The 10 Reasons Apple Rejects First Submissions

Roughly a third of first submissions are rejected, and the reasons are remarkably repetitive. Almost every one of them is cheaper to fix before you submit than after. Here are the rejections AI-built apps actually hit, and what a reviewer needs to see instead.

1. Guideline 4.2 — minimum functionality

The most common rejection for apps built on web stacks. If the experience is essentially a website in a shell, it will be refused. Reviewers want native capability a browser cannot deliver: push notifications, biometric sign-in, offline behaviour, native purchases, camera or location. Full detail in guideline 4.2 explained.

2. Guideline 3.1.1 — payments outside in-app purchase

Stripe checkout inside an iOS app for digital goods is an automatic rejection, as is any link or nudge steering users to pay on the web. Digital subscriptions must use Apple's in-app purchase system. Physical goods and real-world services are the exception and may use external payment.

3. Broken restore purchases

Every paid app needs a visible Restore Purchases action that works on a fresh install with the same Apple ID. Reviewers test it. If entitlements do not come back, the app is rejected even when purchasing works perfectly.

4. Guideline 5.1.1 — privacy, sign-in and account deletion

• An in-app route to delete the account, not just an email address to write to.
• A reachable privacy policy URL in both the listing and the app.
• App Privacy answers in App Store Connect that match what the app actually collects.
• Sign in with Apple offered where you offer other third-party logins.
• No forced registration for features that do not require an account.

5. Missing or broken demo credentials

If anything is behind a login, App Review needs working credentials, and any one-time code flow needs a documented bypass. An account that has expired by the time review starts is one of the fastest ways to lose two days.

6. Crashes and dead ends on the reviewer's device

Reviewers test on the latest iOS, often on Wi-Fi that drops. Blank screens on cold start, unhandled offline states and buttons that lead nowhere all read as an incomplete app. Test with airplane mode on at least once.

7. Metadata that does not match the app

Screenshots showing features that are not in the build, competitor names in the keyword field, "beta" or "test" wording, and placeholder support URLs all trigger metadata rejections. See App Store screenshot sizes for the listing side of this.

8. Guideline 2.1 — incomplete information

Missing export compliance answers, content rights declarations, or an age rating that does not match the content. These are form-filling errors, and they are the easiest of all to avoid.

What a rejection actually costs

Not the fix — the queue. A rejection sends you back for another full review cycle, and typical App Store review times of 24 to 48 hours can stretch to a week in busy periods. Two rejections can turn a Friday launch into a fortnight.

Pre-submission pass

1. Native features beyond the web layer, working and discoverable.
2. All digital purchases through StoreKit, with restore tested on a clean install.
3. Account deletion, privacy policy and accurate App Privacy answers.
4. Fresh demo credentials with any 2FA bypass documented in the review notes.
5. Screenshots and description that match the build exactly.
6. A clean run on the latest iOS, including offline.

The full version is in the App Store launch checklist. If you would rather not learn these by trial and error, the managed launch covers the build, the paywall and the submission.