Guideline 1.1: Objectionable Content

A Guideline 1.1 rejection means the reviewer found content in your app they judged objectionable, or decided your app can produce it without adequate controls. If your app carries user-generated content, the second case is the likely one, and the fix is a set of features rather than a copy edit.

One distinction first, because it changes what you build: the objectionable content itself is 1.1. The moderation features Apple requires from apps with user-generated content are 1.2. Reviewers cite both, sometimes in the same message, so read the body text rather than the header number.

How it is usually worded

The header arrives as Guideline 1.1 - Safety - Objectionable Content, or Guideline 1.2 - Safety - User-Generated Content, and the body tends to be one of:

  • "We found that your app contains content that many users would find objectionable."
  • "Your app enables the display of user-generated content but does not include the required precautions."

If there is an attachment, that is the rejection: reviewers screenshot the exact post, profile or search result they hit.

What 1.1 actually covers

Section 1.1 is a list, and the subsections tell you which argument you are having:

  • 1.1.1 defamatory, discriminatory or mean-spirited content, including references targeting a group by race, religion, gender or sexual orientation
  • 1.1.2 realistic portrayals of people or animals being killed, maimed, tortured or abused, or content encouraging violence
  • 1.1.3 depictions that encourage illegal or reckless use of weapons and dangerous objects
  • 1.1.4 overtly sexual or pornographic material
  • 1.1.5 inflammatory religious commentary, or inaccurate quotations of religious texts
  • 1.1.6 false information and features, including inaccurate device data and trick or joke functionality
  • 1.1.7 harmful concepts that capitalise on recent events such as a death, assault or natural disaster

Two of these catch developers who thought they were nowhere near this guideline. 1.1.6 covers fake sensor readings and joke utilities, which is why prank apps and fake radiation detectors get rejected. 1.1.7 sweeps up apps that trade on a disaster.

What 1.2 requires

If people can post, upload, comment, message or share in your app, Apple expects four things, and reviewers check for all four:

  1. A method for filtering objectionable material before it is posted
  2. A mechanism to report offensive content, with a commitment to respond
  3. The ability to block abusive users
  4. Published contact information so users can reach you easily

Apple does not publish a required response time and we are not going to invent one. What reviewers look for is that the mechanism exists and is not decorative.

Why it triggers

  • Filter and block missing entirely. A social feature shipped with report as the only control, or with none. This is the most common version.
  • Report exists but nothing happens. A "Report" menu item that shows a thank-you toast, sends no email and reaches no human.
  • Block is only a mute. Hiding the abuser's posts while leaving your content, profile and messages open to them does not clear the requirement.
  • The reviewer found live content. Public feeds seeded with test data, an unmoderated global chat, or a discover tab surfacing whatever was posted in the last hour.
  • Age rating too low. A 4+ rating on an app with an open feed. That is a 2.3.6 problem too, and the two arrive together.

How to fix it, in order

  1. Remove the content in the attachment. If the reviewer screenshotted a post, delete it and say you did. Do not lead with your roadmap.
  2. Ship the four controls properly. Pre-publication filtering, in-context reporting, a block that is mutual and complete, and a support address visible in the app and on your product page.
  3. Make report reachable in one tap from the content itself. On the post, the comment, the image, the message and the user, not only in a settings screen. Reviewers test this by trying to report the thing in front of them.
  4. Wire report to a real queue. Email, a dashboard, a ticket, anything with a human at the end. Record reporter, target and timestamp.
  5. Filter with something real. A moderation API, a blocklist, image classification, or hold-for-review on new accounts. What matters is that it runs before publication.
  6. Set the age rating honestly. An app with unrestricted user content is not 4+. Redo the questionnaire in App Store Connect and expect the rating to rise.
  7. Constrain generative features. A generator that will produce sexual, violent or defamatory output on request is treated as your app producing it, so add prompt filtering, output classification and a report control on generated results. Then write every path into your Review Notes.

What to send back

Name the controls and the taps, because that is what the reviewer will retrace.

Thank you for the review. We have removed the post shown in your attachment and suspended the account that published it. Build 92 adds the required protections: every post, comment and profile has a Report control in the overflow menu, and reports create a ticket in a moderation queue reviewed by our team; blocking is mutual and removes visibility of profiles and messages in both directions; text and images pass through a moderation service before publication; and our support address is on the Settings screen and our product page. To reproduce: open any post in Home, tap the three-dot menu, then tap Report or Block.

If the controls already existed and the finding was the content alone, say so, name the removed post, and add one line inviting placement feedback: you would rather move the Report button than argue about it.

When it is really a different guideline

  • The age rating does not match the content is 2.3.6.
  • Apps aimed at children have extra rules under 1.3 and the Kids Category requirements.
  • Gambling or contests are 5.3.

AppSubmit keeps the reviewer's attachment with the submission, so the exact post that triggered the rejection stays next to the fix instead of living in an email thread. A folder and a text file do it too.

Source: Apple, App Store Review Guidelines, 1.1 and 1.2 (https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#safety)

Related: apple-guideline-5-3-gaming-gambling, apple-guideline-5-6-developer-code-of-conduct

Last reviewed 2026-08-17. Apple and Google change their rules without notice, so check anything decision-critical against their live documentation.