June 13, 2026
App Store Rejections: The Six That Actually Happen
Apple's guidelines run to thousands of words. In practice, submissions come back for the same handful of reasons. Here they are, in the order I have actually hit them.
1. Sign in with Apple is missing
If you offer any third-party login — Google, Facebook, anything — you must also offer Sign in with Apple. This is guideline 4.8 and it is enforced automatically. It is also the single most common rejection I see, because teams add Google login late and forget the pairing rule.
Add both at once or neither.
2. Account deletion is not in the app
If someone can create an account in your app, they must be able to delete it in your app. Not by emailing support. Not by visiting a website. In the app, reachable without contacting anyone.
3. The demo account does not work
Review needs credentials that work, right now, with data in them. An empty account, an expired one, or one behind a phone-number OTP that reviewers cannot receive will come straight back. If your app requires a code, say so in the review notes and provide a bypass.
This is a wasted week for a five-minute fix, and I have watched it happen twice.
4. Privacy labels do not match behaviour
If the app sends anything to an analytics SDK, that has to be declared. Reviewers do check, and a mismatch reads as dishonesty rather than as an oversight. Note that third-party SDKs collect things you did not personally write code for — read their disclosures, not just yours.
5. It looks like a website in a wrapper
Guideline 4.2, "minimum functionality". If the app is largely a web view, it needs to justify existing as an app — offline support, notifications, camera, something native. This one is judgement-based and appealing it works more often than people expect, provided you can point at specifics.
6. Placeholder content shipped
Lorem ipsum, a broken link in the footer, a "coming soon" screen. Reviewers open everything.
The one that saves the most time
Fill in the review notes field properly. Explain what the app does, how to reach the feature that is not obvious, and give working credentials. A reviewer who cannot work out how to use your app rejects it, and that outcome is entirely within your control.
I ship to both stores as part of the work. See the projects.