APP STORE GUIDELINE 2.3.1

Guideline 2.3.1: placeholder text and misleading metadata

Leftover "Lorem ipsum," a TODO in What's New, or a screenshot showing a feature that's flagged off in this build -- all the same guideline, and one of the easiest rejections to avoid entirely.

2.3.1 Accurate Metadata — App Store Review Guidelines

2.3.1

(a) Don’t include any hidden, dormant, or undocumented features in your app; your app’s functionality should be clear to end users and App Review. All new features, functionality, and product changes must be described with specificity in the Notes for Review section of App Store Connect (generic descriptions will be rejected) and accessible for review. Similarly, marketing your app in a misleading way, such as by promoting content or services that it does not actually offer (e.g. iOS-based virus and malware scanners) or promoting a false price, whether within or outside of the App Store, is grounds for removal of your app from the App Store or a block from installing via alternative distribution and termination of your developer account.
(b) Egregious or repeated behavior is grounds for removal from the Apple Developer Program. We work hard to make the App Store a trustworthy ecosystem and expect our app developers to follow suit; if you’re dishonest, we don’t want to do business with you.

What reviewers actually check

Every text field in App Store Connect -- description, What's New, keywords, review notes -- against what the build actually does, and every screenshot against what's reachable in the submitted binary. "Generic descriptions will be rejected" is in the guideline text itself for the Notes for Review field specifically: a reviewer who hits a login wall with review notes that just say "nothing special" can't verify the app at all.

The RN/Expo-specific version of this

Marketing screenshots generated before a feature was cut, or before it was put behind a flag for a phased rollout. The screenshot shows the feature; the shipped build doesn't have it reachable. It reads to a reviewer exactly like a fabricated listing, even when the omission was entirely accidental.

The fix

Before submitting, check three things against the actual build

Every screenshot description matches something a reviewer can actually reach in this specific build. The What's New and description have no leftover template text -- search for "lorem," "TODO," "placeholder," and "coming soon" specifically, since those are the most common leftovers. And the review notes describe, specifically, any feature gated behind a flag, a subscription, or a login -- generic notes are named in the guideline as a rejection reason, not just a best practice.

ShipCheck catches this before you submit

A Claude Code plugin for React Native and Expo. Reads your project and store listing, checks them against the live App Store Review Guidelines and Google Play policies -- the same corpus quoted on this page -- and tells you the clause, the reviewer's likely wording, and the fix.

/plugin marketplace add BakerVentures/shipcheck

Free scan on every app. See pricing →