Apple App Store Review Guidelines

This document is Apple's App Store Review Guidelines, a platform policy governing the submission, approval, and distribution of applications through the App Store across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS, and watchOS. The guidelines assert that Apple reserves the right to reject, remove, or request modification of any app that does not comply with its rules, and require developers to agree to the Apple Developer Program License Agreement as the binding legal basis for participation. Notable provisions include mandatory use of Apple's In-App Purchase system for digital goods and services (with Apple retaining a commission), requirements for age-gating and parental consent mechanisms for apps directed at minors, restrictions on specific content categories including gambling, political advertising, and health-related apps, and requirements that apps collecting user data disclose practices through App Privacy labels and comply with Apple's tracking permission framework via AppTrackingTransparency. The guidelines engage with COPPA (regarding child-directed apps and data collection from minors), GDPR and CCPA (regarding privacy disclosures, user consent, and data handling obligations), FTC regulations (regarding advertising disclosures and in-app purchase transparency), and sector-specific frameworks such as HIPAA (for health and medical apps) and financial services regulations (for apps offering financial products); applicability of specific regulatory provisions depends on jurisdiction and the nature of the developer's app. Compliance teams should note that Apple's IAP commission requirement, its gatekeeping authority over app distribution, and its unilateral right to update guidelines with developer compliance required as a condition of continued distribution have been subjects of regulatory scrutiny in the EU under the Digital Markets Act, and the guidelines include EU-specific provisions reflecting ongoing legal and regulatory developments in that jurisdiction.