App Store Review Guidelines, in plain English

Apple reviews every app against its App Review Guidelines before it reaches the App Store. Here are the rules apps are most often turned down for: what each one means, the rejections it brings, how to fix the app and resubmit, and what Borel does about it.

Checked against Apple’s guidelines on (Apple’s version of ). The full rules are on Apple’s site, and Apple’s reviewers make the final call.

1. Safety

Keeping people safe: what users post, and how they reach you.

  • 1.2 User-Generated Content

    Guideline 1.2 covers any app where people create, upload or share content others can see: social apps, communities, chats, reviews and AI content creation apps.

  • 1.5 Developer Information

    Guideline 1.5 says people must be able to contact you: both the app and its Support URL need an easy way to reach the developer with questions and problems.

2. Performance

A finished app that works, and a store listing that tells the truth about it.

  • 2.1 App Completeness

    Guideline 2.1 says the app you send to Apple has to be the finished app: it doesn't crash, it has no placeholder text or dead links, and the reviewer gets everything needed to try it.

  • 2.1 Demo accounts for App Review

    If people sign in to your app, Guideline 2.1 asks you to give App Review a demo account and to keep your backend running during review.

  • 2.1 Information Needed

    "Information Needed" under Guideline 2.1 means App Review stopped because it can't judge your app without more from you: an explanation, a demo account, documents or answers to specific questions.

  • 2.1(b) In-app purchases App Review can't find

    Guideline 2.1(b) says that if your app sells in-app purchases, each one must be complete, up to date, visible to the reviewer and working.

  • 2.3 Accurate Metadata

    Guideline 2.3 says everything on your App Store page has to match the app: the description, screenshots, previews, privacy information, category and age rating.

  • 2.3.3 Screenshots

    Guideline 2.3.3 says your App Store screenshots must mainly show the app being used, not only its title art, sign-in page or splash screen.

  • 2.3.7 App name, subtitle and keywords

    Guideline 2.3.7 sets the rules for your app's name, subtitle and keywords: a unique name of no more than 30 characters, keywords that describe the app, and no other apps' names, trademarks, prices or filler stuffed in to game search.

  • 2.3.10 Other platforms in metadata

    Guideline 2.3.10 says your app and its App Store listing must be about the Apple platforms it runs on, without names, icons or images of other mobile platforms or alternative app marketplaces. "Also on Android", a Google Play badge or an Android phone in a screenshot is enough to be turned down.

  • 2.5.1 Public APIs

    Guideline 2.5.1 says an app may only use the parts of iOS that Apple publishes for developers, its public APIs, and must run on the current version of iOS.

3. Business

How an app may charge: In-App Purchase, subscriptions and the exceptions.

  • 3.1.1 In-App Purchase

    Guideline 3.1.1 says that when your app unlocks something digital for money (a subscription, premium features, extra content, in-game currency or a full version), it has to sell it through Apple's In-App Purchase.

  • 3.1.2 Subscriptions

    Guideline 3.1.2 sets the rules for auto-renewable subscriptions: they must give ongoing value, last at least seven days, work on all of the person's devices, and say clearly what people get for the price before they subscribe.

  • 3.1.3 Reader apps and other purchase methods

    Guideline 3.1.3 lists the cases where an app may use payment methods other than Apple's In-App Purchase.

4. Design

Real apps of your own: no web wrappers, copies or near-duplicates.

  • 4.2 Minimum Functionality

    Guideline 4.2 says an app has to be more than a website in a frame: it needs features, content and an interface of its own that make it useful, unique or app-like.

  • 4.3 Spam

    Guideline 4.3 says don't fill the App Store with copies: one app per idea, not one per city, team or client, and nothing indistinguishable from apps already widely available.

  • 4.8 Login Services

    Guideline 4.8 says that if your app lets people set up or sign in to their main account with a third-party or social login, such as Google, Facebook or X, it must also offer another login service as an equal option.

  • 4.0 Design

    Guideline 4.0 is the opening of Apple's Design section: Apple expects apps to be simple, refined and easy to use, and treats the rules that follow as the minimum for approval.

  • 4.1 Copycats

    Guideline 4.1 says your app must be your own: don't copy a popular app or pass off small changes to another app's name or design as yours, don't impersonate other apps or services, and don't use another developer's icon, brand or product name in your app's name or icon without their approval.

  • 4.2.6 Templates and app generation services

    Guideline 4.2.6 says apps made from a commercial template or an app generation service are rejected unless they're submitted directly by whoever provides the app's content.

5. Legal

Privacy, permissions, account deletion and how developers behave.

  • 5.1.1 Data Collection and Storage

    Guideline 5.1.1 is Apple's main privacy rule: every app needs a privacy policy, linked both in App Store Connect and inside the app, and it must ask before collecting people's data.

  • 5.1.1(v) Account Sign-In and Deletion

    Guideline 5.1.1(v) says that if people can create an account in your app, they must also be able to delete it from inside the app.

  • 5.1.1(ii) Permission and purpose strings

    Guideline 5.1.1(ii) says an app must get consent before collecting data, and that the sentence in each permission request, the purpose string, must say clearly and completely how the app uses the data. "To improve your experience" or "This app needs the camera" isn't enough.

  • 5.1.2 Data Use and Sharing

    Guideline 5.1.2 says an app may not use, send or share someone's personal data without their permission, must say where data goes, and must get explicit permission before sharing it with third parties, which Apple now spells out includes third-party AI.

  • 5.6 Developer Code of Conduct

    Guideline 5.6 is about how you behave as a developer: treat customers and Apple with respect, never trick people into purchases or data sharing, keep your identity accurate, don't manipulate reviews or rankings, and keep your app's quality up.

The review itself

What a rejection status means, and what to do when you disagree.

  • Metadata Rejected vs Rejected

    "Metadata Rejected" means App Review turned down something in your App Store listing, such as the description, screenshots or privacy details, and not the app itself: you edit the metadata in App Store Connect and reply, and the same build can stay. "Rejected", the status many people still call "Binary Rejected", means the app wasn't accepted, and fixing it usually means changing the app and uploading a new build.

  • Appealing an App Store rejection

    If you believe your app follows the guidelines and was rejected anyway, you can appeal to the App Review Board, but Apple asks you to reply to the rejection in App Store Connect first and explain.

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