My app was rejected from the app store based on an allegedly inappropriate age rating.
My app requires users to confirm that they are older than 13 when logging in, so Apple said my app's rating of ages 4 and above is inappropriate as a result.
This was their response to my application:
Guideline 2.3.6 – Performance – Accurate Metadata
The rating you have selected, 4+, is inconsistent with the content of your app. Since your app requires users to be 13+, it should be rated appropriately for this subject.
The problem is that I didn't select the "4+" age rating–Apple did! Their age ratings are determined automatically by a questionnaire I answered concerning adult content (i.e. violence, drugs, etc.). I said "No" to each question since my app doesn't contain anything like that whatsoever. (It's a very plain music education app.) Apple does not allow you to just select an age rating like "13+".
The reviewer asked me to change my answers to that questionnaire so that the age rating would be higher. If I change my answers (to say, for example, that there is violent imagery in my app), then my answers would be false, which would violate the very Guideline Apple is saying I'm violating. This seems like a Catch-22, since the answers will either be false (since the app has no adult content), or they will reject the age rating.
What should I do?
Edit:
Here are the answers I'm allowed to change. The truthful answer to all of them is "No."
Best Answer
Requests for changed metadata happen all the time. If after a day or two of careful review of the iTunes Connect FAQ and guidelines, you still aren't comfortable you can always ask for more help.
In iTunes Connect - select contact us.
From your posted answers, you could also go for the 4+ rating and put a parental gate in rather than ask people to confirm they are 13+ before entering user information. The easiest fix might be to not ask for registration at all. Also, if you have any sort of web browser or user configurable internet search lookup or feeds, you’ll want to disclose you have unfiltered access to the internet.
My suspicion is you’re hung up on section 5.1 privacy. https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#privacy
In the end, you are correct that it’s your call on which you feel best serves your app - no sense compromising your answers if you’re certain that’s most important.