In-app purchase metadata, including the review screenshot
Each in-app purchase is reviewed on its own and needs its own metadata: a reference name, product ID, availability, price, display name, description, image and an App Review screenshot. The screenshot is required, and it is a frequent cause of an in-app purchase being rejected while the app itself passes.
Why it matters
Because purchases are reviewed separately, an app can be approved with its purchases rejected, which leaves a live app whose paywall does not work.
The App Review screenshot is the field most often left empty, because it is not needed to create the product or to test it, only to submit it.
The display name and description appear to customers, so placeholder copy in them is visible in the same way placeholder copy in the app is.
The screenshot has a specific job: it shows the reviewer where in your app the purchase is offered. One that shows the paywall in context answers the question; one that shows the app icon or a marketing image does not, and is the usual reason a resubmitted purchase is rejected again.
Each product carries its own state, so a version can go out with one purchase approved and another still in review. The paywall then works for some items and not others, which is harder to notice than a paywall that fails entirely.
How to fix it
- Open each in-app purchase in App Store Connect and complete every field, not just the ones needed to test.
- Upload an App Review screenshot showing the purchase in context in your app.
- Check the review state of each product before submitting the app version, not after.
- Read the display name and description as a customer would, since both appear in the purchase sheet and neither is reviewed for tone by anyone else.
The guidelines behind it
Read from Apple’s App Review Guidelines as last updated October 16, 2026.
What ReviewAhead checks
In-app purchase metadata. Each in-app purchase is reviewed separately and needs its own metadata.
- Reads each purchase’s state, localizations and review screenshot from App Store Connect when your account is linked.
- Asks when it cannot read them, and records the answer as evidence.
Apple’s own documentation for this requirement: developer.apple.com. Where this page and Apple disagree, Apple is right and this page is a bug.