App display name missing or still showing a build variable
The Home Screen name comes from CFBundleDisplayName, falling back to the product name. If it carries an unresolved build variable, that variable ships as literal text under the icon, and if it is a template default it is not a name anybody chose.
Why it matters
A build setting reference that does not resolve is not an error. It is copied through into the built Info.plist as the literal string, so the app appears on the Home Screen with a dollar sign and parentheses in its name.
The display name is also length-sensitive in a way the App Store name is not: it is truncated under the icon, so a long name becomes an ellipsis on a device even though it looked fine in App Store Connect.
A name left at the Xcode project name is the softer case, and it is worth catching because it is the first thing a user sees and the last thing anyone remembers to change.
The Home Screen name and the App Store name are two different fields and they are allowed to differ, which is useful and also how they drift apart: the App Store listing gets the polished name and the icon keeps whatever the project was called on the first day.
It is also one of the few things a reviewer sees before opening the app at all, so a name that is obviously a placeholder colours everything after it.
How to fix it
- Set CFBundleDisplayName in Info.plist to the name you want under the icon.
- If it references a build setting, confirm that setting resolves for the Release configuration.
- Install the build on a device and look at the Home Screen, which is the only check that catches truncation.
The guidelines behind it
Read from Apple’s App Review Guidelines as last updated October 16, 2026.
What ReviewAhead checks
App display name. The name shown on the Home Screen should be deliberate, not a template default.
- That a display name is set.
- That it contains no unresolved build variable.
- Reports the name it resolved, so you can compare it against the one you expect rather than against nothing.