# Mac App Store submission checklist

> A Mac app that passes every local test can still be rejected for rules that only apply on the Mac App Store. Sandbox and user-selected files, no self-updates, a window that can be reopened, 16:10 screenshots, entitlements, the name under the icon, the word "Mac" in your subtitle, and the Mac version's own review information.

- Canonical page: https://obelisk.club/blog/mac-app-store-submission-checklist
- Author: Peter Zhang
- Published: 2026-10-30
- Tags: app-store, app-review, mac, checklist, indie

Before you submit to the Mac App Store, check the rules iPhone review never applies: the app is sandboxed and saves user files through a Save dialog, every entitlement has a reason, there is no built-in updater or license key, the main window can be reopened from the menu bar, and screenshots are 16:10. None of these show up in a local build or a test run, because they are about where the app is distributed and how a Mac user expects an app to behave.

It helps to go through this list by hand, on a real Mac, in this order, before you submit.

## 1. The app is sandboxed, and user files go where the user chose

Apple's docs say: "To distribute a macOS app through the Mac App Store, you must enable the App Sandbox capability." Guideline 2.4.5(i) adds that apps "must be appropriately sandboxed".

The trap is that a sandboxed write to the Documents folder still succeeds. The file just lands inside the app's container, a hidden folder the user never opens. One of our Mac apps was rejected for exactly that: Apple's message said the app "saves user data to the app's container, which is not user accessible".

- Save anything the user made through a Save dialog: `NSSavePanel` in AppKit, `fileExporter` in SwiftUI.
- Turn on **User Selected File: Read/Write** in the App Sandbox capability (`com.apple.security.files.user-selected.read-write`).
- Keep the container for your own data: databases, caches, settings.

Details and code in [2.4.5, sandbox saves and update checks](/blog/app-review-guideline-2-4-5-mac-app-store).

## 2. Every entitlement is one you can explain

Over-broad entitlements are a 2.4.5(i) rejection too. Print the signed entitlements of the archive you are about to upload:

```bash
codesign -d --entitlements - YourApp.app
```

Read every line. `get-task-allow` must not be there in a store build, and anything you cannot explain in one sentence should go. To read a `.provisionprofile` or paste an `.entitlements` file as a table, use our [provisioning profile viewer](/tools/provisioning-profile-viewer).

## 3. No update checks, no installers, no license keys

Guideline 2.4.5 lists what a Mac App Store app may not do. The ones that catch indie Mac apps:

- **(vii) Updates only through the Mac App Store.** "Other update mechanisms are not allowed." Apple's message to us named "frameworks or APIs that may be used to update the app", so hiding the menu item is not enough. Keep the updater framework out of the store build entirely.
- **(vi) No license screen at launch, no license keys,** no copy protection of your own.
- **(iii) Nothing at login without consent,** and no processes left running after the user quits.
- **(ii) No third-party installers.** One self-contained app bundle, built and submitted with Xcode.

If you also sell a direct-download version, give it its own build configuration and keep its updater and licensing code behind a compilation condition.

## 4. The main window can always be reopened

Close the main window with ⌘W. If the app keeps running and no menu item brings the window back, that is a **Guideline 4 (Design)** rejection we have received ourselves. Either quit when the last window closes (after saving), or give the window a menu item that reopens it. Fixes for SwiftUI and AppKit are in [no way to reopen the window](/blog/app-review-guideline-4-mac-window-reopen).

## 5. Screenshots are 16:10

App Store Connect requires Mac screenshots in one of four sizes, all 16:10:

- 1280 × 800
- 1440 × 900
- 2560 × 1600
- 2880 × 1800

A capture of a window, or of a display with a different shape, will not fit. Like all App Store screenshots, they can't include alpha channels or transparency. Check and resize them with the [screenshot sizes tool](/tools/app-store-screenshot-sizes). If you add an app preview, Apple accepts Mac previews in landscape only.

Use your own clean desktop for screenshots: no other apps in the Dock, no personal files, your own sample content. A Mac screenshot shows a lot more than your app.

## 6. The name under the icon matches the store name

On a Mac, the name the user sees in Finder, the Dock and the app menu comes from the bundle, not from App Store Connect. Apple's docs say `CFBundleName` can be up to 15 characters and that the system may show it if `CFBundleDisplayName` isn't set. Guideline 2.3.8 asks that your app name and icons are "similar to avoid creating confusion".

Install the build, look at the app menu, Finder and the Dock in every language you sell in, and compare each with the store name. See [2.3.8, name mismatch](/blog/app-review-guideline-2-3-8-app-name-mismatch).

## 7. "Mac" is not part of your app's identity

It is tempting to put "for Mac" or "Mac" in a subtitle. We have had a **Guideline 5.2.5** citation for an Apple trademark in our metadata. Apple's trademark guidelines say you "may not use the Mac trademark standing alone except to denote or refer to the Apple Macintosh product line", and that a compatibility reference should be a referential phrase such as "runs on", "for use with" or "compatible with", less prominent than your own product name. Apple's marketing guidelines give the same pattern: "app name for iPhone", not "iPhone app name".

In practice, use the 30 characters of the subtitle to say what the app does. The store already tells people it is a Mac app. More in [brand names in metadata](/blog/app-review-brand-names-in-metadata-4-1-5-2-5).

## 8. The Mac version has its own review information

Apple's help says app versions for each platform are submitted separately. If your record also has an iOS app, the Mac version has its own screenshots, copyright line, build and App Review Information. Check on the Mac version page:

- **Copyright** is filled in; it is required.
- **Sign-in required** is ticked only if the app really has a login, with a working demo account.
- **Review notes** explain anything a reviewer could miss, such as a menu bar item or a feature that needs a file to open. Attach a sample file if they need one.
- **Export compliance:** set `ITSAppUsesNonExemptEncryption` in the Mac target's `Info.plist` too, or App Store Connect asks the questions again on every upload.

## 9. Test on the kind of Mac the reviewer uses

Reviewers note the device they used in their messages, and for our Mac apps it has been a laptop, not a large external display. Test at a laptop screen size: the window fits, nothing is cut off at the bottom, and the app is usable at the default window size. Launch it once with a fresh user account, too, so you see the first run with no settings and no files.

## FAQ

### What do I need to check before submitting to the Mac App Store?

Check that the app is sandboxed and saves user files through a Save dialog, every entitlement has a reason, there is no update mechanism, license key or installer, the main window can be reopened, screenshots are 16:10, and the Mac version has its own review information.

### Is App Sandbox required for the Mac App Store?

Yes. Apple's docs say you must enable the App Sandbox capability to distribute a macOS app through the Mac App Store, and Guideline 2.4.5(i) says apps must be appropriately sandboxed.

### What size should Mac App Store screenshots be?

One of four 16:10 sizes: 1280 × 800, 1440 × 900, 2560 × 1600 or 2880 × 1800, with no alpha channel or transparency.

### Can I put "Mac" in my app's subtitle?

Apple's trademark guidelines say you may not use the Mac trademark standing alone except to refer to the Mac product line, and a compatibility reference should be a phrase such as "runs on" or "compatible with", less prominent than your own product name. In practice, use the subtitle to say what the app does.

### Can a Mac App Store app have its own updater?

No. Guideline 2.4.5(vii) says updates go through the Mac App Store and other update mechanisms are not allowed, so keep the updater framework out of the store build entirely.

## One-minute check

On the archive you are about to upload: save something and confirm a Save dialog asked where; press ⌘W and find a way back from the menu bar; open the app menu and Settings and confirm there is no update item; read the output of `codesign -d --entitlements -`. Then go through the rest of the [pre-submit checklist](/blog/app-store-submission-checklist) and, if it comes back anyway, paste your rejection message into the [App Review rejection decoder](/tools/app-review-rejection-decoder) and read [what to do after a rejection](/blog/after-app-store-rejection-what-to-do). More release tools are on the [toolkit page](/toolkit).

*These notes are from Obelisk Club's own submissions. Apple's wording and requirements change; check the current App Review Guidelines, App Store Connect Help and Apple's trademark guidelines.*