Hello,
We are contacting you regarding an issue we are currently experiencing during the App Review process related to In-App Purchases and StoreKit product retrieval.
After extensive internal testing and investigation, we believe the behavior we are seeing is identical to the issue discussed in the following Apple Developer Forum thread:
https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/827016
Our application was rejected under Guideline 2.1 - Performance because the subscription plans reportedly failed to load during review. According to the review notes, the In-App Purchase product list appeared empty in the review environment, which prevented the paywall from loading correctly.
We would like to provide additional technical context because, despite significant testing efforts on our side, we have been unable to reproduce this behavior outside of the App Review environment.
The exact same binary that was reviewed by App Review has been thoroughly tested by us through TestFlight on multiple physical devices, including iPhone and iPad devices, using multiple Sandbox tester accounts and different network conditions.
In all of our tests, the subscription system functions correctly and consistently. Specifically, we verified that:
- StoreKit successfully retrieves all configured subscription products
- RevenueCat offerings load correctly without timeout or empty states
- Localized pricing information is displayed properly
- Subscription packages appear correctly in the paywall UI
- Purchase flows complete successfully
- Restore purchases functionality works correctly
- Products are returned both on cold launch and repeated application launches
- The issue does not occur intermittently in TestFlight or Sandbox testing on our side
We also carefully reviewed our App Store Connect configuration and verified the following items multiple times:
- All In-App Purchase subscriptions are attached to the submitted app version
- Product identifiers used in the application code exactly match the identifiers configured in App Store Connect
- All products are marked as “Cleared for Sale”
- Paid Applications Agreement has been accepted and remains active
- Tax and banking information are complete and active
- Subscription localization settings are configured properly
- Pricing information is active and visible
- The products are available in the storefronts being tested
- The submitted binary is identical to the binary tested successfully through TestFlight
Additionally, we implemented defensive handling in the application to minimize the impact of temporary StoreKit failures. The application now includes:
- Retry logic for offerings retrieval
- Graceful fallback handling for empty offerings
- Protection against infinite loading states
- Additional RevenueCat and StoreKit logging
- UI fallbacks when products temporarily fail to load
Despite these safeguards, the review feedback still indicates that the products are not being returned in the App Review environment.
At this point, because the issue cannot be reproduced externally and only appears during App Review, we suspect there may be an intermittent or environment-specific issue affecting StoreKit product retrieval in the review sandbox environment.
One important detail is that the exact same build consistently works in TestFlight immediately before and after submission. This makes the behavior particularly difficult for us to diagnose because there appears to be no configuration difference between our successful tests and the App Review scenario.
We also understand from Apple documentation and previous App Review communication that In-App Purchases are tested within an Apple-provided sandbox environment. Based on the evidence currently available to us, the failure appears to occur specifically within that review sandbox process rather than within the application logic itself.
If possible, we would greatly appreciate assistance with the following:
- Verifying whether StoreKit product retrieval is functioning correctly in the App Review sandbox environment
- Confirming whether the review device successfully established communication with App Store sandbox services
- Providing any available diagnostic logs related to the failed product request
- Confirming whether the product identifiers were visible to StoreKit during review
- Sharing any guidance on how we may reproduce the App Review behavior locally
- Clarifying whether there are known intermittent issues affecting StoreKit product loading during App Review
We are fully committed to resolving the issue and ensuring complete compliance with App Store requirements. However, because the issue currently appears environment-specific and non-reproducible from our side, we are struggling to determine what additional changes are necessary.
If there are any additional diagnostics, logging methods, StoreKit verification steps, or App Review recommendations you would like us to implement, we would be happy to do so immediately.
Thank you very much for your assistance, support, and time. We sincerely appreciate your help in investigating this issue.
Best regards,
Mert Akgün