Guideline1.1documented
1.1: AI hug and kiss templates flagged as objectionable content
Documented case — built from an App Review message received in 2026. App details are anonymized; the outcome is reported as-is.
§ 01Problem
An AI generation app was rejected under Guideline 1.1 - Safety - Objectionable Content, and the message ended with an Extended Review warning.
§ 02Apple rejection message
Guideline 1.1 - Safety - Objectionable Content Issue Description The app references or includes features that some users may find objectionable or could be used to create objectionable content. Specifically, the app includes templates for generating content showing people making intimate contact with each other, such as hugging, kissing, or other intimate templates. While these templates alone may not be objectionable, they could be used to create objectionable content. Apps on the App Store should be safe, appropriate for a general audience, and should not include features that are objectionable or could be used to create objectionable content. Next Steps To resolve this issue, remove all templates for generating content showing intimate contact. Extended Review: This app was found to include one or more issues that present significant safety, security, or quality concerns to users. Repeated submissions of apps with these issues will result in extended review times. Accounts that repeatedly submit apps that do not follow the App Review Guidelines and the Apple Developer Program License Agreement face removal from the Apple Developer Program.
§ 03App background
The app offers a template gallery: users upload photos and generate an image or video in one tap. The gallery included templates that put the people in the scene into intimate contact, such as hugging and kissing.
§ 04What we initially suspected
Hug and kiss templates contain no nudity, so the rejection first reads like an over-strict call on one or two templates.
§ 05Diagnosis
Apple is judging capability, not the sample output. It explicitly concedes the templates may not be objectionable on their own, but says they could be used to create objectionable content — for example with someone else’s photo. The Next Steps section has one sentence: remove all templates for generating content showing intimate contact. This is not something a reply can argue away, and Extended Review makes another attempt with the same issue more costly.
§ 06What was changed
- Searched the whole catalog for Apple’s exact terms (hugging, kissing, other intimate templates), including server-delivered and localized templates
- Removed intimate-contact templates for all users and all regions, not only for review
- Removed matching thumbnails, previews, store screenshots, and keywords
- Checked whether free-form prompts could recreate the effect and blocked them
§ 07What was not changed
- Other templates that do not involve physical contact
- The core generation feature
- Bundle ID and developer account
§ 08Reply to Apple
We have removed all templates that generate content showing people making intimate contact, including hugging, kissing, and similar templates, for all users and all regions, along with related previews and screenshots.
§ 09Result
Reported as-is: the resubmission outcome is not recorded on this page yet. Because of the Extended Review flag, the next review is expected to take longer than usual.
§ 10Lessons learned
- For generative apps, 1.1 judges what users can make, not what the sample looks like.
- The category Apple names is your removal list. Remove it; do not debate it.
- Hiding templates only from review turns a 1.1 rejection into a DPLA 3.2(f) problem.
- Content removed to pass review has to come out of your ads too.