Store readiness

A list of what would stop your submission, what review will ask about, and what you can point at as evidence. It reads your app’s real configuration — which features you placed, in which zones, with which settings — rather than a checklist you fill in yourself.

Open it from your app’s page: Store submission → Readiness.

Three levels

	Means	Do
Block	The submission fails, or the store rejects it	Fix it before submitting
Warn	Review will probably ask	Have an answer ready, in the notes
Pass	Something you can point at	Nothing. It is evidence, not a chore

Passes are listed rather than hidden on purpose. “Members can delete their own account” is the exact sentence that answers guideline 5.1.1(v), and it is more useful in front of you when you are writing review notes than tucked away.

The audit runs per store. Some checks apply to the App Store, some to Google Play, and most to both.

What it checks

The app itself

Check	Level	What it means
The app has no screens	Block	Nothing is placed in any navigation zone, so the app opens to an empty shell
A menu drawer cannot be opened	Block	A drawer holds features and nothing opens it, so members cannot reach them either

The second one is a defect in the app rather than a submission problem. Walking the navigation to write review notes is the only place it becomes visible.

The listing

Check	Level	What it means
Required listing fields are empty	Block	The store will not accept a submission without them
A field is too long	Block	Over the store’s limit. Nothing else on the page saves until it fits
The review notes still have a question in them	Block	The generated notes left `[ … ]` for you to answer
The app name may read as promotional	Warn	A price, a ranking claim, or a word like “free” or “best”
No app icon	Block	Neither store accepts a submission without one

The “still have a question in them” check exists because the notes generator leaves brackets where the app genuinely cannot know the answer — what your shop sells, most often. Submitting one unedited tells review nobody read the notes.

See Preparing your store listing and Notes for App Review.

The reviewer getting in

Check	Level	What it means
No demo account for the reviewer	Block	Some screens need a sign-in and review has no way in
Some screens are restricted by role	Warn	A reviewer without that role sees a restriction message

If every screen is reachable signed out, this passes and asks for nothing.

What Apple enforces

Check	Level	Guideline
Sign in with Apple is missing	Block	4.8 — required alongside any other third-party sign-in
Members cannot report content	Warn	1.2 — reporting objectionable content
Members cannot block anyone	Warn	1.2 — blocking an abusive member
Published terms and a moderation commitment	Warn	1.2 — terms, and acting on reports within 24 hours
Accounts can be created but not deleted	Block	5.1.1(v) — in-app deletion
Review will ask what you sell	Warn	3.1.1 — digital content must use in-app purchase
The photo prompt explains itself	Pass	5.1.1 — a reason in the prompt
The location prompt explains itself	Pass	5.1.1 — a reason in the prompt

What Google Play enforces

Check	Level	What it means
The build is signed with a debug certificate	Block	Play refuses a debug-signed bundle
The app carries user-generated content	Warn	Play’s UGC policy expects reporting, moderation and an honest content rating

The screenshots

Check	Level	What it means
Screenshots will use sample data	Warn	The app is not connected to a WordPress site
No preview member chosen	Warn	Members-only screens will photograph as empty states

See Store screenshots.

Some failures are fixed by placing a feature

This is the part of the audit worth reading slowly. Several obligations are not settings — no field turns them on. They are satisfied by a screen being in your app, and by nothing else.

Obligation	Satisfied by	And by nothing else
Reporting objectionable content	News Feed, Create Social Post, or Photos	BuddyPress Activity has no report action at all
Blocking an abusive member	Chat or Chat (Better Messages)	Blocking exists only in messaging
Deleting your own account	Settings, with its Delete tab enabled on your site	A link to a web form or an email address is explicitly rejected

A community app that placed a feed and no chat has user-generated content and no way to block anyone. The fix is a feature, not a form.

The audit also names plugins that would close a gap — Ultimate Member’s AI moderation extension answers the 24-hour question, and its Terms & Conditions extension puts an agreement on your website’s register form, though not yet on the app’s.

The permission prompts, in the words review reads

These are fixed. You cannot edit them, and they are what appears on the phone.

Photos: “This app needs access to your photos so you can upload a profile picture, add photos to an album, and attach images to what you post.”

Location: “This app uses your location when you choose to add it to your profile, and to show members near you on the map.”

They are only written into the build when a feature that asks for that permission is placed. An app with no photo upload never asks and never declares it.

What the audit cannot tell you

It reads your app’s configuration and your site’s plugin list. It does not read your content, so it cannot tell you whether your description is accurate, whether your screenshots show the app as it now stands, or whether the product you classified as physical really is.

The digital-goods check is the clearest case: everything it reports rests on your site classifying each product correctly, and the one product overridden by hand is the one that reaches review. See Selling digital products in your app.

The readiness audit, with a blocker, a warning and a pass

record → src/assets/media/store-readiness.mp4