Why custom product pages get rejected, and how to fix them

Why was my custom product page rejected?

Because something in its screenshots, app previews or promotional text broke a metadata guideline. A page can only change those three things, so they are the only things App Review can object to.3 Apple’s message names the guideline; the table maps the common ones to the fix.6

The guideline text is Apple’s, paraphrased in the table.12 The rule that catches the most pages is 2.3.3’s majority test: with four screenshots for a device, three must show the app in use.2 A page built as a poster, one small phone and a lot of words, fails it. What a page may contain is in custom product page requirements.

How do you fix and resubmit?

Read the message, change the page, and resubmit it. Nothing about your app needs to change. Apple says a metadata rejection is resolved by editing the metadata, and that the same build can be resubmitted.6

1. Read the message in App Store Connect.Open your app and click the link at the top that says there are unresolved issues, then Resolve. The message says what was rejected, which guideline it falls under, and how to resolve it.
2. If the page is still in review, withdraw it first.A page’s screenshots, previews, promotional text and keywords can’t be changed while it is under review. Withdrawing the submission makes the page editable.
3. Change only the page.Click Edit next to the page in the submission, fix the screenshot, preview or text that was named, and nothing else. You can edit an item in a submission once before resubmitting.
4. Add it for review and resubmit.Click Add for Review, then Resubmit to App Review from the submission. The page goes back to Waiting for Review.
5. Reply if the message needs an answer.Use Reply to App Review in the same place, with up to 4,000 characters and attachments, if the reviewer asked a question or you want to explain a change.

Steps 1, 3, 4 and 5 are Apple’s instructions for a submission with unresolved issues; step 2 is from Apple’s page on submitting a custom product page.456 If you would rather drop the page, remove it from the submission instead: once every rejected item is fixed or removed, the submission completes.5

Does a rejected page affect my app?

No. Apple says the metadata in a custom product page is submitted for review independent of an app update, and that once your app is approved you can submit a page with or without an app version.34 A page that fails review is one rejected item; your live app, its listing and its other pages stay exactly as they were.

The one case to know about is a shared submission. If you added the page to the same submission as a new app version, Apple reviews the items together, and when one item is rejected the submission’s status becomes Unresolved Issues. Accepted items in it stay accepted, but the submission is not approved until every item is, so the version waits until you fix or remove the page.45 If you cancel the whole submission instead, the version goes to Developer Rejected and its review starts over.9 Submit pages on their own and none of this arises.

How do you avoid rejections?

Check the page against the metadata guidelines before you submit it. Every item is something you can see in the page itself:

• More than half of each device’s screenshots show the app in use. A headline over a real screen counts. A poster does not.2
• No other app’s name, logo or trademark in a headline, a screenshot or the promotional text.1
• No claim you can’t prove: rankings, awards, user counts, “best”, “#1”.1
• No prices or offers in screenshots or headlines.1
• Every image is a real export in an accepted size, not a placeholder, and matches the current version of the app.10 Our free screenshot size checker tells you which size a file is.
• Previews are screen recordings of the app, with any narration or captions on top.1
• Suitable for a 4+ rating, whatever the app’s rating is.1
• The promotional text describes this page, in 170 characters or fewer.
• The page is about the app, not another platform or an unrelated offer.1

Headlines are where most of these go wrong, because a headline is marketing copy over a screenshot. How to write one that sells without making a claim is in how to write screenshot headlines for a custom product page; the complete guide covers what a page may and may not change.

What if you disagree?

Reply to App Review first, in the same place the rejection appeared. Apple says this is the best way to reach App Review after a rejection: a specialist familiar with your submission replies, and you can be specific about the guideline or the step you need clarified.7 If you still need help after that reply, you can ask in the same window for a call with an Apple representative; Apple says calls are typically completed within three to five business days.7

If you believe the page follows the guidelines and the rejection was a misunderstanding, you can appeal to the App Review Board after replying to the rejection message. Apple asks for one appeal per rejected item, citing the guideline and explaining point by point how the page meets it, and says a complete appeal does not guarantee the decision is overturned.8 For a page, a fix is usually faster than an appeal: change the screenshot and resubmit.