Guideline 2.3.3 Rejection: How to Fix Inaccurate Screenshots and Resubmit
Guideline 2.3.3 is a metadata rejection: Apple decided your App Store screenshots don't accurately show what the app does. The most frequent trigger is screenshots that only show a splash screen, a login page, or pure marketing artwork with no actual UI. Because it's metadata-only, this is one of the fastest rejections to fix — often without touching your binary at all.
What Apple's rejection email says
"Guideline 2.3.3 — Performance — Accurate Metadata. We noticed that your screenshots do not sufficiently reflect your app in use. Specifically, your 6.9-inch iPhone screenshots only display the app's login screen. Next Steps: Please revise your screenshots to ensure that they accurately reflect the app in use on the supported devices. Screenshots should highlight the app's core concept and functionality."
Typical App Review wording for Guideline 2.3.3. Exact text varies per app.
Why apps get rejected under 2.3.3
Apple's rule is simple: screenshots must show the app in use. Typical failures:
- Splash, title or login screens only. A logo on a gradient tells the reviewer nothing about functionality — this is the classic 2.3.3.
- Pure marketing art. Renders, lifestyle photography or slogan cards with no visible app UI. Text overlays and device frames are fine, but real UI must be recognizable in the frame.
- UI from a different device or platform. Stretched iPhone shots in the iPad slots, Android UI (status bar, navigation elements) or desktop web UI in any slot.
- Features that don't exist in the build. Screenshots showing functionality that was removed, is behind a paywall the reviewer can't reach, or hasn't shipped yet.
- Wrong content rating in imagery. Screenshots showing content inconsistent with the app's age rating.
The fields involved live entirely in App Store Connect: the screenshot sets for each required display size — currently 6.9-inch (or 6.5-inch) for iPhone and 13-inch (or 12.9-inch) for iPad if your app runs on iPad — plus optional app previews (videos), which must also be captured from the real app.
Step-by-step fix
- Identify which sets were flagged. The rejection message names the device size (e.g. "6.9-inch iPhone"). Check every size you've uploaded, though — fixing only the named one risks a second bounce.
- Capture real UI. Run the current build in the Simulator or on device and take screenshots of your 3–5 core screens actually doing something: content loaded, real (non-placeholder) data, mid-task states. Simulator:
Cmd+Ssaves a correctly sized PNG. - Keep marketing framing, add real UI. You may keep device frames, captions and background colors — just make sure a genuine, current screen of the app is clearly visible in each image.
- Match every slot to its device. iPad slots get iPad captures (run the app on an iPad simulator), not scaled iPhone images.
- Upload in App Store Connect. Your app → the version in "iOS App" → App Previews and Screenshots → delete the flagged images and drag in the new ones for each display size.
- Audit previews too. If you use app preview videos, they must be screen captures of the app itself (device frames and minor text overlays allowed) — not concept animations.
How to resubmit
If the binary itself was not rejected, you usually don't need a new build: update the screenshots and use the "Reply" option in App Review to tell the reviewer the metadata has been corrected, or resubmit the same build for review from the version page. If Apple rejected the whole submission, click "Submit to App Review" again after saving the new screenshots. Metadata-only fixes are typically re-reviewed quickly. Appealing a screenshot rejection is rarely worth it — about 85% of appeals are denied, and replacing images takes minutes.
How AscAuto handles 2.3.3 rejections
Screenshot and metadata rejections (2.3.x) are where AscAuto is most automatic. It parses the rejection, identifies exactly which screenshot sets and fields were flagged, prepares the corrected metadata, and — when its confidence is above your threshold and the change is classified as safe — applies the fix through the official App Store Connect API and resubmits. Below the threshold, the proposed change waits in your approval queue instead. Either way you never re-type anything into App Store Connect.
FAQ
Do I need to upload a new build to fix a 2.3.3 rejection?
Usually not. Screenshots are metadata in App Store Connect. If only your screenshots were flagged, replace them and reply to the reviewer or resubmit the same build.
Can my screenshots have text overlays and device frames?
Yes. Captions, backgrounds and device frames are standard practice and allowed. The requirement is that real, current app UI is clearly visible and accurately represents what users get.
Which screenshot sizes does Apple actually require?
At minimum one iPhone set (6.9-inch, or 6.5-inch as a fallback) and, if your app runs on iPad, one iPad set (13-inch or 12.9-inch). Smaller sizes are scaled down from these automatically unless you upload separate ones.
My app is login-first — how do I show it "in use"?
Screenshot the screens behind the login using a test account. The reviewer knows apps have login screens; they just don't accept the login screen as the only evidence of functionality.