Hi all,
Looking for guidance from anyone who has navigated a similar 3.1.1 review.
Our product is a freemium SaaS for creative groups (calendar, library, chat). It follows the same shape as Slack, Notion, Linear, Asana, etc.:
- Free tier exists and is fully usable
- Paid tiers are sold on our website via Stripe
- The iOS app is for participation: sign in, view sessions, RSVP, chat, edit groups, manage members
- The iOS app contains NO purchase UI, NO prices, NO plan/tier names, NO upgrade buttons, NO links to our pricing page, NO mention of paid features
We've stripped the iOS build of everything subscription-related. Server error messages are sanitized before they reach the client so words like "plan", "subscription", "upgrade", "trial" never appear in the app. Settings has no billing section on iOS. Plan-limit errors are rephrased to neutral text ("Contact your group owner").
Despite all this, we've been rejected multiple times under Guideline 3.1.1 — most recently because reviewers observed that we "access subscriptions or premium content" (i.e. the account they signed in with has a paid plan that was activated on the web).
Our question:
Does Guideline 3.1.1 require us to implement In-App Purchase if:
- The iOS app contains no purchase mechanism, no prices, no upgrade UI, no mention of paid tiers
- All purchases happen on our website, before or outside the app
- The user's account simply happens to have a paid plan that unlocks higher limits
Or is this a Reader App / 3.1.3(b) Multiplatform case, where we are allowed to NOT offer IAP as long as we don't promote external purchase inside the app?
We've read 3.1.1, 3.1.3(b), and the Reader App guidance multiple times. Slack, Notion, Linear, Asana all ship iOS apps in this exact shape without IAP. We can't tell what distinguishes our case from theirs.
If anyone has:
- Gotten clear guidance from App Review on this exact scenario
- Successfully argued 3.1.3(b) Multiplatform for a SaaS productivity app
- Or implemented IAP specifically because of 3.1.1 even though their app had no purchase UI
— we'd love to hear how it went, what wording worked, and whether a 30-minute call with App Review was useful.
Thanks!