Guideline 2.1 Information Needed, in plain English

What Guideline 2.1 means

Apple's help page on providing information for a complete review lists what it expects up front: what the app is and who it's for, its business model for a new app or what changed for an update, the devices and iOS versions you tested on, the outside services it relies on (such as data providers, sign-in services, payment processors or AI services), any regional differences, and demo account credentials for features behind a login.

Some apps need more. An app that works with hardware must provide a video of the app running on a physical Apple device as it pairs with the hardware, not a screen recording. Apps in regulated fields (medical, financial, crypto, gambling) and apps using someone else's brand or content must attach their licences or permissions.

When the reviewer can't find what they need, they send questions instead of approving or rejecting. Apple's guidance is to reply through App Review in App Store Connect with specific answers; if that isn't enough you can ask there for a call, which Apple says is typically completed within three to five business days.

Apple says incomplete submissions will be rejected, and that detailed notes about non-obvious features and in-app purchases help avoid this, so most Information Needed messages can be prevented with better review notes.

Why apps are turned down under Guideline 2.1

• App Review needs to know more about how the app works

  The notes were blank or generic, so the reviewer couldn't tell what the app is for, how it makes money or where its main features are.

• App Review needs the outside services the app depends on

  The app gets content from a data provider, an AI service or a payment processor that the notes don't mention, so the reviewer can't tell whose data goes where.

• App Review needs documents or permission

  The app touches a regulated field or shows someone else's trademarks or content, and no licence or permission was attached.

How to fix it and resubmit

1. Read every question in the message and answer each one in your reply, in the order asked, with plain facts rather than marketing.
2. Put the same answers into the App Review Information notes, so the next review of this and future versions starts with them.
3. Add what else Apple's checklist names: devices you tested on, outside services the app uses, regional differences and any demo account.
4. Attach licences, partnership letters or permissions if the questions asked for them, or a video on a real device if the app needs hardware.
5. Send the reply. If the message says your metadata is the problem, edit it and reply; there's no need to upload a new build just to answer questions.

How Borel helps

Borel drafts the review notes for every app from its code, so the reviewer starts with the facts: what the app is and how to test it, whether it needs an account and which one to use, what it sells with product IDs and where Restore Purchases is, what it sends to AI and to which company, the outside services it reaches through Borel's server, the permissions it asks for and when, where Delete Account and the privacy policy are, and that its backend stays live for the review.

The notes never claim anything the code doesn't do, and they're trimmed to fit Apple's 4,000-byte limit by shortening the walkthrough first, never the facts. You can read and change them before you submit; if you leave them blank, Borel fills them in.

Questions people ask

Related guidelines

• Guideline 2.1Demo accounts for App Review
• Guideline 2.1App Completeness
• Metadata Rejected vs RejectedMetadata Rejected vs Rejected
• Appealing an App Store rejectionAppealing an App Store rejection