Guideline 2.1 and the demo account App Review asks for

What Guideline 2.1 means

Apple's App Review Information section in App Store Connect has a Sign-In Information part for exactly this: a username and a password. Apple's help page asks for credentials that work at the time of submission, and warns that credentials that expire or change before review starts may get the submission rejected.

A demo account is a real account on the app's live backend, set aside for the reviewer. It should open the app the way a real user sees it, ideally with some content in it, so every screen can be reviewed, not just an empty dashboard.

Apple adds a few cases. An app with several account types (an admin and a regular user, say) should list credentials for each type in the Notes field. An app with auto-renewable subscriptions should provide an account with an expired subscription, so the reviewer can go through the whole purchase flow. And if sign-in needs an extra code, the code goes in the notes in advance; otherwise Apple may need a call, which it says typically happens within three to five business days.

If legal or security rules stop you from giving out a demo account, Guideline 2.1 allows a built-in demo mode instead, but only with Apple's prior approval, and the demo mode has to show the app's full features.

Why apps are turned down under Guideline 2.1

• We were unable to sign in with the demo account

  The password was changed, the account was deleted, the email was never confirmed, or the account was made on a test server rather than the live one.

• Sign-in needed a code the reviewer didn't have

  A one-time code sent by email or text, or a two-factor step, reaches your inbox, not Apple's. Unless the code is in the notes, the reviewer is stuck at the second screen.

• The app showed an error or an empty screen after sign-in

  The backend was down, paused or out of credit during the review, or the demo account had no data, so the reviewer saw an empty app with nothing to try.

How to fix it and resubmit

1. Make an account only for App Review on your live backend. Sign out, then sign in with it on a fresh install to prove it works today.
2. Turn off anything that stops a stranger signing in with it: email confirmation, one-time codes, two-factor steps and sign-in from new devices.
3. Give it enough content to show every screen: a few saved items, a finished profile, whatever your app shows once someone has used it for a while.
4. Enter the username and password under Sign-In Information in App Store Connect, and use the Notes field for any extra account types and for where the main features are.
5. Keep the backend, its database and any paid services running until the app is approved, then reply to App Review and resubmit.

How Borel helps

For an app whose accounts are in Borel's cloud, Borel makes and keeps the reviewer account itself. It is a regular account on the app's live backend, kept only for App Review, and it never expires; Borel stores it encrypted.

Before every submission and every resubmission, Borel signs in with that account for real. If the reviewer deleted it during an earlier review, Borel makes it again. Its email is confirmed for it, so no code or email link stands between the reviewer and the app, and Borel fills it into Sign-In Information for you.

Where the app keeps each person's data private to them, Borel adds sample data to the reviewer's account, so every screen shows something; it never puts sample data where other people would see it. The review notes Borel drafts tell the reviewer which account to use and that no extra sign-in step is needed, and the submit gate stops a submission when your balance could run out while the app is being reviewed.

Questions people ask

Related guidelines

• Guideline 2.1App Completeness
• Guideline 2.1Information Needed
• Guideline 5.1.1(v)Account Sign-In and Deletion
• Guideline 4.8Login Services