Ugc Safety Features

Skill: UGC Safety Features

Purpose

Detects missing mechanisms required for apps with user-generated content under Guideline 1.2. Apple explicitly requires all four of the following:

1. Content filtering — objectionable content must be filterable before it surfaces to other users
2. Report mechanism — users must be able to flag offensive posts, comments, and profiles
3. Block mechanism — users must be able to block abusive users
4. Published contact info — a developer contact method must be accessible within the app for users to report issues directly

Apple Guideline

• Primary: 1.2 — Safety: User Generated Content
• Related: 5.1.1(ii)
• Reference: references/guidelines/1-safety.md

Real-World Rejection Cases

• Case: App with user posts had no "Report" button — rejected under Guideline 1.2

Source: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/116703 Root cause: Apps with user-generated content must provide mechanism to report offensive content

• Case: iOS app rejected 1.2 Safety — no ability to block abusive users

Source: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/78288 Root cause: Guideline 1.2 requires block mechanism, not just report

• Case: Community app rejected — no EULA requiring users to agree to content standards

Source: https://buddyboss.com/docs/app-store-guideline-1-2-safety-user-generated-content/ Root cause: Users must agree to terms prohibiting objectionable content

Trigger

Invoke on any iOS/macOS project that includes user posts, comments, chat, or community features.

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 **/*.swift — collect all Swift source files.
2. Glob **/*Feed* or **/*Post* or **/*Comment* — locate feed/post UI files.
3. Glob **/*Profile* or **/*UserProfile* — locate profile view files.
4. Glob **/*Onboarding* or **/*Registration* or **/*Signup* — locate registration flow files.

Phase 2: Checks

Feed/Post Level:

1. Report content mechanism

Grep pattern "Report"|"reportContent"|"reportPost"|"flagContent"|"reportAction" in **/*.swift. If absent → 🔴 CRITICAL. Guideline 1.2 requires a mechanism for users to flag objectionable content.

1. Block user mechanism

Grep pattern "blockUser"|"Block User"|"blockAction" in **/*.swift. If absent → 🔴 CRITICAL. Guideline 1.2 explicitly requires ability to block abusive users.

1. Content filtering/moderation

Grep pattern "filterContent"|"moderateContent"|"contentFilter" in **/*.swift. If absent → 🟠 HIGH. Indicates no client-side content filtering layer.

Profile Level:

1. Report/block from profile views

Grep pattern "Report User"|"Block User"|"reportUser"|"blockUser" in files matching *Profile*View* or *UserProfile*. If absent while report/block found only in feed, flag → 🟠 HIGH. Guideline 1.2 compliance requires accessibility from profile context as well.

Developer Contact Info:

1. In-app developer contact method

Grep pattern "contactUs"|"contact_us"|"Contact Support"|"reportIssue"|"support@"|"mailto:" in **/*.swift. If absent → 🟠 HIGH. Guideline 1.2 requires a published contact method accessible within the app — Apple reviewers specifically check whether users can reach the developer to report abuse outside of the in-app report button.

EULA/Terms:

1. Terms of service / EULA acceptance

Grep pattern "termsOfService"|"acceptTerms"|"EULA"|"userAgreement" in **/*.swift. If absent in any file — and if onboarding/registration flow exists — flag → 🟠 HIGH. Users must explicitly agree to content standards before contributing UGC.

Age Verification / COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act):

1. Under-13 user handling

Grep pattern "ageVerification"|"dateOfBirth"|"age_gate"|"birthDate"|"underAge"|"isMinor" in **/*.swift. If app allows user-to-user interaction (chat, follows, public profiles) and no age verification is found → 🟠 HIGH. Apps rated 4+ or 9+ that allow strangers to contact each other must either:

• Implement age verification and block under-13 users from social features, or
• Be rated 12+ or higher to reflect the actual audience risk.

COPPA compliance (US law) requires parental consent for users under 13 — Apple may reject apps that allow under-13 UGC without safeguards, independent of the App Store rating.

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

## UGC Safety Features — Findings

### 🔴 CRITICAL — Guaranteed rejection
- [ ] TODO: Add a "Report" button/action to post and comment views — Guideline 1.2 requires a content reporting mechanism — `FeedViewController.swift`
- [ ] TODO: Add a "Block User" action accessible from post, comment, or profile views — Guideline 1.2 requires ability to block abusive users

### 🟠 HIGH — Very likely rejection
- [ ] TODO: Add EULA/Terms of Service acceptance step in registration flow — users must agree to content standards before posting UGC — Guideline 1.2
- [ ] TODO: Surface report/block actions from UserProfileViewController as well as from feed items — Guideline 1.2

### 🟠 HIGH — Very likely rejection
- [ ] TODO: Add in-app developer contact method (support email or contact form) accessible from settings or profile — Guideline 1.2 requires published contact info alongside report/block

### 🟡 MEDIUM — Possible rejection
- [ ] TODO: Implement client-side content filtering or integrate server-side moderation API to handle flagged content

### 🟢 LOW — Best practice
- [ ] TODO: Add contextual reporting categories (e.g., "Spam", "Hate Speech", "Nudity") to improve moderation quality
- [ ] TODO: Establish a 24-hour response SLA for flagged content — Apple expects developers to actively moderate reported content; slow or absent moderation can lead to rejection on resubmission or app removal

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 for report/block mechanisms
!grep -rn "reportContent\|reportPost\|reportUser\|flagContent\|blockUser\|Block User\|Report" . --include="*.swift" | grep -v "//\|BugReport"

# Check for EULA/terms acceptance
!grep -rn "termsOfService\|acceptTerms\|EULA\|userAgreement" . --include="*.swift"

Swift Anti-Pattern Reference

examples/swift/UGCSafetyPatterns.swift

Detection Steps

1. Find target files

• Glob: **/*.swift, **/*.m

1. Search for rejection patterns

• Grep reportUser\|reportContent\|flagContent\|reportPost\|ReportUser — report feature
• Grep blockUser\|blockAccount\|ignoreUser\|BlockUser — block feature
• Grep UITableViewCell\|UICollectionViewCell — check context menu or swipe actions for report/block
• Grep contactSupport\|supportEmail\|contactUs\|ContactSupport — published contact info

1. Determine verdict

• UGC features exist (feed, comments, profiles, chat) + no report pattern → 🔴 CRITICAL (Guideline 1.2)
• Report found + no block pattern → 🔴 CRITICAL
• Report + block + contact all present → 🟢 pass

1. Report

• Evidence of UGC (feed/comment/chat code) without safety features
• Fix: Add report button to each user-generated content item; implement user blocking; add support contact link in Settings

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.