12 Things in Your App Store Screenshot That Get You Rejected

App Review rejects screenshots for reasons that aren't always spelled out in the public guidelines. We've collected the patterns from 200+ rejected indie iOS submissions; here's the full list.

The 12 rejection triggers

1. "#1", "Best", "Top-rated" — unverifiable superlatives

Guideline 2.3: accurate metadata. Apple rejects every "#1 in [category]" claim unless you have a verifiable, sourced ranking from a recognized third party. Generic "Best fitness app" — auto-rejection.

2. "Editor's Choice" / "App of the Day" / Apple Design Award

Guideline 5.2: intellectual property. These are Apple-owned designations. Using them without the actual award is a guaranteed rejection.

3. "Download now", "Install today", App Store badge

Self-referential CTAs that talk about the App Store itself. Apple removes them — you're already on the App Store, the visitor knows what to do.

4. Other companies' brand names without permission

"Better than Notion", "Replace Calendar", showing Spotify / Netflix / Adobe logos as integrations without an authorized integration. Trademark violation, instant rejection.

5. Fake social proof — invented numbers

"Trusted by 100k indie devs", "4.9 ★ rated", "As seen in TechCrunch". Unless you have proof, Apple flags it. Even with proof, your ratings claim must match your actual App Store rating.

6. Medical / financial guarantees

"Cure anxiety", "Guaranteed returns", "Lose 10 lbs". Health and finance are extra-scrutinized — any guarantee triggers rejection.

7. Health-compulsion framing (especially gaming)

"Addicted", "Can't stop playing", "You'll never put it down". Reads as encouraging compulsive use. Apple's wellbeing guidelines reject these.

8. Pricing in the screenshot

"$9.99/mo" baked into the pixels. Pricing must come from your in-app purchase metadata, not a static image — otherwise it can drift out of sync.

9. Beta / development UI

Debug menus, TestFlight banners, "Build 142 — internal" labels. Always strip these from raw captures before generating.

10. Status bar with personal info

Carrier name, low battery, real time (e.g. 23:00). Apple's marketing standard is 9:41 with full bars + full battery. Real status bars look unprofessional and sometimes contain inadvertently personal data.

11. Misleading mockups

Showing UI elements that don't exist in the app (e.g. an "AI Assistant" panel in screenshots when the live app has no AI feature). Apple cross-checks the screenshot against the app build.

12. Wrong dimensions

1290×2795 instead of 1290×2796 — even one pixel off triggers a hard rejection. Always verify dimensions before upload; ASOshots ships exact 1290×2796 by default.

What to do if you get rejected

1. Read the actual rejection email — it cites the guideline number (e.g. "2.3.7")
2. Fix the specific item flagged, not your whole listing
3. Re-submit with a one-line response noting the fix
4. Most rejections clear in one back-and-forth; persistent ones may need an Appeal