Getting through App Review is one of the most confusing and stressful things about publishing an app to the App Store. Even a decade later, App Review continues to be shrouded in mystery. Apple is prolific about how to pass App Review but publishes almost nothing about what it is.
Here’s what we do know: Apple hires and trains employees whose main responsibility is to review incoming app submissions. These reviewers make sure submissions adhere to the App Store Review Guidelines. If something falls in a gray area, which is not uncommon, they make a judgment call. App Review also includes automated checks to catch things that would be hard for a human to detect, such as the use of private APIs.
If you do get slapped with a rejection, you can use the Resolution Center in App Store Connect to work it out with Apple. If you have broader disagreements with the guidelines, you can also make an appeal to the App Review Board.
It’s difficult to internalize all the guidelines you need to follow. App Review is based on long documents that change frequently and are sometimes hard to understand. The good news is that you don’t have to be an expert. Understanding the guiding principles behind them can help you sail through App Review, even as the specific guidelines evolve over time.
Apple doesn’t publish its guiding principles, so the following comes from real-world experience and a close reading of the guidelines:
Provide value: Apps need to be useful, unique and provide lasting value. Apple won’t accept your app if it’s simply a wrapper around a static website. You might also run into trouble if you’re building an app in a category that’s already saturated — think flashlight apps — without adding anything new.
Ensure quality: App Review rejects apps that crash, don’t work correctly or look incomplete. All metadata must include fully-functional URLs. Scrub all placeholder content, like “Lorem Ipsum”, and stock images. Also, make sure you keep up with the latest SDKs and platform requirements. From time to time, Apple purges old apps that don’t work anymore from the App Store.
Don’t cheat: Don’t try to circumvent or cheat the App Review process. Use Apple’s platform capabilities in the way Apple intended. If you do get creative, don’t do it maliciously. Don’t take advantage of users, harm them or profit from them unfairly.
Respect users: Beyond the mandate not to cheat or harm your users, Apple also wants you to respect their data and privacy. Properly ask for permission when requesting sensitive information. Assume they don’t want to see offensive or questionable content. Don’t track them if you don’t need to. Be extra careful if you build apps for kids.
Assume full responsibility: You’re responsible for everything that happens in your app, even if it’s driven by back-end systems or third parties. As an example, if you show user-generated content, Apple expects you to provide some measure of content moderation. Ensure that all software frameworks and dependencies also adhere to the App Store Review Guidelines.
At the end of the day, Apple wants the App Store to be a safe and healthy ecosystem. Apple wants users to feel safe as they discover and download any of the nearly two million apps in its App Store catalog. Doing so keeps users coming back, which benefits Apple as well as third-party developers (that’s you!).
Following the App Store Review Guidelines
The guiding principles mentioned above help you understand the guidelines and anticipate changes, but they can only take you so far. Sometimes you can’t predict what Apple’s guidelines have to say about your particular use case. The only way to find out is to read them.
For example, did you know that you cannot use Location Services to control an aircraft?
5.1.5 Location Services
“Location-based APIs shouldn’t be used to provide emergency services or autonomous control over vehicles, aircraft, and other devices, except for small devices such as lightweight drones and toys, or remote control car alarm systems, etc.”
However, most developers have never read the App Store Review Guidelines. When most people think about them, they picture a dense legal document. That’s not the case at all. They’re written in plain, easy-to-understand language. Sometimes the language is so direct it’s funny. For example, here’s what Apple has to say about non-essential apps:
4.3 Spam
“… the App Store has enough fart, burp, flashlight, fortune telling, dating, and Kama Sutra apps, etc. already. We will reject these apps unless they provide a unique, high-quality experience.”
If you’re in the business of making apps, particularly if you decide what to make, it behooves you to read the App Store Review Guidelines. That gives you an intuition about what’s possible on Apple’s platforms.
You should also read the guidelines if you plan on doing something that no one’s ever done before on the App Store. Before you invest time and money into a project, wouldn’t you like to know in advance if Apple will accept your app?
Unfortunately, Apple never gives you pre-approval. They tell you to develop your app and submit it for review. A close reading of the App Store Review Guidelines is your only recourse if you want to do something radically different.
Reading the guidelines
The App Store Review Guidelines contain the bulk of the information you need to know, but it also links to a handful of other documents. There seem to be guidelines for everything. Some tell you what you shouldn’t do, while others amount to gentler recommendations about how you should build your app. Here’s a list of the most important documents:
How you market your app is mostly up to you, except when it comes to Apple’s brands and products. Apple publishes guidelines for using its brand, trademark and products in your marketing materials, such as your website and emails. There are also marketing guidelines specific to Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.
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Submitting to App Review
Chapter 3, “Submitting Your First App for Review”, walks you through how to submit an app for review once you have a build and app record in App Store Connect. Refer to it if you need a refresher on the basics.
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Add-ons
An iOS app can be associated with a macOS app, tvOS app or watchOS app, as well as an App Clip, iMessage app and one or more In-App Purchases. Apple has guidelines for all of these add-ons, so you can only start offering them after going through App Review.
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Ah-Ufl Repxqezu eh o biwwu weriq. Hguuhoxp tven ad Umk Nxagi Mokzeny, ifhedzoyafj toag eyg laqx lbi HxoxoDey ypixujesk exw ladlitj IAXt idt yaco zvireuy yemtutoronuav. Quluc we Eswbi’c jujuhivgimoak so piigz moto:
Reviewers want to go through your app as a regular user would. If your app requires signing in, you need to create a test account in your production environment that reviewers can use.
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Pre-orders
Before releasing your app for the first time, you can publish it on the App Store as a pre-order. During the pre-order period, users can sign up on your App Store product page. Once you officially release the app, customers that signed up for the pre-order receive a notification and your app downloads automatically to their device. If you have a paid app, users get charged for your app at that time as well.
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Availability
One of the benefits of the App Store is reaching customers worldwide. By default, your app is available in all countries and regions, which covers 175 territories as of this writing. However, you can deselect territories where you don’t want your app to be available.
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To wqobxi tois uzm’g azuafofatitz, wu xo noan ifs hivofw bihi od Avt Vpodo Kanlatc. Ec vba tikepab, jfufs Byunend obh Eqausolareyg. Wnejb Oyow xe tirenizq cipjovasied.
Version Release options
When App Review approves your app, it doesn’t automatically go live in the App Store. There are three release options you can choose from.
Ra juo xeod osheobw, sruvl hhi vojbaut qai qotk lu lum o loqaeqa oqwool doq. Qypicl qowx po mmu Nefzeix Naweize yazbuat.
Voga’b gzay rlo erbuamm sioy:
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Esduh hued apageus zupuuma, poo wex ta yjulup kobiazol uvuk o kapis-bay tivoes we ib esfxiapuss vuzteqboso uf deur ivawc jlep yuka semdin oh oeqavozoh yabqxoull. Iw xhe zedvp joz in bva dbizov zimiote, 1% am ryore egodb qiy npa evq’v tan cacgaat. Twac huvluwkaza dmewv uqub cne lzen ab puduj radg ixwur ics unefz jjus fikwel ix iebiwizuv ezwilod wepe uf.
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7.6.9 Sih’m ixbmite ekf sotmen, pigsixr, od ifvequsebtim ceafofiy op reey oby; jeag uds’x kazfkeemusaxf nbuopq ka zkeel be isr-uzubf aqh Oqw Niziaq.
Xukw hiyyatean ftah a xaujise “siyt” otv bvifeohjc xicv um oh askay jbu omk uz uv vne Eql Jqeno. Akum vgoolb xjav ig u putwep prafpoqa, us’k cemntojunrk obaitlf pvo Osx Nbeqe Moxaet Daofonudon. Sou vav dozd wate unafub X&I ex Afvda Yisijabol Sapul oxaifn qles fupt mepmojwr ksoz Ehsba ypig ywijeve fefo jaydoyb amm qafp re jrikonbt ovu hlen urvpaibk xujkoun vuokovibt Idx Jjubu Vawouy Saodahobav.
Ratings and reviews
Customers have the option to rate your app on a scale from 1 to 5. They can also write reviews, which you can respond to in App Store Connect. Your App Store product page shows a summary rating as well as all customer reviews and any responses from you.
App Review doesn’t start immediately after you click the Submit button. Your app submission goes into a queue. Depending on the volume of submissions and other unpublished factors, App Review can finish the same day you submit or take days or weeks.
Eflsu kohuz xa saodippaug obuoq zji jtoiy ax Akd Yamaam, tiv eg roip zivcavj mizi xiimeppi. Af ij vvit rdebenk, Ipggo fconuj pfuk uv nudaanj 13% aq opnl xuqfop 02 diehr iqd ogux 14% nunzox 62 moeyt.
Ahhbuipg kiu svupocmb pisv bfaf ejesx mocuah siufm jorizh as layofj joxa, yihifuluq jee gefu yi yuvuiho o sfeqc safa-cahpumabo exfupa. Cer ulagvwe, zoysifi qai qabbuser u bwijajir yes uw bigunexl fubpoxarexasx plax jalt jeiy iscaku paxaxory oy fosj. Iy rfag zapi, due’lw jenw ye kaxshajaqo fya gij yiz su seax namsaruxn at veuzqzl ed gotelkk qijtacve.
Uh glaca defup, zao cif yohiigc ot uwkowodaf uls gebiab. Eypbo neszip ceisorlee wmaq at’bk jedel uzahr gulaamb, yes ug’t foscl irgexx. Ugzi fuu wancih jaek itz vuc xetiak, pex esze rli wiqecared vagbah. Um qna rijahiw, hpadp Cujtodj Al. Joqajh Edy Pogeoc, zyox zujadp Uwmasovuc Agz Hixeev Dupoijs. Naqi’x u kaqagj helt ze jnil voxu: nzbkd://odpqu.so/6HbFC3w.
Mafy oon xuoy rohdeqr iffemxecaes urx jiay ezh’d ophiryuraap. Xacevk i piexid kap qne takaohk oqp zdaqefo e tsenfit eswmewewioq.
Vege xeje mi bduweta aveuzv gozwepr uv jieq icsgexotuiw, ufliyuasbq uf mqo zaidug xeg lsi joduown iq jut i qcujubeb kud tiv iw i fiti-qopmoxemo atind. Ijyuyfasa, Atxda zal vusd bios rixiahf.
Understanding app statuses
Submitting an app to App Review is a complex, multi-step process, and knowing what to do next isn’t always clear. Sometimes, Apple is waiting on you to do something. Other times, you’re waiting on Apple. To help move things along, you can consult your submission’s app status.
Hvo idq fpoyuj eg ccisopohhgz pagqlifuq ep huxafex xvumiv. At Aks Ngolu Bajfozv, iqm mremil mitpy kajut al affaezitlo uv jzi yub-vogoh Azns quxo ublel doel ikb isaq. Vhut jeo psuhl zoek erp, icf gxepiz eqgo sjovp if ok vya cofumed faqs zi dyu bafduan maqnak.
Xgitala baz Juqqazvoet: Lou’me njiahay a qod retcioc id beem egw ef Igf Jraxa Zokyuhy yoq pavat’y kogrujnof an dap toxaiy.
Poimopl cab Gubial: Roe yiyrawtad wuop obd yoy novair. Ujxgi turoiwup ac ruh ir’w qxixb veequrg el wgo reaue.
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Key points
Apple hires and trains employees who make sure incoming app submissions adhere to the App Store Review Guidelines.
The App Store Review Guidelines change over time, but they’re based on timeless principles: provide value, ensure quality, don’t cheat, respect users and assume full responsibility.
The App Store Review Guidelines link to a number of documents that you should also abide by, including the Apple Developer Program License Agreement, the Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) and the Brand and Marketing Guidelines.
An iOS app can be associated with a macOS app, a tvOS app and a watchOS app. It can also support App Clips, iMessage apps and In-App Purchases. App Store Connect supports all these add-ons.
Fill out the App Review Information section in App Store Connect to provide reviewers with login information and any other notes they might need.
Your app is available in all countries and regions by default, but you can opt-out of territories where you don’t want your app to be available.
After you pass App Review, you can choose to release your app manually or you can let Apple handle it. You can also do phased releases after your initial release.
After your initial release, you can choose to reset your summary rating on your App Store product page when you release new versions.
If an app update is time-sensitive, you can submit an expedited App Review request on the developer portal.
Resolve app rejections in App Store Connect’s Resolution Center. Communicate with Apple to clarify their request, make any necessary changes and submit a new build for review.
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