Our app (version 4.0.49, Submission ID: c55b9044-fb43-4677-b48d-134fed482b5d) was recently rejected under Guideline 3.1.1 – Business – Payments – In-App Purchase with the note that it “uses promo codes to unlock discounts.” We’d like to clarify our implementation and get guidance on the best compliant approach: • Apple Promo Codes: We already use App Store Connect’s official promo codes/offer codes for consumer campaigns, and these work through Apple’s IAP system. • Business Codes: In addition, we provide a second type of code for our enterprise/business users. These codes are not used for consumer unlocks and no money is collected via these codes. They are strictly used to validate access for business customers who already have pre-existing agreements with us outside of the App Store. This setup has been approved in our past submissions for nearly a year, but the most recent review resulted in rejection. Our Questions: How should we structure or frame these business codes so that they are seen as compliant with 3.1.1? • Would positioning them as enterprise account validation (aligned with Guideline 3.1.3(c) “Enterprise Services”) be acceptable? We want to remain fully compliant with Apple’s guidelines, but also continue supporting our enterprise customers. Any guidance on the correct approach for handling these business-only codes would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Hi everyone, I’m an indie developer and recently published our first app on the App Store. It was an exciting milestone, but on April 4, 2025, after the app had been live for about 1–2 weeks and one update had been pushed, we received a notice from Apple stating that our app had been removed from the store and that our developer account is scheduled for termination within a month. Understandably, this was incredibly alarming—but we stayed calm, carefully read through the allegations, and tried to handle the situation with patience and professionalism. The reason given was: App submissions from your account have engaged in concept or feature switch schemes to evade the review process, such as dynamically populating different app content after review, submitting apps with hidden features, repeatedly submitting misleading apps, and/or submitting apps with concrete references to content that you are not authorized to provide or is otherwise not appropriate for the App Store. This was cited as a violation of Section 3.2(f) of the Apple Developer Program License Agreement. We were accused of dynamically changing game content after review, but we do not have the capability to do anything like that. The game has stayed exactly as it was when submitted, and the single update we pushed included only the changes listed in the “What’s New” section. They also mentioned hidden features. While we don’t hide anything, our game does include progression-based unlocks (such as new upgrade cards or mechanics unlocked as you play). We believe this is standard for many games, and we’ve explained this in our appeal. We also addressed another possible issue—some light pop culture jokes in push notifications—which we are more than happy to remove immediately if they were deemed inappropriate. We’re not here to argue or avoid accountability. If we’ve made any mistakes, we’re more than willing to correct them. But terminating the entire account for a first-time submission, without any discussion or specific feedback, feels incredibly harsh—especially for a small team trying to break into the industry. We submitted an appeal to the App Review Board over a week ago but have not received any response or update since then. So I’m posting here in the hopes of catching someone’s attention—whether that’s Apple or anyone in the community who’s been through something similar and can advise. I know the $99 annual fee might not be a huge deal for many developers, but for someone just starting out, it represents more than money—it’s a foot in the door. I’m not looking for sympathy, just a chance to make things right, follow the rules properly, and keep building on the platform I admire. Thank you for reading, and I truly hope someone can help guide us on the next steps. Best, Veekshith Kolanupaka

We have developed apps for the App Store for more than 7 years. One day, out of the blue we noticed all our apps have been removed and our account was pending termination. We really didn't know what was going on since we behaved correctly and honestly during all those years of development. After we asked for more info on why our account was in pending termination state we received this reply: Hello [redacted], We received your complaint filed on 2 October 2024 pursuant to the Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on promoting fairness and transparency for business users of online intermediation services (“P2B Regulation”). This correspondence serves as a response to your complaint. We thoroughly evaluated the activity associated with your Apple Developer Program membership. Our investigations confirm that your Apple Developer Program membership has been repeatedly used for dishonest and fraudulent activity in violation of Section 3.2(f) of the Apple Developer Program License Agreement, which states: “You will not, directly or indirectly, commit any act intended to interfere with any of the Apple Software or Services, the intent of this Agreement, or Apple’s business practices including, but not limited to, taking actions that may hinder the performance or intended use of the App Store, Custom App Distribution, TestFlight, Xcode Cloud, Ad Hoc distribution, or the Program (e.g., submitting fraudulent reviews of Your own Application or any third party application, choosing a name for Your Application that is substantially similar to the name of a third party application in order to create consumer confusion, or squatting on application names to prevent legitimate third party use). Further, You will not engage, or encourage others to engage, in any unlawful, unfair, misleading, fraudulent, improper, or dishonest acts or business practices relating to Your Covered Products (e.g., engaging in bait-and-switch pricing, consumer misrepresentation, deceptive business practices, or unfair competition against other developers).” We found a pattern of manipulative or misleading behavior. As a result of this behavior, your Apple Developer Program membership has been flagged for termination. These behaviors can include, but are not limited to, inaccurate metadata describing your app or service, misleading app content, engaging in inauthentic ratings and reviews manipulation, providing misleading customer support responses, providing misleading responses in App Store Connect, engaging in misleading purchasing or bait and switch schemes, or other dishonest or fraudulent activity within or outside of the app. Our recent investigation and review of your developer account confirm violations of the App Review Guidelines. Specifically, we received a notice claiming that your [redacted app] allowed users to download media content without authorization from the relevant third-party sources. Our investigations confirmed this behavior which constitutes direct and egregious violations of App Review Guidelines 2.3.1 and 5.2.3. In addition, your binary submission from 1 October 2024 continued to include references to impermissible conduct under Guideline 5.2.3. Given the egregious nature of the violations, your app was removed and your Apple Developer Program account has been flagged for termination. For the sake of clarity, we have included relevant excerpts from the App Review Guidelines below for reference: 2.3.1 (a) Don’t include any hidden, dormant, or undocumented features in your app; your app’s functionality should be clear to end users and App Review. All new features, functionality, and product changes must be described with specificity in the Notes for Review section of App Store Connect (generic descriptions will be rejected) and accessible for review. Similarly, marketing your app in a misleading way, such as by promoting content or services that it does not actually offer (e.g. iOS-based virus and malware scanners) or promoting a false price, whether within or outside of the App Store, is grounds for removal of your app from the App Store or a block from installing via alternative distribution and termination of your developer account. (b) Egregious or repeated behavior is grounds for removal from the Apple Developer Program. We work hard to make the App Store a trustworthy ecosystem and expect our app developers to follow suit; if you’re dishonest, we don’t want to do business with you. 5.2.3 Audio/Video Downloading: Apps should not facilitate illegal file sharing or include the ability to save, convert, or download media from third-party sources (e.g. Apple Music, YouTube, SoundCloud, Vimeo, etc.) without explicit authorization from those sources. Streaming of audio/video content may also violate Terms of Use, so be sure to check before your app accesses those services. Authorization must be provided upon request. The guiding principle of the App Store is to provide a safe and enjoyable experience for users and a great opportunity for all developers to be successful. We work hard to make the App Store a trustworthy ecosystem and expect our app developers to be honest with users and with us. Manipulative or misleading behavior degrades user trust in the App Store and is grounds for removal from the Apple Developer Program. [...] Sincerely, Apple We immediately checked upon the issue and noticed that the feature that Apple has been mentioning was enabled by mistake due to a technical malfunction inside our app and explained this to Apple in detail. We have also immediately submitted a new update to completely remove the code that allow the download of media content from the third party website in order to avoid an issue like this would ever happen in the future and also explained the situation to Apple, being completely transparent. Apple is currently ignoring our explanation and also the fact that we immediately addressed the issue and nothing was done in bad faith. The update we submitted should have completely fixed permanently the issue and yet we got our account terminated. An account with an app downloaded 50M times that have users worldwide and a 4.5 star rating. We never engaged in dishonest or fraudulent behavior and tried to explain this. It’s really disappointing and unfair to be falsely accused of dishonest behavior, and having no way to resolve the issue. We have been at complete disposal and all the facts reported are true and we have always been honest with our users and with Apple. We heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem having our app implemented Siri support, CarPlay support, MacOS support, Widget support and recently working also on the Apple Watch support. I really hope someone of the Apple Review Team could look into this and gave us the opportunity to fix this issue.

Recently, my app was deactivated due to guideline 3.2f, and not only the app but also my account is at risk of being deactivated. After reading the guidelines, we disagree with the pre-judgment made by Apple. During the review process, we addressed EVERY point requested by the review team by correcting the issues. We submitted a new bundle to fix the problems we had with app distribution and ad performance. The first bundle sent was removed after being published on the store for a few months; this was our MVP—a simple and unattractive app that was meant to be improved in the future. Then we launched two other bundles; one of them was canceled and we continued with another bundle to adjust problems we had with Firebase and some libraries. In the screenshot below, it is possible to see the other apps that were supposed to be "deleted," since Apple itself does not allow the deletion of these apps—I do not know why. After we submitted the third bundle to address Apple’s requests and attempted to publish our app, it was approved but exactly 4 days later it was denied and removed from the store, and our developer account was threatened with deletion. We did not commit any fraud in any step of the Apple process; all the steps for an app to be inserted into the store were followed. Our app is a social network that requires location access and permissions—all of which have been configured, implemented, and are requested when the app is opened. We have ads; however, they are completely valid because they are real companies that pay to advertise in our app, and all we do is direct the user to a company’s page when they click on an ad. Our social network includes reporting tools, blocking, unblocking, encryption with locations, among several other best security practices—even our login is SSO. I tried to file an appeal, but Apple’s website itself is broken and the provided link does not allow any kind of appeal. Our app was called Find-u until we secured the patent, and we have the legal right to use this name in Brazil. We also have a company and have started the process of migrating the account from an individual to a corporate account. I would like a response, some guidance. We can prove in many ways that we have done nothing fraudulent, and we are prepared to take legal action for all the trouble that the review team is putting us through. The first version of our app had more than 200 users in the database, and this third version, which resulted in our account being canceled, has infinitely better features and prettier screens than the MVP. It simply does not make sense to cancel our account; if the app presents any defect, we will fix it just as we did before so that it can be approved. CNPJ: 52.070.419/0001-13

Hello. I am the developer of a game called "Heya! Rising Ball" on the App Store(Apple ID - 6503669512). I first published my app on June 9, and successfully updated it on June 28 and July 19, continuing to provide service until July 27. However, in the early morning of July 27, I received a "Pending Termination Notice." The message stated that my account was found to have engaged in "dishonest or fraudulent activity," and because of the severity of the issue, my app was removed, and my account was flagged for removal. The "Evidence of Dishonest or Fraudulent Activity" mentioned was: "App submissions from your account have engaged in concept or feature switch schemes to evade the review process, such as dynamically populating different app content after review, submitting apps with hidden features, repeatedly submitting misleading apps, and/or submitting apps with concrete references to content that you are not authorized to provide or is otherwise not appropriate for the App Store." I reviewed the mentioned "section 3.2(f) of the Apple Developer Program License Agreement," and have been trying to understand which part of the regulation I violated that led to my app being removed and my account being flagged for fraudulent activities. I posted on the iosProgramming subreddit on Reddit, seeking advice on what could have caused this issue. Initially, I thought the problem might be due to the name of my app overlapping with others, but feedback suggested that the name should be fine. Secondly, I wondered if the keywords might be the issue. My app is a mobile game developed using Unity, similar to watermelon games, so I included "watermelon game, suika game" in the keywords. Could using "suika game" be interpreted as referencing another game, leading to me being labeled as dishonest? Thirdly, I considered the possibility of copyright issues with the sprites. For instance, the ball objects in my game were created by me using Affinity Designer, and the rabbit-shaped cloud that drops the balls was purchased as part of a GUI pack from the Unity Asset Store. Later, I discovered that the smiling ball I designed somewhat resembles illustrations used by the Headspace app. Could this resemblance be why I’m considered dishonest or fraudulent? Fourthly, people suggested it could be a library issue. The only potentially problematic library I used was "Graphy," a Unity Asset Store app for displaying device stats. I disabled its objects before submission. Could this be the issue, even though the app passed reviews and functioned well until now? My app, released on June 9, hasn’t gained much popularity or downloads. However, there’s one regular player from Italy who plays my game before bed, as shown by Google AdMob stats. Seeing this consistent player motivated me to keep updating and improving the app. When my app was removed, I felt a deep sense of loss as I couldn’t provide this player with an improved experience. I’m at a loss as to what I did wrong to be labeled as engaging in "dishonest or fraudulent activity." While I know I can file an appeal via the link provided, it requires: A thorough explanation of the issues identified Specific steps to prevent its recurrence New information clarifying these issues, if you disagree with the findings However, I don’t know what the exact problem is, so I can’t provide new information or specific steps to prevent recurrence. I need to understand the issue to address it properly. I am currently residing in South Korea, where I was able to speak with an Apple Developers support representative over the phone. However, they informed me that my issue is related to the App Review team and that I need to contact them. Unfortunately, since I live in South Korea, I cannot contact the App Review team by phone. The support representative said they would inform the App Review team, and I should wait for their response, which will likely come via email. It has been over a day, and I am still waiting for their reply. When I searched forums and Google for information about filing an "Appeal" after receiving a "Termination Notice," I couldn't find any instances where the issue was successfully resolved and the termination was revoked. I also read that the "Appeal" is a one-time opportunity, and the decision made is final. Some posts mentioned receiving responses from an A.I. Bot and not being able to change the outcome thereafter. Therefore, before I submit my "Appeal," which could be my last chance, I want to understand what mistake I made with my app that led to this situation. My app passed the review process three times and was being actively serviced before my developer account was suddenly terminated. Knowing the exact issue will help me address it properly in my "Appeal" and assure that it won’t happen again, which could assist in restoring my app and developer account. Please help me understand what’s wrong with my app so that I can explain, provide preventive measures, and hopefully resolve this issue. Thank you.

I wanted to add subscription plan into my app for a new release. I have bottom sheet showing promotional text for this subscription like below They rejected my app because We were unable to find the following required information in your app's binary: – A functional link to the Terms of Use (EULA) – A functional link to the privacy policy So I added both links for terms and privacy policy in the promotional text. I use the standard Apple EULA for the link. And I still get rejected on the latest review because Specifically, We were unable to find the following required item(s) in your app's metadata: – A functional link to the Terms of Use (EULA) WHY? is it because I should put this link in my App Description page instead of the promotional text? Then why they didn't make noise about the link to privacy policy?

as shown from the quote: "The 5.5-inch iPhone, 4.7-inch iPhone, 4-inch iPhone, and 3.5-inch iPhone screenshots do not show the current version of the app in use. Screenshots should highlight the app's core concept to help users understand the app’s functionality and value. " According to Google the last 3.5 inch iPhone was retired in 2017. Do I really need to provide screenshots or was this a cut/paste mistake?

Hello, I submitted an app for review 4 days ago and requested an expedited review for the first time in ten years because I need the app to be released by the 30th for a hackathon. There’s been no progress - it is still stuck waiting for review, yet I can see numerous friends that submitted after me have had theirs reviewed multiple times. Is there anything that can be done to speed this up? I’ll be gutted if I can’t make the deadline because of this.

Hi, I recently submitted an app to the App Store, but it was rejected for the following reason: Guideline 5.1.1 - Legal - Privacy - Data Collection and Storage Issue Description The app requires users to register or log in to access features that are not account based. Specifically, the app requires users to register before browsing products. Registration can only be required for account-based features like adding to cart or checking out. Next Steps Revise the app to let users freely access the app's features that are not account based. The app may still require registration for other features that are account based. Resources Learn more about requirements for apps with account-based content and features in guideline 5.1.1(v) - Account Sign-In. After receiving this, I updated the app to allow guest users. Now guest users can use the app freely and choose to login if they want to access their account and account features. However, I'm still receiving the same rejection for the same reason. What should I do at this point? Can anyone help?

Hello fellow developers, Anyone blocked at the Live Caller ID Lookup configuration step? I submitted multiple times the form without any news from Apple since a few months (last one is FL7S57UFVR). This is blocking our app release to our customers. Thank you

Hey I’m working on a macOS app that wants to detect the MacBook lid / hinge angle (i.e. how far the screen is open) by directly reading the internal sensor via HID / IOKit (a private / undocumented API). I came across this project: LidAngleSensor — GitHub: https://github.com/samhenrigold/LidAngleSensor?tab=readme-ov-file Before investing too much effort, I’d like to ask the community: Has anyone succeeded in getting such an app accepted on the Mac App Store when it includes sensor-level, private API access like this? What were the reviewer feedback or rejection reasons (if any)? Are there documented cases (positive or negative) where Apple approved or rejected apps for accessing non-public hardware sensors? What’s the risk of getting banned or permanently rejected for integrating this kind of functionality? If you have direct experience (whether it passed or failed), I’d love to hear your stories, strategies, or pointers. Thanks in advance!

Hello, my call blocking app was incorrectly rejected under Guideline 2.5.12 for using "SMS Fraud Extension," but my app is a call blocker that only uses CallKit framework exclusively for blocking unwanted phone calls. There's no SMS functionality or SMS/Message frameworks at all and no pre-made spam lists. I've submitted an appeal, but this is a time-sensitive update that needs to be released as soon as possible (used an Expedited Review request already). I had a previous appeal for another app that was delayed for 11 days, and it was only resolved after posting here. I cannot afford another 11-day delay for this time-sensitive update. Any suggestions to make the process faster? Thank you.

Hello, I’m running into an issue with Apple App Review and wanted to get some advice from the community. My app, Afri-BFFs, is a friendship-making app designed as a mobile-first iPhone experience. In App Store Connect, the UIDeviceFamily is explicitly set to iPhone only, and the app is not intended or optimized for iPad. However, App Review keeps rejecting the app, citing iPad compatibility issues. Their feedback suggests that the app should function on iPad or that UIRequiredDeviceCapabilities should reflect iPhone-specific functionality. My questions are: Is setting UIDeviceFamily to iPhone sufficient to restrict the app to iPhone in App Store distribution? Does App Review expect a UIRequiredDeviceCapabilities entry even if the app doesn’t rely on iPhone-specific hardware? Has anyone else in the social/friendship or dating app category encountered this, and how did you resolve it? Any guidance, examples, or references to Apple documentation would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hello, I have a question regarding the Mac App Store deployment and App Review process. Our macOS app will also be distributed on the Steam platform. In our current build setup, the App Store build output (inside Contents/MacOS/) may still contain Steam-related dynamic libraries (e.g., libsteam_api.dylib) and metadata/configuration files (such as .txt files used only by Steam) These files are not used in the App Store version. Users will not see any Steam-related information, functionality, or UI when the app is running. Their presence is simply a byproduct of the current packaging process. My concern is whether including such unused Steam-related files in the App Store submission could be considered a violation of App Store Review Guideline 2.3.10, or otherwise lead to rejection during review. Would Apple recommend that we strictly separate the build targets so that the App Store submission does not contain any Steam-related files, even if they are unused and invisible to the user? Thank you very much for your guidance.

Hello, We’re experiencing a blocking production issue with our new in-app subscriptions and would appreciate guidance. Our latest app version was approved and is live on the App Store, but the new subscriptions we submitted with it are still stuck in “Waiting for Review”. They’ve been in this state for about two months, and purchases in production fail with an error. I already sent an email, but I haven’t received any response. Yesterday,I uploaded a new version of our app and was approved. I had hoped that submitting another version might resolve the issue, but unfortunately the subscriptions are still not active. This is extremely frustrating since users cannot purchase or upgrade. Has anyone experienced this before? What should we do next to get these subscriptions approved? Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone, I’m working on the JOOD Mobile App, which is an employee/partner-privileged app (not public) for Qatar Foundation (QF) and its partner entities. The app uses corporate domain login / Microsoft login, no public sign up. Apple Review rejected the app, pointing out violations under: Guideline 3.2 – Business — App intended for use by a specific organization(s), but distribution selected as public. Guideline 4.0 / 4.8 – Design / Login Services — The user is forced to leave the app to log in via default browser; no in-app flow or “Safari View Controller” type embedded browsing. Also, uses third-party login, but doesn’t offer an equivalent login option that limits data collection to just name + email, allows email privacy, etc. Guideline 5.1.1(v) – Data Collection and Storage — App allows account creation but there is no user-initiated delete account option. I want to fix these rejections and resubmit. Below are the questions / ideas I have, and I would really appreciate feedback / suggestions from folks who’ve resolved similar issues. My questions / plan: For distribution, should I switch from Public to a more restrictive distribution (e.g. Custom App, Private Distribution for Business / Enterprise) given that the app is for specific companies / employees only? For the login flow: Use of Safari View Controller instead of redirecting to the system browser — is that sufficient to satisfy Apple for “login within app”? Also, need to add an alternate login option that meets Apple’s criteria under 4.8: limiting collected data, letting email be private, etc. What login services are typically accepted / approved for this? For account deletion, how do I implement this properly? Should there be a setting within the app, with confirmation, that deletes the user’s data server-side? If some deletion steps happen via website, include link in settings. Any sample responses / appeals / screenshots from people who successfully got similar apps approved under these guidelines? Here are the relevant excerpts from Apple’s response: “Your app is intended to be used by a specific business … but you've selected public distribution …” “User is taken to the default web browser to sign in … poor user experience … revise to enable users to sign in … in app or using Safari View Controller …” “Offer another login service that limits data collection to user’s name/email, allows privacy, etc …” “Include option for account deletion …” Thanks in advance for any help!

Hi, I developed an app and submitted it to the App Store, but it was rejected for the following reason: Guideline 5.1.1 - Legal - Privacy - Data Collection and Storage Issue Description: The app requires users to register or log in to access features that are not account-based. Specifically, the app requires users to sign up before accessing the app. Apps may not require users to enter personal information to function, except when directly relevant to the core functionality of the app or required by law. Next Steps: Revise the app to allow users to freely access features that are not account-based. The app may still require registration for features that are account-based. Resources: You can learn more about the requirements for apps with account-based content and features in guideline 5.1.1(v) - Account Sign-In. After receiving this, I updated my app and added a "Continue as Guest" button on the login screen. With this button, users can navigate the app without signing up. Only commenting, updating the profile, and adding to favorites are disabled when using the app as a guest. However, I'm still receiving the same rejection for the same reason. What should I do at this point? Can anyone help?

Hello everyone, Our app, NumberBox, was rejected due to Guideline 5.1.1, with the review team saying it “collects information from public sources to build individual profiles.” We want to clarify: All data is 100% user-reported. Users voluntarily submit phone numbers (spam, scam, or telemarketing) and assign tags through the “Add Tag” feature. No data is collected from public sources or user contacts. No profiles are built automatically. All user submissions are reviewed by our support team before being displayed. The sole purpose of NumberBox is to help users avoid unwanted or scam calls, not to collect personal data. Our updated Privacy Policy is here: https://numberbox.app/privacypolicy Has anyone encountered a similar issue with Guideline 5.1.1? Any guidance on how to clearly communicate this to App Review would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Hello, I would like to ask for your opinion on whether the following in-app purchase (IAP) specifications would comply with the App Store Review Guidelines. ■ App Overview ・The app allows users to create a “Family Group” by inviting other family members to join. ・The app provides brain-training games. The game itself is displayed via WebView. ・All purchases use in-app purchase (IAP) only. No external payments or links are provided. ■ Purchase Types (2 models) ① Group Unlimited Plan ・If one member of a family group purchases this plan, all members of the same group can play the games without limits for a certain period. ・This is based on the app’s own group-sharing mechanism, not Apple’s “Family Sharing.” We will clearly state this in the UI to avoid confusion. ② Ticket System (Consumable) ・One user in the group purchases game-play tickets. ・Other members of the same group can also consume those tickets to play. ・Tickets are only shared and consumed within the app’s family group. They cannot be transferred, resold, or moved outside the app. ■ Points to Confirm A. For model ①: Is it acceptable under the guidelines to grant access to the entire group when one member purchases the plan (via the app’s own group logic)? B. For model ②: Is it acceptable to allow consumable tickets to be shared and consumed within the group? (I understand that Apple’s official “Family Sharing” does not allow sharing of consumables. This would be strictly our own in-app sharing logic.) If anyone has experience or insights regarding whether such designs are allowed under the guidelines, I would greatly appreciate your advice.

Hello, I have a question. What exactly is bothering Apple? The app doesn't sell anything, nor does it allow users to download games; it's purely an informational app. Thank you.