2.9 KiB
2.9 KiB
| name | description |
|---|---|
| portfolio-originality | Originality gate for studios and developers that ship many similar mobile apps or games (templates, white-label apps, reskins) - score a planned or finished app or game against your own catalogue (mechanic, content, art, metadata, screenshots), require a clear differentiator, and suggest merging thin ideas, to avoid App Store Guideline 4.3 (spam) and Play repetitive content rejections. Use before starting a new app or game, before submitting one, or after a 4.3 / "repetitive content" rejection. |
Portfolio originality (Guideline 4.3 gate)
Apple 4.3 and Play's repetitive content policy reject apps that are near-copies of other apps, including your own. Studios with a template engine and white-label / reskinned apps hit this first. Run this gate twice: before building (idea stage) and before submitting.
Inputs
- The new app or game: one-paragraph pitch, core loop or main task, controls or flows, progression or features, art direction, the planned listing (name, subtitle, short description, keywords, screenshot captions).
- The catalogue: the same for every app or game you have published or submitted (store links are fine).
Score each pair (new app vs each catalogue app), 0 = identical, 2 = clearly different
| axis | 0 | 1 | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| core mechanic or main task | same verb, same rules | same verb, new rule that changes decisions | different verb / goal |
| content | same levels / items reskinned | new content, same structure | different structure (modes, progression) |
| art and audio | same assets / palette / UI kit | same kit, new theme | own visual identity |
| metadata | same description pattern / keywords | rewritten, same promises | different promise and audience |
| screenshots | same layout and captions | same layout, new captions | different scenes and message |
Total 0-10 per pair. Below 6 against any catalogue app: stop. 6-7: ship only with a differentiator a user can see in the first screenshot. 8+: fine.
Differentiator test
Write one sentence: "Unlike , in the user ." If the sentence needs the words "theme", "skin", "colours" or "levels" to work, it is not a differentiator.
When the score is low
- Merge the idea into the existing app as a mode, feature, world or event instead of a new app.
- Deepen one axis until it scores 2 (usually mechanic or progression), not five axes a little.
- Never vary only the name, icon and keywords: reviewers compare binaries and screenshots, and that is the pattern 4.3 describes.
- After a 4.3 rejection: list the concrete differences in the reply (
review-rejections); if there are none, merge.
Output for the owner
A table per catalogue app with the five scores, the total, the differentiator sentence, and a recommendation: ship / ship after / merge into .