Review Readiness Check

Skill: Review Readiness Check

Purpose

Detects review-blocking configuration issues including sub-1.0 version numbers, beta/alpha in app name, staging endpoints, and missing demo credentials that prevent reviewers from evaluating the app, violating Guidelines 2.1 and 2.3.

Apple Guideline

• Primary: 2.1 — Performance: App Completeness
• Related: 2.3 — Performance: Accurate Metadata
• Reference: references/guidelines/2-performance.md

Real-World Rejection Cases

• Case: App version showing "0.1" in App Store submission — reviewer treated as beta/incomplete

Source: mobiloud.com/blog/avoid-app-rejected-apple Root cause: Sub-1.0 version numbers signal incomplete app to reviewers — Apple's review team interprets 0.x versions as pre-release/beta software not ready for the App Store

• Case: App requiring login with no demo account provided — reviewer couldn't access any features — rejected

Source: Apple Developer Forums (Guideline 2.1 enforcement; reviewer requirement documented in App Review guidelines) Root cause: If app requires login, demo credentials must be in review notes — reviewers will not create real accounts and will reject if they cannot access core functionality

• Case: App used SMS-based OTP for login — App Store reviewer's test device could not receive SMS to the developer's phone number — reviewer was locked out and rejected the app

Source: Apple Developer Forums thread/125961 Root cause: Reviewers cannot receive SMS codes tied to the developer's phone. Apps with SMS OTP must provide a demo account that bypasses OTP, or document a working alternative in review notes

• Case: App referenced an IAP product still in "Waiting for Review" status in App Store Connect — reviewer saw "item not available" on purchase — rejected

Source: RevenueCat (revenuecat.com/blog/engineering/app-store-rejections-and-how-to-avoid-them) Root cause: All IAP products referenced by the app must be in "Ready to Submit" status before submission. Any unapproved IAP appears unavailable to reviewers

• Case: App displayed a mandatory update dialog immediately on launch blocking all app content — reviewer downloaded the submission binary and could not proceed past the update screen — rejected under 2.1

Source: Apple Developer Forums (multiple developer reports) Root cause: The App Store reviewer evaluates the exact binary submitted — a forced-update gate that requires downloading a newer version from the App Store means the submitted build is inaccessible. The submitted build must be fully functional as-is; forced update prompts must never block access to core functionality during review

Trigger

Invoke on any iOS/macOS project before App Store submission to check submission configuration readiness.

Inputs

| Name | Type | Default | Description | |------|------|---------|-------------| | project_root | path | cwd | iOS/macOS project root | | shared_context | object | nil | Pre-collected context from appstore-full-audit Phase 1 |

Actions

Phase 1: Context Collection

Skip this phase if shared_context is provided.

1. Glob **/*.pbxproj — locate the Xcode project file.
2. Glob **/Info.plist — locate Info.plist.
3. Glob **/*.swift — collect Swift source files for network configuration.
4. Glob REVIEW_NOTES*|review_notes*|AppStoreReviewInfo*|ReviewNotes* — locate review notes documentation.

Phase 2: Checks

1. Marketing version number

Read project.pbxproj — search for MARKETING_VERSION. If value starts with 0. → 🟠 HIGH. Version numbers starting with 0 signal beta status; use 1.0 or higher for initial App Store submissions.

1. Beta/alpha/test in app display name

Read Info.plist — check CFBundleDisplayName value. If value contains "beta", "alpha", "debug", "test", "demo" (case-insensitive) → 🟠 HIGH. App names containing these words signal an incomplete build.

1. Staging or localhost endpoints

Grep pattern "localhost"|"127\.0\.0\.1"|"staging\."|"\.dev\." in **/*.swift and configuration files. Any match in a base URL constant or API configuration → 🟠 HIGH. Submissions must use production endpoints.

1. Demo credentials documented

Glob REVIEW_NOTES*|review_notes*|AppStoreReviewInfo*|ReviewNotes* — check if file exists. If absent: Grep "login"|"signIn"|"signUp"|"createAccount" in **/*.swift — if login is required, flag → 🟠 HIGH. Demo credentials must accompany any login-required submission.

1. HTTP (non-HTTPS) API endpoints

Grep pattern "http://" in **/*.swift — filter for API base URL constants. Any non-HTTPS production endpoint → 🟠 HIGH. App Transport Security requires HTTPS by default.

1. Forced update gate on launch

Grep pattern forceUpdate|force_update|ForceUpdate|minimumVersion|minVersion|min_version|mustUpdate in **/*.swift. For each match, Read surrounding context — if an update prompt is shown unconditionally at launch with no way to dismiss → 🔴 CRITICAL. The submitted binary must be fully functional as-is; blocking access pending an App Store update locks out the reviewer entirely.

Phase 3: Output

Collect all findings from Phase 2 and build the prioritised findings list below. Include file paths and line numbers. Omit tiers with no findings.

Output Format

## Review Readiness Check — Findings

### 🔴 CRITICAL — Guaranteed rejection
- [ ] TODO: Remove or make dismissible the forced-update gate — submitted binary must be fully accessible to reviewer without requiring an App Store update — `AppUpdateManager.swift:22` — Guideline 2.1

### 🟠 HIGH — Very likely rejection
- [ ] TODO: Change MARKETING_VERSION from 0.9 to 1.0 or higher before submission — sub-1.0 versions are treated as beta — `MyApp.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj` — Guideline 2.1
- [ ] TODO: Rename app display name — remove "Beta" from CFBundleDisplayName — `Info.plist` — Guideline 2.1
- [ ] TODO: Replace staging base URL with production URL — `NetworkConstants.swift:8` — Guideline 2.1
- [ ] TODO: Add REVIEW_NOTES.md with demo credentials — app requires login but no credentials are documented for reviewers — Guideline 2.1
- [ ] TODO: Change API base URL from http:// to https:// — `APIConfig.swift:4` — Guideline 2.1

### 🟡 MEDIUM — Possible rejection
- [ ] TODO: Verify all App Store Connect metadata URLs (support, marketing, privacy policy) return 200 before submission

### 🟢 LOW — Best practice
- [ ] TODO: Run a pre-submission checklist: version ≥ 1.0, all URLs live, demo credentials documented, no staging endpoints active in release scheme

Tools Used

Glob, Grep, Read

Constraints

• Read-only. No file edits.
• No network calls.
• Skip Phase 1 if shared_context is provided by orchestrating agent.
• Works on Swift, Objective-C, React Native, Flutter projects.

Quick Commands

Run these in your project root to check manually:

# Check app version (should be 1.0+)
!grep -rn "MARKETING_VERSION" . --include="*.pbxproj" | head -3

# Check for beta/alpha in app name
!find . -name "Info.plist" -not -path "*/Pods/*" | head -1 | xargs plutil -convert json -o - | python3 -c "import sys,json; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print('Display Name:', d.get('CFBundleDisplayName', d.get('CFBundleName','?')))"

# Check for staging URLs in config
!grep -rn "localhost\|127\.0\.0\.1\|staging\.\|\.dev\." . --include="*.swift" --include="*.plist" | grep -iv "comment\|test\|localhost_not"

# Check build config for DEBUG defines
!grep -rn "DEBUG\|STAGING\|DEVELOPMENT" . --include="*.xcconfig" --include="*.plist"

Swift Anti-Pattern Reference

examples/swift/QualityPatterns.swift

Detection Steps

1. Find target files

• Glob: **/Info.plist, **/*.swift, **/fastlane/

1. Search for rejection patterns

• Read Info.plist → check CFBundleShortVersionString for beta, test, 0.0, 0.1
• Read Info.plist → check CFBundleName / CFBundleDisplayName for beta, test, debug
• Grep localhost\|127\.0\.0\.1\|staging\.\|\.dev\. in Swift constants/configuration files
• Check fastlane/metadata/review_information/ exists with demo credentials

1. Determine verdict

• beta or test in bundle version/name → 🟠 HIGH (Guideline 2.1)
• Hardcoded staging/localhost URL in production code → 🟠 HIGH
• No demo account credentials in fastlane review notes → 🟡 MEDIUM (if login required)
• All checks pass → 🟢 pass

1. Report

• Exact value of CFBundleShortVersionString and CFBundleName
• File path + line of any hardcoded staging URL
• Fix: Set version to a release number (e.g., 1.0.0); use build configuration to switch URLs

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: cruisediary
• Source: cruisediary/apple-app-review-skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.