Guide · updated October 1, 2026

App Store requirements: the complete checklist

To publish an iPhone app, you need an Apple Developer Program membership ($99 a year), an app that is finished and does more than show a website, a privacy policy, screenshots, and an App Store listing filled in App Store Connect. Then Apple reviews the app against its App Review Guidelines before it goes live.

Want to know where your app stands? Check your project for free: paste a GitHub link or upload a .zip, and get the list of what Apple would reject.

1. An Apple Developer Program membership

Only members can publish on the App Store. Membership costs $99 a year, as an individual (your name is shown as the seller) or as an organization (your company’s name is shown, and Apple asks for a D-U-N-S number). Free apps cost nothing more. On paid apps and in-app purchases, Apple keeps 30%, or 15% for developers in the App Store Small Business Program (under $1 million a year) and for subscriptions after their first year.

2. What the App Store listing needs

App name and subtitle. Up to 30 characters each. The name must be unique on the App Store and match what the app is.
Bundle ID. A permanent identifier like com.yourname.app, registered in your Apple Developer account. It can’t be changed after the first upload.
App icon. A 1024 × 1024 pixel PNG without transparency or rounded corners; iOS rounds it.
Screenshots. 3 to 10 screenshots for a 6.9-inch iPhone (1320 × 2868 pixels), plus iPad screenshots if the app runs on iPad.
Description and keywords. A description up to 4,000 characters and keywords up to 100 characters, with no other apps’ names.
Privacy policy and support URL. Two public web pages: what data the app collects and why, and how people can contact you.
App Privacy answers. The “nutrition label”: each kind of data the app or its SDKs collect, whether it is linked to the person, and whether it is used for tracking.
Age rating. A questionnaire in App Store Connect about the app’s content (violence, gambling, user-generated content…).
Review notes and demo account. If the app needs a login, a working demo account for the reviewer, and notes on anything not obvious.
Export compliance. Whether the app uses encryption beyond Apple’s own (HTTPS). Most apps answer that they don’t.

3. The App Review rules that cause most rejections

Apple’s reviewers install the app, open every screen and press the buttons. These are the requirements they check most often:

Does your app do more than show a website (guideline 4.2)

Apple rejects apps that are only a website in a frame, or too simple to be useful. Add real app features: content stored on the phone, reminders, offline use, native screens.

Is everything finished: no placeholder text, no “coming soon”, no broken buttons (guideline 2.1)

Reviewers press every button. Anything unfinished or crashing is the most common reason for rejection. Remove or finish every placeholder, test every screen on a real iPhone, and fix every crash.

Do you have a privacy policy at a public web address (guideline 5.1.1)

Every app needs one, linked in App Store Connect and inside the app. Publish a privacy policy that says what data you collect and why, and link it in the app and in App Store Connect.

If people can create an account, can they delete it from inside the app (guideline 5.1.1(v))

Apps that let people sign up must let them delete their account in the app, not only by email. Add a “Delete account” option in the app’s settings that removes the account and its data.

If you offer sign-in with Google or Facebook, do you also offer Sign in with Apple (guideline 4.8)

Apps using a third-party login must offer an equivalent private login option, usually Sign in with Apple. Add Sign in with Apple next to the other login buttons.

If you sell digital content or subscriptions, do you use Apple’s In-App Purchase (guideline 3.1.1)

Digital goods and features unlocked in the app must be sold through Apple, not Stripe or PayPal. Sell subscriptions and unlocks with In-App Purchase, and add “Restore purchases”.

If people post content others can see, can they report it and block users (guideline 1.2)

Apps with user-generated content need reporting, blocking and a way to remove objectionable content. Add “Report” and “Block” actions, filter content, and remove reported items quickly.

If you track people across other apps (ads, attribution SDKs), do you ask permission first (guideline 5.1.2)

Tracking requires the App Tracking Transparency prompt before any tracking starts. Show the App Tracking Transparency prompt, and only track after people allow it.

4. How long App Review takes

Apple reviews most submissions within a day or two. A rejection comes with the guideline involved and a message in App Store Connect; you fix the issue and submit again, or reply to the reviewer if you think they misunderstood the app.

5. Publishing without doing it all by hand

Framo builds complete iPhone apps from a description, with every screen and button tested, and publishes them with your own Apple account: it signs the app, uploads it to TestFlight, fills in the listing and screenshots, and submits it for review. It can also publish an app you already built with Expo, React Native, Flutter, Swift or Capacitor.