Paywall 3.1.2(c): Same Screen | KappS Policy Insights

2026-10-26 · Policy Insights

Paywall honesty under Guideline 3.1.2(c) is a same-screen problem. For a trial, the length, the price after the trial, and the renewal terms have to be visible together on the main purchase path. MRR does not buy a Developer Program seat out of termination when the binary, the metadata, or that disclosure fails.

Education only — not legal advice. Re-read the live App Review Guidelines and Schedule 2 of the Apple Developer Program License Agreement before you ship. This note does not reprint the 16 October 2026 guidelines inventory or the Australia concealment note; both stay linked below.

A. Three pieces, one screen (3.1.2(c))

The live clause (Guidelines last updated 16 October 2026) is short. It does not, by itself, spell out a three-line template. It points at Schedule 2:

3.1.2(c) Subscription Information: Before asking a customer to subscribe, you should clearly describe what the user will get for the price. How many issues per month? How much cloud storage? What kind of access to your service? Ensure you clearly communicate the requirements described in Schedule 2 of the Apple Developer Program License Agreement.

In review, the failure that keeps coming back — including on apps that had already shipped — is a trial paywall that does not show these three together, before Subscribe, on the main path:

Trial length (days or weeks) on the paywall’s first screen, not only behind Legal or a secondary page.
Price after the trial, with currency and billing period, on that same screen.
Auto-renewal — when the charge happens, and for which period — on that same main path, matching the App Store Connect subscription.

A public multi-app report in October 2026 described repeated 3.1.2(c) rejections until those three were co-visible. Use that as a review pattern to self-check, not as a substitute for the guideline sentence above.

Same-screen and metadata checks

☐ All three appear without a deep scroll past the subscribe control.
☐ Every purchasable subscription SKU passes the check, not only the default plan.
☐ App Store Connect display name, duration, and price do not contradict the paywall copy.
☐ Notes for Review name the trial, the post-trial price, the renewal period, and a screenshot path a reviewer can open in about 30 seconds.

Notes for Review — paste block

Notes for Review — [App Name] [version / build]

Subscription disclosure (3.1.2(c) + Schedule 2)
- SKU: [display name]
- Trial length: [e.g. 7 days] — on the paywall first screen
- Price after trial: [currency + amount] / [period]
- Renewal: auto-renews; charge timing and period are on the same screen
- Screenshot path: [where the reviewer opens the paywall shot]
- Other purchasable SKUs: [each plan, or "same three pieces on the plan picker"]

Paywall path
- Open the app → [steps] → paywall.
- Trial length, post-trial price, and renewal are visible with the subscribe control (no deep scroll).

B. MRR is not account immunity — and thin AI shells still fail 4.2 / 4.3

Account termination is an account event. Revenue on the app is not a waiver when Review, the Developer Code of Conduct, or the honesty rules trip. Public posts this month describe termination, and very fast 4.3(b) rejections, on products that already had users. Those posts are anecdotes, not a KappS finding about any named account, and they are not a reason to treat income as protection.

Two neighboring clauses, one line each. The full write-ups stay on the linked notes — this page does not paste them:

2.5.19 — hidden, dormant, or undocumented features, including obfuscation meant to hide them, can mean App Store removal and developer-account termination. A reviewer-only or dormant unlock is this clause.
2.3.14 — creative assets must stay honest: no references to other apps meant to mislead, no unverifiable product claims, no specific or discounted prices in those assets. Paywall copy and store creative are one evidence surface.

Separate from the paywall, thin AI shells are still failing on minimum functionality and spam:

4.2 Minimum Functionality — the app needs features, content, and UI that elevate it beyond a repackaged website. If it is not useful, unique, or “app-like,” it does not belong on the App Store. A shell plus a remote chat is the pattern to fix in the product, not in the appeal letter. Substantive value after launch — on-device work, a real workflow, something that still exists if the remote chat is down — is the practical bar.
4.2.6 — apps created from a commercialized template or app-generation service are rejected unless the provider of the content submits them. Those tools are expected to produce customized apps. The guideline also says those services should not submit apps on a client’s behalf.
4.3(a) / 4.3(b) — multiple bundle IDs of the same app, or submissions indistinguishable from what is already widely available. Variants that share UI, metadata, assets, and backend with the rest of an account read as a line, not as separate products. Repeated submissions of that kind can end in removal from the Developer Program.

If content or code is largely machine-generated, Notes for Review should say where a person drew the line: what was designed by hand, what data or model is actually yours, and what the user can do that a generic chat shell cannot. A cheap self-serve precheck seat is not a substitute for that evidence on your own console.

C. Duo calendar, and one Australia sidebar

Apple’s iPhone Duo prepare page is the layout source:

Apps built with the iOS 27 SDK resize to fill most of the inner display and still avoid the status bar on the right edge.
Apps built with the iOS 27.1 SDK or later are the full Duo layout: the app uses the full display, and toolbars and tab bars sit vertically under the status bar. Check that your content still works when those bars go vertical, before you ship a 27.1 build.
When you upload iPhone Duo screenshots in App Store Connect, the product page shows a Duo badge. The same prepare page points at screenshot specifications for the asset sizes.

Apple’s screenshot specifications are the source for the April 2027 Duo-screenshot requirement on apps that use the iOS 27.1 SDK or later. Read that as a screenshot calendar for that SDK line. It is not a deadline invented here, and it is not a claim that every upload worldwide must switch to the iOS 27 SDK on that date. Re-read the live specifications before you lock a release. This note also does not repeat unverified counts of how many third-party apps are already Duo-ready.

Australia sidebar — one sentence, not a second essay. Rival-store and alternative-payment remedies for Australia-set accounts are framed around 1 March 2027. That clock is Australia-scoped. More distribution channels do not soften App Review. The long form is the Australia third-party store and concealment note.

Developer self-check

☐ Trial length is visible on the paywall first screen (not only Legal or a secondary page).
☐ Post-trial price (currency and billing period) is co-visible with the trial.
☐ Auto-renew, when the user is charged, and the period are stated on the same main path.
☐ All three appear without a deep scroll past the subscribe control.
☐ Every purchasable subscription SKU passes the three-piece check, not only the default.
☐ App Store Connect subscription display name, duration, and price match the paywall copy.
☐ Notes for Review list trial, price, renew, and the path to the screenshot.
☐ No reviewer-only or dormant unlock that would trip 2.5.19.
☐ Creative assets (2.3.14) have no misleading references to other apps, no unverifiable claims, and no specific or discounted prices.
☐ AI-shell builds have substantive post-launch value (4.2) and are not template-indistinguishable (4.3).
☐ Duo roadmap: 27.1 SDK layout, plus Duo screenshots and the badge plan, before the April 2027 screenshot gate.
☐ Australia-account teams: log the 1 March 2027 remedy calendar and an appeal or stay contingency. Australia-scoped only.

Soft next step (optional)

If you want trial length, the price after trial, and renewal checked against your own App Store Connect metadata — and a Notes-for-Review line that points at the screenshot — start on your own console with Launch. Optional add-on: iPhone Duo layout and screenshot readiness for iOS 27.1 SDK product pages, with the calendar called out and no date beyond Apple’s published notes. KappS does not sell developer accounts. Evidence stays on the client’s own console.

Pre-submit paywall check

Sources linked above. Public developer posts are risk narrative only, not legal conclusions: 3.1.2(c) same-screen pattern, termination anecdote, 4.2 / 4.3 cluster, 4.3(b) anecdote. Policy education only — not legal advice. Last drafted 2026-10-26 (Asia/Singapore).

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Paywall 3.1.2(c): Trial, Price After, Renew — Same Screen; MRR Won’t Save a Terminated Seat