Top 10 App Store Rejection Reasons and How to Fix them

Common issues leading to App Store rejection

Some of the front-runners reasons for App Store rejection include:

1. A non-intuitive UI

2. Inconsistent or confusing navigation

3. Poor responsiveness and performance

4. Incomplete UI elements

5. Crashes and bugs

6. Use of unapproved payment mechanisms

7. Privacy concerns

8. Hidden or undocumented features

9. Incomplete information

10. Violation of Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines

How to test for common app store rejection issues using UXCam

UXCam can help identify UI/UX flaws in a mobile app using its issue analytics and user behavior analysis features. Product teams can quickly identify and resolve problems by reviewing user journeys, heatmaps, and session replays to detect crashes, UI freezes, and user frustration. 

Let’s take a closer look at how UXCam helps you build a more intuitive and user-friendly app.

1. Conduct thorough usability testing

Usability testing is important for getting your mobile app accepted by the App Store.

It helps identify and address large UI/UX issues that can lead to outright rejection, as well as the small, compounding issues that impact user experience and harm the long-term success of your app.

When it comes to conducting usability testing with UXCam, you can view pixel-perfect session replays of real user sessions to look for potential issues like confusion surrounding navigation, UI elements that are difficult to interact with, and more.

Session replay of heat-mapped screen

Want to get a jumpstart on your usability testing? Check out our free usability testing templates for best practices on conducting effective usability tests.

2. Analyze heatmaps and user journeys for UI interaction

UXCam's heatmaps and user journey analysis help you understand how easy your mobile app is to use and navigate by providing UI engagement information and a bird's-eye view of user interactions.

Heatmaps illustrate how users interact with UI elements, those that draw the most and least attention, and those possibly causing confusion. Using our heatmap data, you can determine whether the UI directs the user’s attention effectively—plus:

• Spot unexpected patterns or movements: Heatmaps are valuable for quickly identifying key user trends within your app (like unforeseen patterns or movements) which can be a great clue to potential usability issues.

• Identify hidden UI issues: Our rage-tap and unresponsive-tap heatmaps help identify hidden UI issues that may be caused by confusing design. Use the session replay to see events leading up to the problem to prioritize resolution.

Product teams also use our user journeys to map the user journey in detail and understand how they interact with specific screens. 

Our color-coded screen flows allow you to follow your user’s journey and identify friction points hindering intuitive navigation. You can switch to corresponding heatmaps and session replays to drill down further and investigate how users interact at specific points in the journey and see their experience through their eyes.

3. Performance monitoring

Continuous monitoring for crashes, slow launch times, or other performance bottlenecks is crucial for optimal performance, and UXCam has the performance analytics needed to aid this.

Our issues analytics is designed to identify and solve performance issues affecting UX by allowing you to:

• Review the journeys of users who experience crashes or UI reviews

• Review heatmaps for the screens where problems occur

• Rewatch sessions of affected users

• Set up custom events to find correlations between events and performance issues

With a comprehensive overview and detailed logs of bugs, crashes, UI freezes and handled exceptions, teams can quickly identify and resolve issues. Plus, you can use our Slack integration to keep on top of your app’s performance and UX with real-time crash alerts.

4. Incorporate user feedback

It’s also great to find out what your users think about their experience using your app. So consider regularly collecting and analyzing feedback to inform your design decisions for more user satisfaction to enhance your app’s reputation. 

Here are effective methods you can use to gather opinions:

• In-app feedback popups: Use them to gather real-time user insights about their experience. This is an excellent way to capture feature requests.

• Customer satisfaction surveys: Use customer satisfaction surveys within the app to get feedback. You can use what they say about preferences, pain points, and areas for improvement to enhance their satisfaction.

• Rate-my-app feedback: Android and iOS stores offer feedback mechanisms to trigger prompts asking customers to rate your app during a session. This can boost your app’s popularity and credibility in the app stores.

• In-app support chat: Extract feedback from in-app support chat by engaging with users in real time to gather their insights and address issues or concerns they may have while using the app.

Use UXCam’s analytics to improve your mobile app

Rejections from the App Store can be demoralizing, but treat them as opportunities for improvement. 

As demonstrated in our strategies discussed above, using analytical tools like UXCam to inform your design and development process significantly reduces the risk of rejection. Gather data, refine your app's UI and UX, and update yourself with the App Store's guidelines to ensure a successful submission.

Sign up today and start using our platform for free.

You might also be interested in these;

How to analyze session recordings

What is product engagement? (and how to improve it)

Mobile app optimization techniques - Top 4 proven strategies

How to make an app prototype: A step-by-step guide

How to write a tracking plan for mobile app analytics