Guideline 4.2 — Minimum Functionality
The app does too little, or it is a website in a shell. Apple expects native value: something a browser tab cannot do as well.
What the rejection usually says
Your app provides a limited user experience as it is not sufficiently different from a mobile browsing experience.
We found that the usefulness of your app is limited.
Wording varies between reviewers; the substance does not.
Why it gets triggered
- A web view wrapping an existing site with no native capability.
- A single-purpose utility with no depth — one screen, one action.
- Content that would work just as well as a PDF or a page.
- Features that all require leaving the app to complete.
How to fix it
1.Add capabilities only a native app has
Offline access, notifications, widgets, share extensions, camera or location use, background sync, Siri or Shortcuts. Two or three, done properly.
2.Give the content a native shape
Search, favourites, history and settings implemented natively demonstrate the app is more than a viewport.
3.Reconsider the format
If the value truly is the website, a well-built progressive web app may serve users better than fighting review.
A reply you can adapt
Short, specific, and stating what changed — reviewers read hundreds of these.
Thank you for the feedback. This build adds native functionality beyond the web experience: offline caching of saved items, local notifications for reminders, a home-screen widget, and native search across saved content.
AppSubmit does this for your app, specifically
Paste the rejection and the decoder reads it against your actual listing, build and release history — then writes the fix plan and drafts the reply. It also watches your submissions, so the next rejection reaches you as a notification rather than a surprise.
Decode a rejection free