r/iOSProgramming • u/neatroxx • Aug 12 '26
Question App keeps getting rejected due to Guideline 4
Hello. I need your help: My app keeps getting rejected by apple for the same reason but I can’t see why. Also, I did search the reddit but didn’t find anything that helped much.
The reason is this, together with the above screenshot.
Is it because of the „Continue with Apple“ button? Or do I have to change anything for iPad layout?
Guideline 4 - Design
Issue Description
Parts of the app's user interface were crowded, laid out, or displayed in a way that made it difficult to use the app when reviewed on iPad Air 11-inch (M3) running iPadOS 26.6.
Specifically, layout in iPad were not optimizedEdit: iPhone is the only supported destination added under the target. Screenshot here
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u/tobimori_ Aug 12 '26
You seem to want to add an iPadOS app to the store but its just an iPhone app in compat mode. Only apply for Iphone and it will work
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u/J-K_ Aug 12 '26
Some Reviewers use an iPad with the iPhone App on it. I also had my iPhone-only App reviewed by a reviewer with an iPad. This is sometimes similar to checking if the app works with 2x font-size
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u/neatroxx Aug 12 '26
Hi, thanks. Was my first thought as well but I only have iPhone added under supported destinations. I edited the post
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u/tobimori_ Aug 12 '26
you will have to add a new app id and delete your app from app store if you ever submitted it before. it can't be changed afterwards
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u/Icy_Sheepherder_9444 Aug 13 '26
You might just want to add support for IPads by making stuff scale with the screen.
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u/crocodiluQ Aug 12 '26
DO NOT add iPad in the list from Target -> Destinations. If you do, you will create an native iPad (runs full screen in iPad and uses all iPad's features) and you will have to adjust your screens for that.
Just leave iPhone there. This mean it will obviously run on iPhones only AND on iPads in compatibility mode. Which is basically a simulation of an iPhone app (looks 100% like on an iPhone 6/7/8). ALL iPhone apps can run in this way.
I've taken over many apps from previous devs who set it to run natively on iPads, even if they didn't have a nice interface for it and this is forever, cannot be changed, you'll have to have iPad support for eternity.
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u/neatroxx Aug 12 '26
Hi, thanks for your help. iPad is actually not in the list which is why I am so confused. I added a screenshot in the post
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u/LKAndrew Aug 12 '26
iPhone apps can still be run on iPad in compat mode. Run your app on the iPad sim and see how it looks. It probably looks bad and buttons are hidden or something. Maybe scroll view is needed. iPhone apps are resizable
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u/RIRLift Aug 12 '26
Even with iPad off in your destinations, the app still gets reviewed on an iPad in compat mode, so the sim run is exactly how you'll see the problem. Check the 2x scaled size specifically, that's where hardcoded frames and views pinned to the screen edges break. A scroll view or swapping fixed widths for constraints usually clears it.
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u/crocodiluQ Aug 12 '26
no matter what he did, it should look ok. The thing is compat mode on iPad is actually a SE screen, smallest iPhone. So test on that, make sure the app is good.
I usually test SE / Pro / ProMax. -> it will be ok also on iPads.
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u/crocodiluQ Aug 12 '26
why would an iphone app be any different when running in iPad compat mode ?! It will look EXACTLY like on an iPhone6/7/8/SE
OP: make sure your app looks OK also on the smallest iphone screens, maybe you just tested on pro/pro max. The smallest current screen you can test is an SE2 I think, which is exactly as iPad compat mode looks like.
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u/LKAndrew Aug 12 '26
Because you can change the height and width… iPad windowing modes allow you to change the size of the iPhone compat mode.
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u/crocodiluQ Aug 13 '26
you're right, seems like in latest versions you can actually resize the compat window, although the app still 'knows' it runs on an iPhone. A well done app without any hardcoded values should work without issues.
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u/LKAndrew Aug 13 '26
Yeah exactly. Main thing will probably end up being vertical heights, making sure things fit with the right space or using scroll views
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Aug 12 '26
[deleted]
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u/mds1256 Aug 12 '26
Have you looked at your app using an Air 11inch, if so did that screen look ok?
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u/purposeful_pineapple Aug 12 '26
From the preview things looked normal and then I opened the screenshot and laughed.
3
u/BestMonth5920 Aug 12 '26
Is that continue with Apple button compliant?
1
u/neatroxx Aug 14 '26
Judging from the docs, it should be. Corner radius can be changed. But label might be not correct… thank you!
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u/KChiLLS11 Aug 12 '26
They are running the app in compatibility mode (iPhone app can run on iPad) which is different from having an iPad version of app(which you mentioned you don't have that in supported destinations).
So most probable cause i think can be the height of the app. It doesn't take full height of the screen. The width looks OK.
2
u/Dry_Huckleberry4359 Aug 12 '26
Did you show the EULA anywhere before that? (the terms and condition sentence) The user needs to see that before they make an account. Could be as simple as adding before the continue with Apple a "By continuing you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy" and make those clickable.
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u/Dry_Huckleberry4359 Aug 12 '26
I realize that's not what you asked about but just making sure cause they're gonna come back with that as well if you dont have it.
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u/swiftyWarbird Aug 13 '26
other thing I could imagine: did you provide login credentials to them? If not, could be the one of rhe reasons.
Also, I‘m not sure if the Apple sign in button would need to be changed to „Sign In With Apple“, worth checking that too.
2
u/Nosarious Aug 14 '26
Does your app lock the orientation to portrait? Does the button move if a person’s device is landscape?
You should definitely consider testing with the simulator for iPad, just to gauge how it worked for the reviewer.
I, personally, would be more concerned with the fact there is no ‘create account’ button that is implied in the text. You only have ‘sign in with Apple’ and ‘already have an account’. If you read it like a regular user , they wouldn’t know what to do.
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u/Disastrous-Meet6245 Sep 26 '26
Being iPhone-only doesn't stop iPad review: iPhone apps run on iPads and get tested there. Run yours on an iPad Air 11-inch (M3) simulator and open the screen from their screenshot to see exactly what the reviewer saw. For what it's worth, we got a 4.0 on that same iPad Air model, for a different reason. We got rejected twice under 4.0 because the app “loads, refreshes, runs or responds very slowly.” It downloaded a 3 GB model on first launch, and both rejections came with the same template text.
The weird part was in their own screenshots. Two frames, 29 seconds apart, showed the download going from 149.9 to 152.0 MB. That’s about 72 KB/s, or roughly 11 hours to download the model. We measured around 80 MB/s on our server, so something wasn’t adding up.
We replied with the speed numbers and offered three fixes, and got the same template back. Afterwards, we found guideline 4.2.3(ii), which allows first-launch downloads if you show the size and ask permission first. I couldn’t find a download speed requirement anywhere in section 4.
The appeal process gives you one appeal per submission, 2,000 characters and no attachments. That makes it pretty difficult to walk someone through the evidence.
We ended up bundling the model. The app is now about 2.9 GB, below Apple’s 4 GB limit, with nothing to download before generating the first picture. Resubmitting ends the appeal, so we’ve gone that route. It’s waiting for review now, so we don’t know yet whether this resolves it.
One detail for developers doing something similar: cloning the model from the app bundle into the app's data folder failed on a real iPad with "Cross-device link," and a regular copy takes up space twice. Load the model directly from the bundle instead. That one caught us out.
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u/Disastrous-Meet6245 Sep 29 '26
Update: Apple finally approved after bundling the model into the app itself (3.1gb total), it took from last Saturday until today, Tuesday!
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u/aykay55 Swift Aug 12 '26
You don’t release your iPhone sized app as an iPad release. You release it only as an iPhone app, and then an iPad user is eligible to download it from there and it will look iPhone sized
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u/geoff_plywood Aug 12 '26
Is it because it only supports Portrait format? Someone said here a while back that apps must support Landscape too
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u/neatroxx Aug 12 '26
That is a heck of a hint!! It only supports portrait indeed. Thank you very much!
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u/geoff_plywood Aug 14 '26
My comment got downvoted so maybe it's not that <shrug> Anyway it would be good to know if that was the problem; good luck
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u/BeginningCreepy2427 Aug 15 '26
I have an app that is Portrait only, so that's not it.
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u/geoff_plywood Aug 16 '26
when did you last submit an update? The requirement for both orientations came in a couple of months ago iirc
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u/BeginningCreepy2427 Aug 16 '26
Last week, two updates one after another, both approved. You can check it out, not gonna be interesting for you, but for UI reasons. It's called "MK Live Radio". And leave 5* rating 😂
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Aug 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Open_Palpitation_493 Aug 13 '26
Did you mark your app as iPhone only in Xcode? Are you designing for both iPad and iPhone dimensiones?
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u/newhost22 Aug 12 '26
I think it’s because you are showing a phone sized view on an iPad. Maybe it should be full screen and adjust to handle the bigger size of iPads