4.3 Radar

App Store Guideline 4.3 · free pre‑submission check

Check your listing against the App Store before App Review does.

Paste your listing. 4.3 Radar searches the App Store for apps with the same name and the same idea, scores how close they are, and tells you what to change.

4.3 Radar result for the example listing Focus Timer Pro: High risk. Main issues: an app on the store already uses this name, the description overlaps with listed apps, the concept is crowded in Productivity and the copy leans on stock AI phrases. Compared with 49 listings from 2 App Store searches.
Real output for the built-in example listing (try it below).
  1. SearchYour app name and three keywords from your description go to Apple's public App Store search.
  2. CompareYour browser compares your name and description with every listing that comes back.
  3. FixYou get a risk level, the reason behind each flag, and the change that addresses it.

Your listing

Exactly as it will appear on the store.

The line under your name on the store.

As shown on your App Store page. Used to check your own apps for repeats.

Paste the full description. It's analyzed in your browser and never sent anywhere.

Release notes for this version, if you have them. Checked in your browser for hidden-feature wording and never sent anywhere.

Sent to Apple's public search: the app name, three keywords picked from your description, and the developer name if you add one. Nothing is stored.

Want a second opinion?

Full 4.3 review: $29

  • A deeper comparison against the 10 closest apps on the App Store
  • A rewritten name, subtitle and description that set your app apart
  • Already rejected? A ready-to-send Resolution Center reply

Delivered within 24 hours.

Get the full review

Why we built this

We're a small app studio. Apple refused 6 of our 6 new listings under Guideline 4.3(a), while 20 updates to apps we already had on the store passed review. An App Store name search is the check we were missing, so we built one, and taught it to compare descriptions and flag stock phrasing too.

FAQ

Is this official?

No. 4.3 Radar is an independent tool. It isn't made, reviewed or endorsed by Apple, and only App Review decides what gets approved.

Do you store my text?

No. Everything runs in your browser except the App Store search calls. Those send your app name, three keywords picked from your description and your developer name (if you add one) to Apple's public iTunes Search API. App icons in the results load from Apple's image servers.

Your description and What’s New text never leave this page, and nothing is saved when you close it.

Is there a guarantee?

No. It's a risk check. Low means none of the usual warning signs showed up in the listings we searched. It doesn't mean approval, and High doesn't mean rejection.

What does Guideline 4.3 cover?

Spam. 4.3(a) asks developers not to submit several copies of the same app under different bundle IDs, and to offer variations inside one app instead. 4.3(b) asks you not to submit apps that are indistinguishable from what's already widely available. Apple names dating, flashlight, sound effects, wallpaper, simple timer and fortune-telling apps as well established, and says it won't accept new ones unless they offer a meaningfully different or improved experience. Rejections under 4.3 usually point to a similar binary, metadata or concept.

Read the current wording in Apple's App Review Guidelines.

How is the risk level worked out?

Six checks, each rated Clear, Elevated or High. One High, or three Elevated together, makes the overall risk High. Any Elevated makes it Elevated.

  • Name collision: High for the same name (ignoring case, spaces and punctuation, or once words like Pro, AI, Plus, Lite, Free or HD are dropped). Elevated for a Levenshtein ratio of or more, a name made only of generic words, or a name whose distinctive words + listings already use.
  • Concept similarity: TF-IDF cosine between your description and each listing's, from 0 (nothing shared) to 1 (identical). High at +, Elevated at +. Word weights come from the listings found plus 16 short built-in descriptions of unrelated apps, so the words every app in a crowded niche shares still count.
  • Crowded concept: listings in your category with similarity of +. High at +, Elevated at +.
  • Templated copy: Elevated at + different stock phrases.
  • Opening line: Elevated when the first sentence has no word that few similar listings use, and the concept or category check is already flagged.
  • Your other apps: High when one of your live apps has similarity + (the same concept) or a near-identical name. Elevated when you already have + apps in the same category.
What else does it check?

Two more checks run on the same text. They are shown under the 4.3 cards and don't change the 4.3 risk level.

  • Hidden or undocumented features (Guideline 2.5.19): wording in your description or What’s New that can read as a hidden, secret, disguised or remotely switched feature, or as a feature that turns on only after App Review. It also flags gambling, VPN, crypto or lending features mentioned outside the categories where they usually sit, and a category that differs from most of the closest listings. It reads only the text you paste, never your app or its screenshots.
  • Metadata hygiene (Guideline 2.3.7): High for a name or subtitle over characters. Elevated for a name or subtitle that reads like a keyword list, uses another app's or company's name, or mentions a price or “free”.

Both are risk indicators, not review decisions. Only App Review decides.

Which App Store does it search?

The US storefront, with up to 25 results per search. Big categories hold far more apps than that, so treat the crowded-concept count as a floor.