App Store 2.5.16 rejection: Widgets, extensions, and App Clips
By The Draftbit team · Updated
Sources checked
This guide is for iPhone and iPad apps with widgets, extensions, notifications, or App Clips unrelated to the main app.
A widget or notification is part of the app’s experience, even when it appears outside the app. Under 2.5.16, those surfaces need to relate to the app’s content and functionality.
Compare the extra surface with the app
List the widget actions, extension features, and notification content. Can the reviewer find their purpose in the main app? We’d inspect sample notifications and live configuration too, not just the extension’s code.
2.5.16(a): App Clip features
The main app must include every App Clip feature and function. App Clips can’t contain advertising. Check embedded libraries as well as visible banners; an ad component can be included through a shared build target.
Correct and verify
Remove unrelated content or bring the legitimate feature into the main app where required. Remove advertising from the App Clip.
Test each entry point on a device, including moving from the Clip to the installed app. Give Apple the widget, extension, or Clip invocation steps and the location of the corresponding main-app feature.
Messages this guide can help with
App Store 2.5.16 rejection; app store 2.5.16 denial; Guideline 2.5.16; Widgets, extensions, and App Clips; 2.5.16(a)
Official sources
We checked these instructions against the sources below. The console layout may change, and your review decision may call for different steps.
- Apple App Review guideline 2.5.16 Checked 22 September 2026