What this rejection means
Guideline 4.0 is the general design bar. For wrapped apps it usually means sign-in, sign-up or a purchase opens in Safari instead of staying in the app, or the layout is crowded or cut off on iPad.
Why reviewers send it
Apple expects an app to feel finished on every device it runs on. Sending people to Safari to sign in or pay breaks the flow, and a layout that is cramped or cut off on an iPad — where iPhone apps also run — looks unfinished.
The message App Review sends
Guideline 4.0 - Design
We noticed that the user is taken to the default web browser to sign in or register for an account, which provides a poor user experience.The exact wording changes from one review to the next; the guideline number is what to look for.
How to fix it
- Keep sign-in in the app: an in-app browser sheet (@capacitor/browser) or a native sign-in plugin, returning to the app with a deep link.
- Don’t send people to your website to finish anything they started in the app.
- Check every screen at iPad size. An iPhone-only app still has to work when it runs on an iPad.
- Upload a new build and describe what changed.
Fix it with Lovable, Bolt or Cursor
If the app was built with an AI builder, paste this into it, then check the result on a phone:
Keep sign-in, sign-up and checkout inside the app: open OAuth in an in-app browser sheet with @capacitor/browser and come back with a deep link, never in Safari. Make every screen lay out cleanly at iPad sizes.What to reply in App Store Connect
Replace the [brackets] with what you actually changed:
Guideline 4.0 — Sign-in now happens inside the app [with an in-app sheet / Sign in with Apple] and returns to the app automatically. We also fixed the layout of [screens] on iPad.Got a different message?
Paste the whole rejection into the rejection explainer. It recognises this one and 26 others, in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
Other App Store rejections
- App Store Guideline 4.3 Spam rejection
- Guideline 4.2 Minimum Functionality rejection
- Guideline 2.1 App Completeness rejection
- Guideline 2.1 Information Needed: demo account
- Guideline 2.3.3 Accurate Metadata: screenshots
- Guideline 2.3.10: Android mentioned in the app
- Guideline 2.3.8: app icon or name doesn’t match
- Guideline 4.8 Login Services: Sign in with Apple
- Guideline 5.1.1(v): account deletion required
- Guideline 5.1.1: permission purpose string
- Guideline 5.1.1: sign-up required to use the app
- Guideline 5.1.1(i): privacy policy link missing
- Guideline 5.1.2: App Tracking Transparency
- Guideline 3.1.1: digital goods without In-App Purchase
- Guideline 3.1.2: subscription information missing
- Guideline 1.5: support URL doesn’t work