Pre-submission checks for iOS developers

Catch App Store issues before App Review does.

ReviewAhead checks your Xcode project against 38 App Store readiness rules, then hands back the blockers, the risks and the fix for each one, so a preventable problem does not cost you another review cycle.

Scan my projectSee what it checks

Scanning needs no account · Extracted source deleted when the scan finishes

MyAppVersion 1.4 (12)38 rules · 2.4s · read only
55/100

Not ready to submit

One blocker will cause rejection. Fix it before you upload the build.

  • 1 blocker
  • 2 risks
  • 1 needs input
  • 3 improvements
  • 22 passed
  • Missing privacy description for camera accessInfo.plist:42 · permissions.usage-descriptionBlocker
  • Account deletion flow not detectedSources/Settings · accounts.deletion-requiredRisk
  • Privacy manifest detectedPrivacyInfo.xcprivacy · privacy.manifest-presentPassed
  • Encryption declaration presentInfo.plist:18 · plist.encryption-declarationPassed
  • 38 checksreadiness rules across nine categories
  • ~25supload to full report
  • 0 linesof your code executed
  • 3 findingsfree on every scan

Deterministic, versioned rules: the same project checked twice gives the same report. No account to start, and nothing about your project leaves the server.

App Store readiness is not in one place.

Before you submit, all of this has to agree with itself. Miss one line and App Review is the first to tell you, a cycle later.

Where readiness actually lives

Eight surfaces, each with its own requirements, none of which the others know about.

  • Xcode build settingsrelease configuration
  • Info.plistusage descriptions
  • PrivacyInfo.xcprivacyrequired-reason APIs
  • Entitlementscapabilities, push environment
  • StoreKitrestore, subscription disclosure
  • Third-party SDKsdata types you must declare
  • App Store Connectage rating, screenshots, notes
  • App Review Guidelines4.8, 5.1.1

None of it is difficult. All of it is easy to miss on the day you ship.

See ReviewAhead at work

Real rejection causes, found in the project you already have. Every finding names the file, the line and the guideline behind it.

  • Permissions

    Purpose strings matched against the frameworks you actually link, so a missing one is found before the reviewer’s first tap.

    1 blocker foundGuideline 5.1.1 · rejects on submission
    <key>NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription</key>
<string>Pick a receipt photo</string>

<key>NSCameraUsageDescription</key>
// not present, AVCaptureDevice
// used in CameraView.swift:18

  • Privacy manifest

    Required-reason APIs, tracking domains and collected data types, checked against what your code and your SDKs actually do.

    2 reasons undeclaredUserDefaults · file timestamp
    PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy
NSPrivacyAccessedAPICategory
  ✓ DiskSpace          CA92.1
  ✗ UserDefaults       none
  ✗ FileTimestamp      none

  • Accounts & sign-in

    Third-party login in your dependency graph brings obligations with it. ReviewAhead works out which ones apply to you.

    Sign in with Apple requiredGuideline 4.8 · GoogleSignIn detected
    Podfile.lock
GoogleSignIn        7.1.0
FBSDKLoginKit       17.0.2
AuthenticationServices  not linked
// account deletion path: none found

  • App Store Connect

    Eight things no scanner can read. Link your app and ReviewAhead answers them from your real listing instead of asking you.

    8 questions answeredfrom your listing, not a form
    ✓ Age rating          4+
✓ Export compliance   exempt
✓ Screenshots         6.9" 6.5"
✗ Release notes       empty

Also checked: release configuration, entitlements and background modes, StoreKit and subscriptions, account deletion, Sign in with Apple, export compliance, required screenshot sizes, local endpoints and test credentials left in source.

Every finding, with the evidence behind it.

A readiness score, the blockers first, and for each one the file it came from and what to change. No guessing which of Apple’s rules the finding is about.

Blockerpermissions.usage-description

Camera use without a purpose string

Info.plist
  ✗ NSCameraUsageDescription   missing

CameraView.swift:18
  AVCaptureDevice.default(for: .video)
Why it matters
AVCaptureDevice is used in CameraView.swift, and Info.plist declares no NSCameraUsageDescription. iOS cannot show the permission prompt at all, which makes this a rejection under Guideline 5.1.1 rather than a risk.
Recommended fix
Add NSCameraUsageDescription to Info.plist and say what the camera is for, in a sentence a reviewer can check against the screen the prompt appears on.

Example finding, from the example build above. Every finding carries its severity, its rule id, the file and line, an explanation and a recommended fix; most also carry a link to Apple’s own documentation.

One score, grouped the way you fix it

Findings sit in the five groups App Store Connect uses in its own navigation, so each one points at the screen you fix it on.

  • GeneralApp Information & ReviewIdentity, versioning, reviewer access1 of 7 rules
  • Trust & SafetyPrivacy, Age Rating, AccountsWhat Apple asks, and what your build declares3 of 14 rules
  • MonetizationIn-App PurchasesStoreKit in the build, purchase records beside it1 of 6 rules
  • DistributionScreenshots & Export ComplianceSizes required, encryption declared1 of 4 rules
  • BuildCapabilities, Dependencies, SourceEntitlements, third-party SDKs, what should not ship1 of 7 rules

Bars show finding counts by severity. ReviewAhead scores the build as a whole: there are no per-area grades.

Scan my project

The score, the verdict and your three most severe findings are free on every scan.

Fix it. Run it again.

Findings are matched by rule, target and evidence key, so a fix counts even when the file moved.

Before
1.4 (12)
55
Not ready
+35points
After
1.5 (14)
90
Ready to submit
  • Camera use without a purpose stringwas blocker
  • Privacy manifest missing a declared reasonwas risk
  • Restore purchases is never calledwas risk
  • Age rating questionnaire not confirmedwas needs input
  • Launch screen storyboard is not referencednew · improvement

Example rescan. A finding is only marked fixed when the rule stops firing against your new build.

Three steps, no setup.

Reads Xcode projects, the folder from Finder, or a .zip. Nothing is built, nothing is run.

  1. Drop your project

    The folder holding your .xcodeproj, or a zip of it. No account, no Xcode plugin, no CI.

  2. ReviewAhead checks your readiness

    Thirty-eight rules across configuration, permissions, privacy, entitlements, StoreKit, dependencies and App Store Connect. Nothing is built, nothing is run.

  3. Fix it, then submit with more confidence

    Every finding carries the file, the evidence and the fix. A rescan shows exactly what you cleared.

The requirements are public. Checking them is the work.

Apple documents all of this, and none of it is secret. What costs you a day is checking your own project against it, again, on every release.

  • By hand

    • Apple documentation open across several tabs
    • Xcode build settings, per configuration
    • App Store Connect, section by section
    • A checklist you keep up to date yourself
    • Reading why other apps were rejected
    • No record of what you checked last release

  • With ReviewAhead

    • One pass over the project you already have
    • Findings ordered by severity, blockers first
    • The file, the line and the evidence for each
    • A concrete fix, with Apple’s own documentation
    • One readiness score for the whole build
    • A rescan that shows exactly what you cleared

And if you just ask an AI chat?

AI can explain an App Store rule. ReviewAhead checks whether your project actually satisfies it.

  • Thirty-eight versioned rules, run the same way every time
  • Your project parsed: build settings, Info.plist, entitlements, dependency graph
  • Evidence out of your own files, with the file and line beside it
  • App Store Connect state read from your listing, where you link the app

AI review is an optional extra here, not the product. Where it is configured it can improve wording and explain a finding for a given audience; it can never add a finding, remove one, or change a severity.

Your code never runs.

A scan should never become a leak. ReviewAhead treats your project as something to read, never to execute.

  • Never built, never run

    No compiler, no simulator, no scripts. ReviewAhead parses text files and reads a dependency graph. That is the whole mechanism.

  • Deleted when it finishes

    Extraction happens in an isolated directory that is removed as the last pipeline step, one you watch complete on screen.

  • Credentials masked

    Anything credential-shaped is redacted in the evidence before it reaches the report, the PDF, or your screen.

Archives are validated before a single byte is extracted, dependencies are never installed, and no URL found inside your project is ever contacted. Read the privacy policy.

Before you press Submit for Review.

ReviewAhead is for the hour before a release, whoever is holding it.

  • Indie developersShipping alone, with nobody to check the build for you
  • Startup teamsReleasing often enough that a lost cycle costs a sprint
  • AgenciesHanding a client app over, with a report to show for it
  • First submissionsA first release, where every requirement is new

  • Catch it while it is still cheap

    A blocker found in your project is an afternoon. The same blocker found in App Review is another submission and another wait.

  • Know what actually needs attention

    Blockers first, then risks, then what would merely be better. Every one carries the file it came from, so you can check it yourself.

  • Stop re-reading the guidelines

    One pass over the project you already have, repeatable on every build, instead of a checklist you rebuild from documentation each release.

ReviewAhead reduces submission risk. It does not decide the outcome: App Review does.

Why ReviewAhead exists

It started as a checklist. App Store readiness is spread across Xcode build settings, Info.plist, a privacy manifest, entitlements, StoreKit, App Store Connect and the Review Guidelines, and holding all of that in your head on the day you ship is exactly how avoidable things get missed.

So the checklist became a scanner: thirty-eight rules that read the project instead of asking you to remember. Everything it reports comes back with the file it came from, because a finding you cannot verify yourself is just another opinion about your app.

Start free. Pay when it earns it.

Every scan gives you the score and your three most severe findings in full, before you decide anything.

  • Free scan

    $0
    • Readiness score and verdict
    • Your three most severe findings, in full
    • Count of findings at every severity
    • No account required to scan
    Scan my project

  • Full report

    $2.99 one time$4.99
    Founder edition
    • Every finding, with file, evidence and fix
    • PDF export for your team or client
    • Locked findings never leave the server until paid
    Unlock a report

  • Unlimited

    $4.99 per month$9.99
    Founder edition
    • Unlimited scans and full reports, no paywalls
    • PDF export on every report
    • Cancel any time, access runs to the end of the month
    • This price stays yours for as long as you keep the plan
    Go unlimited

Scanning is always free, and so are the score and your three most severe findings. Paying unlocks the rest of that one report. Unlimited is for shipping more than one app, or more than one build.

Questions worth asking first.

  • Can ReviewAhead guarantee my app is approved?

    No, and nothing can. App Review evaluates a running app, its content and its metadata, none of which a project scan can see. What ReviewAhead does is find the preventable problems that are visible in your project, before Apple is the one telling you about them.

  • Do I need an account?

    Not to scan. The scan and your free findings need nothing but the project. An account keeps your reports and history across devices, which is the only thing it is for.

  • Is my source code stored?

    The upload and the extracted source are deleted the moment the scan finishes, on the failure path as well as the successful one. What is kept is the report: the score, the findings and short evidence excerpts, redacted where they matched credential-shaped text. Whole files are never stored.

  • Does ReviewAhead build or run my project?

    No. There is no code path that compiles your project, runs a build phase or script, installs a dependency, or contacts a URL found inside your files. Everything is read as text, and dependency manifests like Package.swift and Podfile are parsed, never evaluated.

  • What can I scan?

    The folder that holds your .xcodeproj, or a .zip of it. Archives are validated before anything is extracted. An archive holding only a Swift package gets dependency analysis but no target, configuration or Info.plist checks, because there is no Xcode project to read.

  • Can ReviewAhead read App Store Connect?

    If you link the app, yes. The age rating questionnaire, screenshot uploads, release notes, purchase states and review details are then read from your own listing instead of being asked as questions, and that read becomes the evidence. Without a linked app those rules state the requirement and work out which parts of it apply to your build.

  • Why not just ask an AI chat?

    AI can explain an App Store rule. ReviewAhead checks whether your project actually satisfies it: the same thirty-eight versioned rules against your parsed build settings, Info.plist, entitlements and dependency graph, with the file and line behind every finding. AI review here is optional and off unless configured, and it can never add a finding, remove one, or change a severity.

  • What is included for free?

    Every scan gives you the readiness score, the verdict, the count of findings at every severity and your three most severe findings in full. Unlocking that report, $2.99 once, adds every remaining finding with its evidence and fix, plus a PDF export. Unlimited is $4.99 a month and covers every scan and report.

  • What happens after the scan?

    You fix what it found and run it again. Findings are matched by rule, target and evidence key, so a fix still counts as fixed when the file moved, and the second report shows what you cleared and what is new.

Catch issues before App Review does.

Check the project you already have, and move into App Review with more confidence.

Scan my projectSee how it works

Scanning needs no account.