Omnibus FAQ

This document lists frequently asked questions about our new omnibus apps for iPhone and iPad.

What is an omnibus app?

An omnibus app is a new way to play our games: a single app that collects all of our Choice of Games titles in one place.

We now have three omnibus apps, a Choice of Games omnibus, a separate Hosted Games omnibus, and a Heart’s Choice omnibus, available for iOS and Android.

Will you make an omnibus app for Steam?

Never say never, but we expect that we’ll continue to release separate games for Steam for the foreseeable future.

Will new games be available in a separate app or in the omnibus?

In the future, new games for iPhone and iPad will be available only in the omnibus, and not as separate apps. We’ll continue to release separate apps for Android and Steam.

Apple has asked us to stop delivering iOS games as separate apps, and to release future games in an omnibus, instead.

Why does Apple require Choice of Games to deliver an omnibus app?

The App Store review team has decided to reject future app submissions from Choice of Games. The review team told us that they believe that our apps are in violation of rule 4.3 according to the App Store Review Guidelines. Rule 4.3 reads as follows:

4.3 Spam

Don’t create multiple Bundle IDs of the same app. If your app has different versions for specific locations, sports teams, universities, etc., consider submitting a single app and provide the variations using in-app purchase. Also avoid piling on to a category that is already saturated; the App Store has enough fart, burp, flashlight, and Kama Sutra apps already. Spamming the store may lead to your removal from the Developer Program.

Apple has told us that our separate game apps are “too similar” to one another, which makes them spam, and so we’ll have to consolidate all future Apple releases into an omnibus app.

We disagreed with this decision in a phone call with a member of the App Store review team, but Apple held firm. We now have to abide by this ruling in order to deliver future apps to iPhone and iPad users.

Apple does not require us to delete any of our existing apps. They’ll all keep working as they always have.

Why is Choice of Games releasing an Android omnibus? Is Google forcing you to do this?

Nobody is forcing us to release an Android omnibus. Many of our Android users have requested an Android omnibus; we release it just to give people what they want.

If I purchase/purchased a game as a separate app, can I play it in the omnibus?

Yes! Download the latest version of the separate app(s) and the omnibus. Launch the separate app, then open the game in the omnibus. The omnibus may be able to automatically detect the separate app; if not, you’ll see a “Buy” button and a “restore purchases” link. Tap “restore purchases” and select the option to restore from the separate app.

If this transfer process fails, the game will offer you an email address to use to contact Choice of Games customer support. Be sure to click on that email address and to email us using the exact address we provide. The email address includes information we can use to diagnose issues.

If I purchase a game on choiceofgames.com, can I play it in the omnibus?

Yes. Open the game in the omnibus, then tap the “restore purchases” link. You’ll need to sign in with your choiceofgames.com email address and password to use your purchase in the omnibus.

If I purchase a game on Steam, can I play it in the omnibus?

Yes. Start by restoring your Steam purchases on our website at https://www.choiceofgames.com/profile/ where you can login and then scroll down to the bottom to “Restore purchases from Steam.”

When you do that, your Steam purchases will transfer to choiceofgames.com.  Once you’ve done that, you can return to the omnibus app, and tap the “restore purchases” link there, and restore purchases from Choiceofgames.com to access your games in the omnibus.

If I purchase a game in the omnibus, can I play it on choiceofgames.com?

We were able to to get this to work for Android omnibus purchases but not for iOS omnibus purchases.

On Android, if you purchase a game in the omnibus and then login to the app with your choiceofgames.com account, the Android omnibus will transfer your receipts to choiceofgames.com, allowing you to play on choiceofgames.com.

On iOS, App Store purchases can’t be transferred to our web site, but we’d like to implement that feature in the future.

Can I play games offline in the omnibus app?

Yes! We know our users like that, and we want you to continue to be able to play our games offline.

To play offline, just start playing a game in the app, then go offline. (You can try it yourself using Airplane Mode.)

Will the omnibus app take up more space on my phone or tablet?

It shouldn’t! If you purchase games in the omnibus app, then–much like having more individual apps on your device–it will use more space on your device.

Does the iOS omnibus app have Apple Game Center achievements?

No. While achievements will still be a part of each game we release, they will not be stored in the Game Center.

Each app in the App Store is limited to 100 Game Center achievements. Each of our games has dozens of achievements, which is too many to be supported in a single app.

Can I rate and review games inside the omnibus app?

You can give games a rating on a scale from 1-10 when you finish the game. You can discuss our games on our forum.

Can I search for games by title, author, and genre in the omnibus?

Yes! On the “Search” tab, you can type in the “Find your next adventure” box at the top of the screen to search by title, or click on one of the genres at the top of the screen to filter by genre. Click the “List view” button in the upper right corner to see full details for each game; you can click on the author’s name to search for games by that author.

Can I sort games by title, author, release date, etc. in the omnibus?

Yes! On the “Search” tab, you can sort games by bestselling rank, rating, release date, title, price, word count, and number of ratings.