App Store
Why was my app rejected from the App Store?
Almost every page answering this question is quoting a table Apple deleted years ago, or a review-time statistic that says the opposite of what Apple actually wrote. So here are the current numbers, taken from Apple’s own pages, with the dates they were read.
The statistic nearly everyone gets wrong
Apple’s exact words: “App Review works around the clock, typically reviewing at least 50% of submissions in less than 24 hours and 90% in less than 48 hours.” Read 9 October 2026.
You will see “90% within 24 hours” repeated across a dozen pages, attributed to Apple. Apple has never said that. It is the 48-hour figure with the wrong number of hours attached, and it sets expectations that make a normal review feel like a problem.
What Apple actually publishes about rejections
Once a year Apple publishes an App Store Transparency Report with real counts. Most pages on this subject do not cite it at all.
| App Store, 2025 | Count |
|---|---|
| App submissions reviewed | 9,100,620 |
| App submissions rejected | 2,093,244 |
| Rejected submissions later approved | 387,087 |
| Apps removed from the App Store | 166,899 |
| Total apps on the App Store | 2,172,472 |
Two things follow, and they are the useful part. The rejection rate on submissions is 23.0%, and 18.5% of rejected submissions were approved afterwards. Both are my arithmetic on Apple’s counts, not figures Apple states.
Read the second one again, because it is the one that matters when you are staring at a rejection. Rejection is a round trip. Nearly one in five goes on to ship, and Apple itself notes that an app may be submitted several times before it is approved — which is also why “23% of apps get rejected” would be wrong. 23% of attempts did.
Which guidelines
Apple no longer publishes a per-guideline percentage breakdown. The table of “Guideline 2.1 – 14%” numbers that still circulates comes from a page Apple retired. What Apple publishes now is a breakdown by guideline section:
| Rejections by section | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Performance | 1,354,418 | 1,235,471 |
| Legal | 495,673 | 445,696 |
| Design | 415,532 | 378,300 |
| Business | 283,820 | 209,845 |
| Safety | 151,159 | 116,105 |
| Other | 4,145 | 23,659 |
These sum to more than the rejection total on purpose — Apple’s own footnote says a submission may be rejected for breaching more than one guideline. Performance dominates, and Performance is mostly guideline 2.1.
Separately, Apple states that “on average, over 40% of unresolved issues are related to guideline 2.1: App Completeness”. Note the wording: unresolved issues, not rejections. Pages that render this as “40% of rejections” are misquoting it.
What guideline 2.1 actually covers
It is the least glamorous category and the largest one: the app crashed, something was a placeholder, a link was dead, or the reviewer could not get in.
| What the reviewer hit | Guideline Apple cites |
|---|---|
| Crashes, bugs, unfinished items | 2.1 |
| Broken links, including a missing support or privacy link | 2.1, 5.1 |
| Placeholder text or images left in | 2.1 |
| No demo account or hardware instructions for the reviewer | 2.1 |
| Screenshots that misrepresent the app | 2.3 |
| Privacy policy does not meet requirements | 5.1 |
| Data requests with no clear purpose string | 5.1 |
| Thin app, web wrapper, copycat, not enough lasting value | 2.3, 4.1, 4.2 |
| Near-duplicate of something already submitted | 4.3 |
The single cheapest thing you can do before submitting: if your app has a login, put working demo credentials in the review notes. Apple requires them, and an app the reviewer cannot sign into is complete from your side and empty from theirs.
The second cheapest: describe what changed specifically. Apple’s guideline 2.3.1(a) says in terms that “generic descriptions will be rejected”. “Bug fixes and improvements” is a generic description.
One recent change worth knowing
The App Review Guidelines were last updated on 8 June 2026. That revision rewrote 4.3 Spam — the rule behind Design-section rejections for near-duplicate apps — and tightened the kid and teen safety guidance in the introduction and in 1.2. If you were last rejected before June, the ground has moved under you.
The escalation ladder
| Step | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Resolution Center, in App Store Connect | Replying, asking what they meant, supplying what was missing. Apple says it generally responds within 24 hours. Most rejections end here. |
| App Review Board appeal | You believe the guideline was applied wrongly. One appeal per rejected submission, and Apple asks you to exhaust Resolution Center first. |
| Expedited review request | A genuine deadline. Apple warns that abusing it means future requests get refused. |
One rule is worth knowing before you resubmit: Apple states that if an app is repeatedly rejected for the same guideline, review will take longer. Arguing the same point three times is slower than fixing it once.
And if your app is already live, bug fixes are not held hostage — Apple says bug fix submissions will not be delayed over guideline violations except those involving legal or safety issues.
What it costs
The Apple Developer Program is 99 USD per membership year; the Enterprise Program is 299 USD. Apple does not publish a sterling figure anywhere — its own pages say the local amount is shown during enrolment. The £79 that appears on comparison pages is not an Apple number, so do not budget from it.
What Apple does not publish
Said plainly, because the pages that invent these are the ones you should stop reading:
- No turnaround figure for a resubmission specifically. It re-enters the same queue.
- No App Review Board decision timescale.
- No appeal success rate for rejected submissions. The appeal counts in the Transparency Report are for app removals and account terminations, which are different things.
- No per-guideline percentage breakdown, since the old table was retired.
- No UK or regional breakdown of review times or rejections.
Sources. Review times, the guideline 2.1 statistic, the common-issues list and the App Review Board rules: Apple, App Review, retrieved 9 October 2026 (Apple publishes no date on that page). Counts: 2025 App Store Transparency Report and the 2024 report, retrieved 9 October 2026. The 23.0% and 18.5% figures are my arithmetic on Apple’s counts, not Apple’s statements. Guideline text and the 8 June 2026 revision: App Store Review Guidelines. Fees: Apple Developer Program enrolment and membership comparison pages, retrieved 9 October 2026.
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