App keeps getting rejected due to being unable to log in (auth0)

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1

My app updates are getting rejected due to the following policy violation:

App is not responding

  • The app freezes or becomes unresponsive.

  • Users cannot scroll while using the app.

After investigating, I discovered the issue occurs during the login process. We use Auth0 with a passwordless one-time passcode (OTP) flow, meaning users must receive an email to log in. However, Google Play testers cannot access the email inbox associated with the provided test account, preventing them from logging in.

Initially, my app was rejected for not providing a test account. I explained that our authentication flow doesn’t use traditional test accounts, as each login requires access to the email inbox to receive an OTP. Now, the issue is that multiple testers cannot share access to the same inbox due to security restrictions, leading to app rejection because they cannot proceed past the login screen.

Since many apps use passwordless authentication, how do others handle this situation to avoid rejection?

3

Hi @stuttskl,

Thanks for your question.

It seems that you have identified the issue with using a passwordless authentication flow where the email inbox cannot be shared among multiple testers.

If it helps, one option you could try is to use a database connection to temporarily allow these testers to test the login using an email + password, just to meet the Google Play Store requirements.

Cheers,
Rueben

4

Hi @rueben.tiow , thanks for your reply.

Yes, I have identified the issue and see in the auth0 logs the testers attempting to use the email address I have provided, but of course they aren’t reaching a successful login state because they can’t access the email inbox. I was hoping there may be other auth0 users who have a similar use case and could share what they are doing.

Could you please elaborate on your suggestion?

Thanks,
Katie

5

Hi @stuttskl,

Thanks for the reply.

Sure, I can elaborate. Essentially, for the testing phase, you could create a temporary database connection with test users using regular email and a password to allow these testers to test your app.

You can create a new database connection by going to your Auth0 Dashboard > Authentication > Database and clicking on the Create DB Connection button.

Then you can create some test users going to the Auth0 Dashboard > User Management > Users and clicking on the Create User button.

Let me know if you have any additional questions.

Thanks,
Rueben