A surprising share of iOS launch delays have nothing to do with the app's actual functionality. They're policy-level rejections, entirely avoidable with a pre-submission check, that cost a full review cycle (and sometimes several) to resolve. Knowing the recurring ones before submitting saves real calendar time on a launch.
In-app purchase disclosure gaps
Apps with subscriptions or in-app purchases need clear, specific disclosure of what's being purchased, the price, the billing frequency, and how to cancel, shown before the purchase flow, not buried in a terms page. Vague subscription framing, auto-renewal terms that aren't clearly stated up front, or pricing that isn't shown clearly before the purchase sheet appears are a consistent source of rejection, and they're entirely fixable with a careful pre-submission read of the actual purchase flow copy.
Sign in with Apple, when it's actually required
If an app offers any third-party login as a way to create or access an account, Google, Facebook, or similar, Apple requires offering Sign in with Apple alongside it, as an equally prominent option. Shipping Google or Facebook login without it is one of the more common and most easily avoided rejections, since it's a policy check, not a judgment call, and it's simple to verify before submission.
Metadata and screenshots that don't match real behavior
Screenshots, descriptions, and keywords need to accurately represent what the app actually does and actually looks like at submission time. A screenshot from an earlier build showing a feature that's since changed, or marketing copy describing functionality that isn't actually present yet, gets flagged as misleading metadata, a separate and very checkable rejection category from anything about the app's code.
Getting close to an iOS submission and want a pre-flight check?
We'll walk your build against the common rejection categories before you submit, disclosure copy, login requirements, permission justifications, metadata accuracy, so the first review cycle is the only one you need.
Talk to an engineer →Permission requests without a clear, specific purpose
Every permission request (camera, location, contacts, notifications) needs a purpose string that explains specifically why the app needs it, shown to the user at the moment of the request. A generic or vague justification gets flagged during review even when the feature behind it is completely legitimate, because the review process checks the stated purpose, not just whether the permission is technically used somewhere in the codebase.
The rule
Treat App Store policy compliance as a pre-submission checklist, separate from functional QA: purchase and subscription disclosure copy reviewed on a real device, Sign in with Apple present if any other third-party login is, screenshots and metadata matching the actual current build, and every permission request carrying a specific, honest purpose string. None of these are hard to fix; all of them are expensive to discover after a rejection resets the review clock. For the broader build-vs-buy decision behind a native app in the first place, see progressive web app vs. native app: which to build first. We handle iOS builds and submissions under iOS app development engagements.