must be removed to pass the validation.

But everytime I restart the editor, the folder com.unity.ads@X.X.X gets recreated.

Do you guys know how to prevent this ? that's maybe why our app got rejected by Google (I restarted the editor between the iOS build and the Android build)

 

Please compare to a new/empty Unity project and look for the folder. Perhaps there is a separate component in your current project that is adding it?

 

Here is how to reproduce the problem (version 2019.4.8f1):

• Create a new empty project
• Go the services tab and select your organization
• Activate 'Ads' service (this will create com.unity.ads@3.4.7 in Library/PackageCache)
• Restart the project (optional)
• Deactivate 'Ads' service (this does not delete com.unity.ads@3.4.7 in Library/PackageCache)
• Delete com.unity.ads@3.4.7 in Library/PackageCache (before or after closing the editor, it doesn't make any difference)
• Restart the project...com.unity.ads@3.4.7 is recreated in Library/PackageCache

 

How are you activating and deactivating the ads service?

 

I activate/deactivate the Ads service using the service tab: I click on the service (cf attached screenshot).

 

Could I ask you to post in the Ads forum? https://forum.unity.com/forums/unity-ads.67/ Previously we were suggesting to users to implement Ads via Package Manager and not through the Services window, I suspect it is still the case.

 

I just created this thread in unity ads:
https://forum.unity.com/threads/how...atically-recreated-at-editor-startup.1022146/

 

Hi, @JeffDUnity3D any news on removing dependance of unity IAPs on unity analytics?

 

Hopefully early next year.

 

If we disable Analytics at runtime as suggested, we do not receive RemoteSettings callbacks, which is a bummer.

• Has anybody submitted a kids app and gotten it approved with Analytics enabled?
• Does Unity use the IDFA or other PII to run RemoteSettings and A/B testing?
• In a related question - any suggestions for other A/B testing tools or are people building that internally now?

 

Remote Config 2.0.1 should not be referencing Analytics. Only Ads references the IDFA. You might want to look at deltaDNA, recently acquired by Unity. We are moving in this direction, I'm not familiar with the pricing however https://docs.deltadna.com/intro-to-ab-testing/

 

@JeffDUnity3D Thanks for the quick reply! Remote Config looks like a good solution. I got it working well with A/B variants in a test project with no Analytics. Hopefully Remote Config will be supported for a while.

DeltaDNA is probably overkill for us right now since we already have player metrics and communications set up on other platforms. Good to know about though.

 

@JeffDUnity3D we're getting ready to ship our kids app soon, which uses Unity IAP and therefore Analytics. We're disabling everything we can at runtime, based on the code provided in this thread. As you noted, Apple now requires developers to indicate nutritional info, and Unity helpfully describes how we should answer these questions for Unity Analytics.

My understanding though is that this data is not collected in our use case, since we're disabling that plugin. Is it therefore correct to not disclose any of the data mentioned in the unity article for Unity Analytics? If some info is still collected, could we have access to that restricted list? Thanks!

 

There should be no collection. You can find exactly what your app may be collecting by using Charles Proxy as described here https://support.unity.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002917683-Using-Charles-Proxy-with-Unity

 

Thanks for the super quick reply @JeffDUnity3D. I indeed inspected with Charles Proxy in the past and didn't find anything out of place, so we're crossing our fingers for the Apple review.

 

Any word on this? Apple continues to only get more aggressive on enforcing rules, and having to include code that violates their guidelines just so we can disable it at runtime isn't a great solution. Just because apps are getting past review is no guarantee, Apple has been known to scan and remove apps that are already published.

 

We have no plans at this time to decouple Analytics and IAP. We have worked with Apple management and engineering to ensure that Analytics is allowed. If you app is rejected, it would not be because of Analytics. We don't collect personally identifiable information.

 

This is a bit of a confusing response, per what you said at the end of last year.

You can not collect ANY information ("personally identifiable" or otherwise) and send to a third party in an iOS app intended for kids without first getting explicit permission. I assume you mean that you've confirmed with Apple that the workaround of disabling Analytics at runtime start is acceptable to them?

If so, fine, I guess, but I'm disappointed the plans changed so definitively for the worse from where they were 6 months ago.

 

My statement was accurate. Apple is more concerned with ATT and IDFA which are not relevant to Analytics or IAP.

 

I have a question regarding all of this.

If my app still has the analytics and IAp's active, will my app be denied, or approved?

Based off what I've read so far, it seems like you're saying that you worked with apple to allow the analytics to stay active and still get reviewed and approved, but it also sounds like what is being said is that it won't be allowed.

I ams so mixed up. I would appreciate a quick response so I can know how to proceed.

PS. I am not a coder, but more of a story writer, so any coding needs to kept to a minimum or properly explained so I know what goes where and how to implement it without any issues. I already have the script made, but I have no idea how to use it or where to attach it to. What do I do about the European privacy act thing. The GD-something.

Thanks and bunch.

 

Try it and see!

 

We are being refused by Apple because of Unity Analytics. We do not even collect identifiable data from Unity Analytics. I just check progression during the game (Did they succeed this step? Did they craft this costume? etc...) :



It just appears they refuse Unity Analytics because some data are stored on your own servers and not theirs. If Unity Analytics are complient with kids apps, please explain to me what is authorized and what is not because I'm confused. It's been 2 weeks our app is refused...

EDIT : By the way, we have never selected the kids category but they keep letting us our app is in this category. Is it normal? Is it because our app looks like a kids app? It is based on a 3D tv shows for children. Does it mean it must follow kids app guidelines even if we do not select "made for kids"? Apple does not want to answer me on this, they just tell me look in the 1.3.0 guideline...

Thank you!

 

Please generate a Charles Proxy capture to confirm exactly what is being sent. You can use this information in your appeal https://support.unity.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002917683-Using-Charles-Proxy-with-Unity Attach the .chls file here, or send it to me in a private message and I'll take a look

 

How many of these manual steps are still necessary for ensuring analytics are disabled when using Unity IAP so that the App Store does not reject an app? Has the manual patching steps for the DeviceSettings.mm been rolled into the Unity build process?

 

Please don't multipost, already answered here https://forum.unity.com/threads/uni...ics-for-kids-games.689143/page-2#post-8460782

 

Sorry! Just not used to getting this quick of feedback from Unity and was hoping at minimum another dev would know who had been on these threads originally. I'll avoid multi-posting in the future