Guideline3.1.1
In-App Purchase
3.1.1 is about how digital value is paid for. If the app unlocks content, features, or subscriptions, Apple expects IAP — and a reviewer who can complete that purchase in sandbox.
§ 01What this rejection usually means
- A web checkout, QR code, or “contact us to upgrade” for digital goods is enough to fail.
- Physical goods and real-world services are a different conversation. Digital entitlements are not.
- A correct IAP that the reviewer cannot complete still looks like 3.1.1 or 2.1.
§ 02Common causes
- Unlocking features via Stripe, PayPal, or a website from inside the app.
- Missing StoreKit products, wrong product IDs, or “product not available” in sandbox.
- Restore purchases is missing on a second device.
- A paywall that only works for an internal account.
- Reader-app links that go past what Apple currently allows in your category.
§ 03How to diagnose your case
- List every place a user can pay or unlock something. Mark each as digital or physical.
- Complete a sandbox purchase on a fresh Apple ID, then restore on another device.
- If the commerce model is wrong, you need a new build. If only Review Notes lack a sandbox account, reply first.
§ 05What to inspect in your project
Checklist
- Every digital unlock uses StoreKit / StoreKit 2
- Products are cleared for sale and match the paywall IDs
- Restore Purchases is visible and works
- No webview or browser hop that completes a digital payment
- Review Notes include a sandbox Apple ID that already owns nothing
§ 06What not to do
Do not
- Do not hide the web paywall behind a dark pattern and resubmit.
- Do not argue that a digital subscription is a “service” without changing the product.
- Do not ask the reviewer to use a production credit card.
§ 07Questions people ask next
- Is a website payment always banned?
- For digital features consumed in the app, yes — that is the core of 3.1.1. Physical goods and some reader-app cases are narrower exceptions, not a loophole.