Apple reveals top 10 reasons why apps are rejected from the App Store

Apple has released a new webpage featuring the top 10 reasons why apps were rejected from the App Store over the past week.

Apple's move shows that it is becoming more transparent and open about the issue of app rejections. At the bottom of this new webpage, Apple lists a chart showing the top ten reasons for app rejections in the past seven days, accounting for 58% of the total number of rejected apps, including:

1. More information is needed (14%);

2. Guideline 2.2: There are obvious bugs (8%);

3. Failure to comply with the terms of the developer project license agreement (6%)

Guideline 10.6: The user interface is too complex or not good enough (6%)

5. Guideline 3.3: The app’s name, description, and screenshots are not relevant to the content (5%)

6. Guideline 22.2: The app contains false, deceptive, or misleading statements, or uses a name similar to other apps (5%)

Guideline 3.4: App names should be similar on iTunes Connect and on the device to avoid confusion (4%)

8. Guideline 3.2: Metadata has unfilled items, leaving placeholder text (4%);

9. Guideline 3.8: Developers are responsible for placing the app in an appropriate rating. Inappropriate ratings may be modified or even deleted by Apple (3%);

10. Guideline 2.9: Any “beta,” “demo,” “trial,” or “test” version of the app (2%).

It can be seen that eight of the top ten reasons are due to violations of Apple's App Store Review Guidelines, especially the one about "placeholder text persisting in the app". This seemingly trivial problem is one of the reasons that frequently leads to app rejection.

Apple's new page also provides detailed explanations for some of the reasons, such as "substandard app interface", which has a rejection rate of 6%, and Apple also provides specific examples.

Although the information disclosed by Apple this time can be found in the App Store Review Guidelines, such information disclosure can help iOS app developers (especially newcomers) pass app review more easily. There is an additional benefit to disclosing such information. The more developers who understand the rules, the less time Apple reviewers will have to spend dealing with app issues. For all developers, the review process will become faster.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.