New developer account risk

Brand-new Apple Developer and Google Play accounts receive 100% manual review on their first submission and are subject to tighter scrutiny on guideline adherence, metadata claims, and demo-account completeness. Rejections are common on first submission even for clean apps — reviewers probe harder for Guideline 5.1.1 (privacy) and 4.0 (design) issues. Knowing the account is new lets the submitter pre-empt common new-developer failure modes and avoid a 1–2 week delay.

Treat the first submission as high-risk: make every other check in this audit pass before submitting, fill in App Review Information fields in App Store Connect with detailed notes explaining non-obvious features, and provide a working demo account with credentials if the app gates content behind authentication. Document the submission plan in docs/app-store-submission.md and expect one to two revision cycles before approval.

• ID: app-store-review-blockers.risk-indicators.new-developer-account

• Severity: info

• What to look for: Count all relevant instances and enumerate each. Look for signals that indicate a brand-new developer account submitting a first app: no prior app release signals in the codebase (no CHANGELOG entries referencing prior App Store versions, no version history in CHANGELOG.md), version set to 1.0.0 or 0.x, bundle ID is generic or uses a domain associated with a single app, no app analytics indicating prior published app history. This is an informational signal only — new accounts face higher scrutiny from reviewers but it is not a violation.

• Pass criteria: Evidence of a prior published app exists (CHANGELOG with app store versions, version > 1.0.0, established bundle ID domain), or cannot be determined.

• Fail criteria: Not applicable — this is an info check. Result is pass or skip only, never fail.

• Skip (N/A) when: Cannot determine account history from the codebase alone (no CHANGELOG, no version history). Skip rather than guessing.

• Detail on fail: Not applicable — result is pass or skip only.

• Remediation: New developer accounts face 100% manual review and often take longer. Prepare:

  1. Ensure every aspect of this audit passes before your first submission
  2. Write detailed review notes in App Store Connect / Play Console explaining your app and any non-obvious features
  3. Provide a demo account with login credentials if your app has authentication
  4. Be prepared for 1-2 revision cycles — first-submission rejection is common for new accounts

  Review the configuration in src/ or app/ directory for implementation patterns.