Why Does Apple Reject Your App During App Store Review?

As of the 4th quarter of 2019, there were over 1.8 million apps available in the Apple App Store. And while these are numbers for apps that are already available, there are yet a significant number of apps in its ideation, design, development or QA stage, ready to be published at the earliest. However, most entrepreneurs and business owners fail to realize that every major application store (including the Apple App Store) has quite an extensive criteria for approving or rejecting apps.

Failure to meet these criteria can get your app rejected from the platform, leading to changes that can take up significant time and money to complete. Also, this can disturb your marketing and budgeting plans in a big way. You can definitely get your pre-launch testing perfected if you follow the right strategy.

Most firms that avail services from a specialized iOS app development team that has experience dealing with publishing an app don’t commonly face this roadblock. It follows that the chances of facing such problems grow manifold for other companies.

However, with the right precautions and a team of app development experts with years of experience in developing and publishing apps on the App Store, you can get your app published on the first attempt.

Google Play Store also rejects app but its criteria are far less strict than what Apple follows. If you want to compare both, you can read our article on why Google Play store rejects apps.

And while the guidelines are extensive, we have zeroed in on the major reasons why the iTunes store might reject an app when presented to it for publishing.

Find out the latest tech trends that will transform your iPhone app development in 2020.

Crashes and Bugs

As one can imagine, Apple will not approve an incomplete app that contains bugs, or has technical issues like old software and system failures. Before you submit your app for review, make sure you have thoroughly tested it and if you do find any performance glitches or system crashes, get it fixed first. Any bugs or crashes almost immediately guarantee app rejection.

Non-Functional Links

Apple requires you to check all links in your app carefully. The tech giant has communicated that it will be looking for two kinds of links within its app review process, which are:

• A direct link to user support that also includes your updated contact information.
• Another link that takes users to the privacy policy of the app.

Dumpy Content

Before you send your app to Apple for review, it is absolutely necessary that you have finalized and uploaded all images and written content. Apps that have dumpy content or are not complete in any way won’t be approved.

Security and Privacy of Data

If you are requesting the permission of your users to access and use their data, then you need to describe how you are going to use their information in clear words. Go ahead and include an example that can further help your users understand why your app needs to access some of their personal information.

To deliver better security, Apple makes sure that your data retention policies are complete and transparent, along with an option provided to the users enabling them to pull back consent for data collection.

If you have built the app for children or if you offer a subscription plan, you must add a link to your privacy policy.We have prepared a checklist that will help you adopt the best app security measures that yield top-notch results.Moreover, in case you haven’t ensured it already, make sure you comply with the GDPR.

Deceiving Screenshots

The screenshots you include in the App Store need to represent the value and functionality your app provides accurately. Don’t add images and text that in any way delivers a misleading representation of your app. Your app screenshots should highlight the app’s experience and help users better understand what they are signing up for when downloading the app.

Partial Information

Another reason why Apple may reject your app is if it provides incomplete information within the App Review Information part of the App Store Connect. Here are a few elements about your app that you should be including in this:

• Up-to-date contact information
• The app title, description, feature specifications, and other app details
• Notes for unique configurations (if any)
• A valid username and password (if some features need signing in)
• A demo video (if some features require a specific environment or hardware)

Poor User Interface

Apple provides app designers and developers with precise user interface guidelines that talk about how clarity, deference, and depth of iOS app make them stand out in the market. Make sure while designing the app, you incorporate all quality and performance benchmarks as defined by Apple to build an app that’s not only accepted but that also yields desired results.

User Experience Tailored for iOS Users

When you are building an app for the Apple App Store, it only makes sense that you try to use features that are unique to iOS up to their full potential and create an app as engaging and useful as possible.

Moreover, if your app is based on a website, you must understand how differently people consume the content of the web and mobile. If you are able to effectively convert your web content into an app that optimized for mobile devices, you can avoid the risk of rejection.

Lacking Value for Users

As a pre-submission practice, ask yourself a question, what benefit is my app providing and is the usability of the app designed keeping preferences of users in mind. You can start with testing the navigation of the app, the customer journey, custom features and the functionality you are providing within the app. You can even go through other apps in your category and see how your app can offer better value and experience for the users. If you observe any lacking, take it back to the drawing board.

Building a successful app that gets approved on the App Store, largely depends on your tech firm, here is how you can find the right iPhone app development company for your project.

Check out how you can validate your app idea and increase your chance of success.

Submitting a Copycat:

“Submitting several apps that are essentially the same ties up the App Review process and risks the rejection of your apps.” –

App Store Review Guidelines

Apple doesn’t respond well to duplicating ideas, functionalities, and in-app experience with apps that are maybe doing great in recent times. Apple doesn’t like it when someone tries to waste the time of its users and reviewers with content that lacks originality. Investing some time and efforts, along with resources in building your app, will help you avoid rejection from the App Store.

Apple In-App Purchasing System

If your app involves monetary transactions to unlock specific features or functions, or if it allows users to download digital content, you must be using the official Apple’s in-app payment system. It helps the company ensure the money is securely passed through Apple’s environment.

You should particularly mindful of this in case your app is a conversion of your website since normally your payment system would be linked to your site.

Deceiving Potential Users

It shouldn’t be a surprise that your app needs to deliver on all that it promises. Make sure your app performs exactly as it is advertised and it doesn’t deceive people into thinking it provides certain features that it doesn’t.

Find out how you can choose the right app category for your next project.

Wrap up

One of the reasons why Apple is popularly known for its high-quality product and high-end user experience is because it doesn’t let any misleading app into its ecosystem. This means, more often than not, there is a valid and identifiable reason for every App Store rejection from Apple. Fortunately, it also means if you take necessary measures and partner with an experienced and highly competent iPhone app development company, you can avoid all aspects that will get your app rejected.

If you want to read up more about apps and their related topics, then do visit our blog.