App Store 4.5 rejection: Apple services
By The Draftbit team · Updated
Sources checked
This guide is for iPhone and iPad apps integrating Apple content, Apple Music, notifications, Game Center, or Apple emoji.
An Apple API being available doesn’t permit every use of the data it returns. Guideline 4.5 groups requirements for several Apple services, with separate rules for content, identifiers, notifications, and artwork.
Identify the service and the data
List what the integration obtains, what your app displays, and what it sends elsewhere. We’d follow a piece of service data through storage, analytics, and sharing, not just inspect the visible screen.
Use the numbered pages below for the actual issue. Apple Music has playback, rights, and privacy conditions. Notifications have their own consent and content rules. Game Center identifiers can’t be treated as general tracking data.
Correct the specific use
Remove the unsupported behavior or implement the service’s permitted approach. Update purpose descriptions and consent controls if they no longer match.
Test the integration with a fresh account, declined permission, and the relevant off/on settings. Give Apple the service, feature location, and evidence of the corrected behavior. Explain any authorization you rely on with the actual documentation.
Messages this guide can help with
App Store 4.5 rejection; app store 4.5 denial; Guideline 4.5; Apple services
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 4.5 Checked 22 September 2026