قائمة فحص قبل ما ترفع تطبيق الـ AI على App Store: خمس نقاط ترفضك فيها Apple وكيف تصلحهاA Checklist Before You Submit Your AI App to the App Store: Five Points Apple Rejects and How to Fix Them

Key terms

App Review Guidelines

The rules Apple publishes on developer.apple.com and reviews every app and update against before it reaches the store. Each rule has a number like 5.1.2 or 3.1.1.

Third party AI

Any model you do not own that receives your users' data, such as an OpenAI or Anthropic API. Apple asks you to disclose this and get explicit permission before sharing personal data with it.

In-App Purchase

Apple's payment system inside the app. You must use it when you sell something digital that unlocks a feature or content in the app, like a subscription or credits.

Demo account

A username and password you add to the review information in App Store Connect so the reviewer can sign in and try everything in your app.

The steps

1. 1

   Step 1

   Get explicit permission before sending user data to any outside AI

   Guideline 5.1.2(i) says you must clearly disclose where personal data will be shared with third parties, including third party AI, and obtain explicit permission before doing so.

   If your app sends what users type, their photos or their files to ChatGPT or Claude through the API, show a clear screen before the first send: what data leaves, who gets it and why. Use an unticked agree button and give people a way to withdraw consent later.

   Update your privacy policy to match, since 5.1.1(i) requires its link inside the app and in App Store Connect.

   Source: developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines (5.1.2 and 5.1.1), checked 29 October 2026.

   developer.apple.com

   

   PromptFind every place user content leaves the app

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   Read my whole app codebase. List every place that sends user data (text, images, audio, files, location) to an outside service, especially AI APIs like [service name]. For each one give the file and line, the data that leaves and the service that receives it. Then propose one consent screen shown before the first send, with clear Arabic and English copy, an agree and a decline button, and store the choice with a way to change it in Settings. Send nothing before consent.

   Tip: Do not hide the permission inside your terms. Apple wants it explicit and before the data is sent.

2. 2

   Step 2

   Make your app more than a wrapped website

   Guideline 4.2 says your app should include features, content and UI that elevate it beyond a repackaged website, and 4.2.2 says apps should not primarily be web clippings or a collection of links.

   If your app is a WebView of your site, or only a chat screen on top of an API, ask what it gives people that the browser does not. Examples: it uses the camera, notifications, files or widgets, saves the user's work, works partly offline, or offers an experience designed for iPhone.

   Source: developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines (4.2 and 4.2.2), checked 29 October 2026.

   developer.apple.com

   

   PromptReview your app like a reviewer

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   Act as an Apple reviewer applying guideline 4.2 Minimum Functionality. Here is my app and its screens: [description and screens]. Tell me honestly whether it looks like a wrapped website or a plain chat front end. Then suggest three native iPhone features I could add in a week, each with the reason it makes the app more useful than the website.

3. 3

   Step 3

   Prepare a demo account and keep the backend on

   Guideline 2.1 asks you to include demo account info, and turn on your back end, if your app has a login. If you cannot provide a demo account for legal or security reasons, you may build a demo mode in the app, with prior approval from Apple.

   In App Store Connect, under the review information, add the username and password, and use the notes to explain any feature that is not obvious and where the reviewer finds your in-app purchases.

   Source: developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines (2.1), checked 29 October 2026.

   developer.apple.com

   

   PromptWrite the review notes

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   Write App Review notes in English for my app [app name]. The app does: [description]. Demo account: [email] and [password]. Features that may not be obvious: [features]. In-app purchases: [list and where to find them]. Keep the notes short, as numbered steps the reviewer can follow from opening the app to trying every feature.

   Tip: Test the demo account yourself on submission day. An expired account or a server that is down sends the app back.

4. 4

   Step 4

   Let people delete their account inside the app

   Guideline 5.1.1(v) says that if your app supports account creation, you must also offer account deletion within the app. The same rule says that if your app has no significant account based features, people should be able to use it without a login.

   Add a clear button in Settings, such as Delete account, that deletes the account and its data, not just a sign out or a deactivation. If you need a confirmation, keep it to one simple step.

   Source: developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines (5.1.1), checked 29 October 2026.

   developer.apple.com

   

   PromptAdd account deletion

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   My app is built with [stack, for example SwiftUI with Supabase]. Add a Settings screen with a Delete account button that asks for one confirmation, then deletes the user's account and all their data from [database and storage], signs them out and returns them to the first screen. Write the full code and list any keys or permissions I need to set on the server.

5. 5

   Step 5

   Sell digital items with In-App Purchase

   Guideline 3.1.1 says that if you want to unlock features or content in your app, like a subscription, credits or an in-app currency, you must use In-App Purchase. So an outside payment link such as Stripe for selling AI credits or a subscription inside the app gets rejected in most storefronts.

   The same page lists exceptions: on the United States storefront apps may include buttons and links to other purchase methods, and some regions offer special entitlements for an external purchase link. Physical goods and services used outside the app (3.1.3(e)) must use other payment methods such as Apple Pay or card entry.

   Source: developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines (3.1.1, 3.1.1(a) and 3.1.3), checked 29 October 2026.

   developer.apple.com

   

   PromptMove the subscription to StoreKit

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   My app currently sells [credits or a subscription] through [current payment method]. Explain how to move it to In-App Purchase with StoreKit 2: which product type to pick (consumable or auto renewable subscription), how to add it in App Store Connect, the purchase and restore code, and how to tie the balance to the user's account on my server. The app is available in [countries].

   Tip: Credits bought with In-App Purchase may not expire under the same rule, so do not give them an expiry date.

6. 6

   Step 6

   Run one last check before Submit

   Before you submit, go through the five points once: AI consent, not a wrapped website, a demo account with the server on, account deletion, and payments.

   Apple says that in 2025 it rejected over 2 million app submissions for failing to follow the guidelines, including over 443,000 for privacy violations. This check saves you rounds of rejection and days of waiting.

   Source: apple.com/newsroom, 20 May 2026, checked 29 October 2026.

   PromptFull review before submitting

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   Act as an App Store reviewer. Check my app [description or code] against these points and give me, for each one, pass or fail, the reason and the fix:
   1. 5.1.2(i) explicit permission before sending personal data to any outside AI
   2. 4.2 and 4.2.2 not a wrapped website or a collection of links
   3. 2.1 a demo account or demo mode, and the backend is on
   4. 5.1.1(v) account deletion inside the app if it supports account creation
   5. 3.1.1 anything digital that unlocks a feature is sold with In-App Purchase, naming the countries with exceptions
   6. 5.1.1(i) a privacy policy link inside the app

Ready prompts to copy

I got a rejection from App Review. Here is the text: [rejection text]. Explain in plain words which guideline they cited and exactly what I must change in the app, then write a polite reply in English to send in the Resolution Center after I fix it.