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Common rejection

Apple says my app needs reporting and blocking

By Huruy Kidanemariam, who shipped Beles and EBT Finder to the App Store. Updated .

The short answer

If people can post, comment, message or upload anything other people see, Apple wants them to be able to report it and block the person, and wants to know someone acts on those reports. Social, community and dating apps hit this most.

What Apple expects

  1. Terms people agree to that say abusive content and abusive users aren't tolerated.
  2. A filter that catches obviously abusive posts before they go up, such as a blocked-words list.
  3. A way to report a post, a message or a profile.
  4. A way to block someone, so their content disappears from your view right away.
  5. A way for you to remove content and suspend people, and someone who checks reports. Apple's usual message says to act on them within 24 hours.
  6. Contact details people can reach you on, published in the app or on your site.

Build it before you submit

This is easier to add before review than after a rejection. If your app has a feed, comments or chat, treat reporting and blocking as part of version 1, not a later update.

What I ran into

Beles is a dating and community app, so before submitting I built reporting, blocking and an admin panel for handling reports, suspending members and managing events. It went in for review with all of that already working.

Questions

Does this apply if users only see their own content?
No. It applies when people can see what other people post or send.
Do I need a full moderation team?
No. You need the tools and a habit of checking reports every day. For a small app, that can be you.

Apple calls this Guideline 1.2, User-Generated Content in the App Review Guidelines.