Building an app with Rork Max is fast. Getting it through App Store review takes a different kind of preparation. Apple's reviewers apply the same guidelines whether the code was written by a developer or generated by AI—and the failure modes for AI-generated apps are consistent enough to document.
How App Store Review Works
Apple's review team evaluates apps across five dimensions:
- Safety: Harmful content, privacy handling
- Performance: Crashes, battery usage, load times
- Business: In-App Purchase compliance, accurate feature representation
- Design: Human Interface Guidelines compliance, usability
- Legal: IP rights, privacy policy, content ratings
Rork Max-generated apps most commonly fail on Performance (crashes) and Business (metadata mismatch or missing privacy policy). These are also the easiest to fix.
Most Common Rejection Reasons
1. Crashes (most frequent rejection reason)
The single most common App Store rejection is a crash that reviewers encounter during testing. Reviewers test deliberately—they try edge cases that normal users might not.
Pre-submission crash checklist
□ Tested on the minimum supported iOS version (recommend iOS 16+)
□ Tested in airplane mode (no network connection)
□ Opened every screen manually and tapped all interactive elements
□ Submitted empty strings, special characters, and very long strings in forms
□ Put the app in background, waited 5 minutes, returned to foreground
□ Changed device language to English and reopened the app
□ Tested with a fresh install (delete and reinstall)
Hand this checklist to Rork Max as a prompt:
"Test the app against these scenarios and fix any issues:
1. Launch with no network connection
2. Navigate all screens without logging in
3. Submit empty fields in every form
4. Background the app, wait 5 minutes, foreground it
5. Change the device language to French, then reopen"
2. Missing or inadequate privacy policy
Any app that accesses camera, microphone, location, photos, or contacts requires a privacy policy. Without one, the submission form won't complete.
What the privacy policy must include
✅ Published at a publicly accessible URL
✅ App name and developer name clearly stated
✅ Specific types of data collected
✅ Purpose for each type of data collected
✅ Third parties the data is shared with
✅ Data retention period
✅ How users can request data deletion
✅ Contact information (email address)
A simple Notion page published publicly is sufficient. The key requirement is an accessible URL, not a specific format.
App Privacy declarations in App Store Connect
This is where many developers get caught out. You must accurately declare every type of data your app collects in the "App Privacy" section of App Store Connect.
Commonly missed categories:
- Crash logs and diagnostics (collected automatically by many services)
- User IDs (Firebase Auth, Supabase Auth)
- Device identifiers
- Usage data (which screens were visited, which features were used)
Inaccurate declarations can result in removal after launch.
3. Metadata doesn't match the app
Title and description requirements
App title: 30 characters max
Subtitle: 30 characters max
Description: 4,000 characters max
What causes rejection:
✗ Claiming features the app doesn't have
✗ Competitor names or trademarks
✗ Unsubstantiated superlatives ("best", "#1")
✗ Mentioning other platforms (Android, Windows)
Screenshots
Screenshots must show your actual app. Reviewers compare screenshots to the live app.
Required iPhone sizes (at minimum one of):
- 6.7 inch: 1290×2796 px (iPhone 15 Plus and similar)
- 6.5 inch: 1284×2778 px or 1242×2688 px
Maximum: 10 screenshots per size
Required: At least one of the above sizes
4. Content rating mismatch
Setting a lower age rating than the content actually requires causes rejection.
4+: No violence, sexual content, horror, drugs, gambling
9+: Mild cartoon violence or horror
12+: Realistic violence, mild sexual themes, infrequent profanity
17+: Mature violence, sexual content, explicit content
5. Guideline violations in generated code
Rork Max may generate code patterns that violate Apple guidelines in specific areas.
In-app web browsing
If your app displays web content, use SFSafariViewController or WKWebView. Building a custom web browser is not permitted.
In-app purchases
All purchases of digital content or services must use Apple's In-App Purchase system. Directing users to external payment processors is not permitted for digital goods (physical goods are an exception).
"Implement the subscription feature using StoreKit 2.
Create monthly and annual subscription products.
Include a restore purchases button for users who reinstall the app.
Handle purchase failures and subscription status changes gracefully"
Pre-Submission Final Checklist
Metadata:
□ App name (30 chars max)
□ Subtitle (30 chars max)
□ Description (4,000 chars max) — matches actual features
□ Keywords (100 chars, comma-separated, no spaces after commas)
□ Support URL (accessible webpage)
□ Privacy policy URL (accessible webpage)
Screenshots:
□ 6.7 or 6.5 inch screenshots (minimum 1)
□ iPad screenshots if iPad is supported (12.9 inch)
□ Screenshots match the actual app
Privacy:
□ App Privacy declarations are accurate and complete
□ Permission usage strings are descriptive (NSCameraUsageDescription etc.)
Testing:
□ Demo account credentials provided if login required
□ All main features tested on physical device
□ No crashes encountered during final walkthrough
□ Minimum iOS version tested
Handling Rejections
Rejection emails include specific guideline references. Read them carefully—they usually tell you exactly what to fix.
Response workflow
- Read the rejection reason completely
- Ask App Review Board for clarification if needed (via the resolution center)
- Fix the issue in Rork Max
- Resubmit
Use the rejection text directly in your Rork Max prompt:
"My app was rejected from App Store review with this reason:
Guideline 5.1.1 - Data Collection and Storage
Your app collects the user's name but doesn't clearly disclose
what this data is used for.
Please:
1. Add a dialog when the user first enters their name explaining
that it's used for personalization and stored only on device
2. Add an account deletion option in Settings that removes all
stored data from the device"
Post-Launch: ASO for Sustainable Growth
Passing review is the start, not the finish.
Keyword Strategy
The 100-character keyword field directly affects search ranking. Each character matters.
Effective keywords:
✅ Long-tail specific terms (less competition)
✅ Terms already searched by your target users
✅ Different from words already in your title or description
Avoid:
✗ Competitor names
✗ Generic words like "app" or "free"
✗ Irrelevant keywords
Research keywords by typing phrases into the App Store search bar and noting the suggestions. Those suggestions reflect what real users actually search for.
Screenshot Optimization
The first three screenshots determine whether most users read further. Over 70% of users decide based on screenshots alone.
Screenshot 1: Your most compelling feature or core value
Screenshot 2: Second most important feature or benefit
Screenshot 3: Social proof or feature overview
Each screenshot should include:
- Short headline (top or bottom, 20–25 words max)
- Actual app screen (not mocked up)
- Optional: device frame
To prepare screenshots, ask Rork Max to set up the UI with sample data:
"Prepare the home screen for App Store screenshots.
Replace real user data with clean sample data that makes the app's
main features immediately understandable to someone who's never used it.
Use a white background and make the text slightly larger than normal"
Review Request Timing
More reviews = higher credibility. Ask at the right moment:
"Implement a review request using StoreKit's requestReview() that appears when:
- The user has opened the app at least 5 times
- They've completed the main action at least 3 times
- At least 60 days have passed since the last request
All three conditions must be true simultaneously"
Apple limits this to 3 requests per year per user. Make each one count.
Responding to Reviews
Your response to negative reviews is visible to all potential users.
What to do with negative reviews:
✅ Respond within 72 hours
✅ Acknowledge the specific issue
✅ Explain what you're doing to fix it
✅ Thank the user for the feedback
What not to do:
✗ Be defensive
✗ Argue about whether the issue is "real"
✗ Offer refunds or compensation publicly (handle via email)
For crash reports from real users, check the "Crashes" section in App Store Connect regularly and use the stack trace information in your Rork Max fix prompts.
The pattern for App Store success with Rork Max is: build fast, test thoroughly before submitting, and iterate based on real user data after launch. The review process rewards apps that genuinely work well—the reviewer's job is to find what breaks, so your job is to find it first.
Start with the privacy policy. Without a published URL, you can't even complete the submission form. A free Notion page published publicly is enough. Get that done today.