App Store rejection
Guideline 1.2 - Safety - User-Generated Content
Your app lets people post or message each other, so Apple wants proof you can keep it safe. We build what's missing, show the reviewer where it is and stay on it until it's approved. Fixed price, half paid only after approval.
Free triage within 12 business hours.
Paste the rejection, get a straight answer
Free first read. We reply within 12 business hours with what's behind it and a fixed price.
What the message usually lists
The standard 1.2 message lists the precautions Apple expects in apps with user-generated content:
- Terms that users agree to, which make it clear there's no tolerance for objectionable content or abusive users.
- A way to filter objectionable content.
- A way for users to report content.
- A way for users to block abusive users.
- Acting on reports within 24 hours by removing the content and ejecting the user who posted it.
Sometimes it also asks for a screen recording that shows all of this working.
What it actually means
Apple has to see every one of these, not most of them. A report button without blocking, or blocking without terms people agree to, still comes back.
It also has to be visible to the reviewer. Often the tools exist, but the reviewer couldn't find them or couldn't see what happens after a report.
Why guessing is expensive
- Adding only the item the reviewer mentioned often brings the next one back: blocking, then terms, then the filter.
- A generic EULA usually doesn't say the "no tolerance" part, so the terms point stays open.
- Reports need a real path on your side: someone has to see them and act. A button that sends reports nowhere doesn't solve it.
- Each round is another week before people can use the social part of your app.
What we do
- Check your app against everything the 1.2 message lists, not only the line the reviewer quoted.
- Build what's missing: terms acceptance, filtering, reporting, blocking, and a simple way for you to act on reports.
- Prepare the review notes and a screen recording plan that walks the reviewer through each point.
- Write the reply to App Review and stay on it through every round.
You keep your code and your account. We never ask for your Apple ID password. If we need access, it goes through an App Store Connect user with the App Manager role.
Fixed price
Reviewer Reply
$99
Regular price: $190When everything already exists and the reviewer missed it: review notes, a screen recording plan and your reply to App Review, followed until Apple decides. No code changes.
Rejection Fix
$249
Regular price: from $490The missing pieces built in the app and on your server, the new build, the reply to App Review and every round for the same issue.
Several apps rejected at once? Send them all, we'll quote per app.
50% to start, 50% after Apple approves the submission. If Apple does not approve the submission for the guidelines we fixed, we keep working on those guidelines at no extra cost for up to 3 resubmissions within 60 days. If it still is not approved, you do not pay the second half.
Proof
4.3(a) Design Spam · App concept review
So I was facing this issue where one of my app got design spam twice. And seeing other on X also getting it more frequently now I got real demotivated and there was this fear in me that my next app will probably get design spam too because already there are other similar apps. In my case I was not having an issue with binary or metadata as I create things from ground up the main issue was app concept.
After talking to team I got to know that we can do consultation call with apple review team even before submitting build. The team also emphasized that first screenshot should highlights your unique features that no one have.
Going forward I will now try consultation calls with the apple team and also will highlight my unique features instead of the most popular and famous one.
An app we worked on went through 7 rejections and was approved on round 8.
Questions
My app only has a chat. Does this still apply?
Yes. If people can send content that others see, it's user-generated content.
Is Apple's standard EULA enough?
Usually not on its own. The terms have to make clear there's no tolerance for objectionable content or abusive users.
Do I need someone moderating 24/7?
The standard message asks you to act on reports within 24 hours. You need a way to see reports and remove content or users in that time.
The tools are already in the app. Why was it rejected?
Often the reviewer couldn't find them or couldn't see them work. Clear review notes and a recording fix that without code changes.
How fast do you answer?
Free triage within 12 business hours.
Do you need my Apple ID password?
No, never. Access goes through an App Store Connect user with the App Manager role.
Send us your rejection
Paste Apple's message and tell us what people can post in your app (chat, comments, photos, profiles). We'll tell you what's missing and give you a fixed price.
Prefer X? DM us at @verdict_studio
Got it. Free triage within 12 business hours.
Written by Ivan Bilousov, founder of Verdict Studio · Updated