App Store review / Guidelines / 2.3.13
App Review Guideline · first-hand cases · checked Oct 24, 2026
Guideline 2.3.13: In-App Events
Short answerGuideline 2.3.13 lets you feature timely events from inside your app on the App Store. Events must be real, dated and about the event itself. We learned the unwritten part: a monthly challenge that repeats was rejected because it "does not introduce new features or content, or recurs too frequently". We removed just that item from the submission and the app version was accepted 19 minutes later.
“All event metadata must be accurate and pertain to the event itself, rather than the app more generally.” Guideline 2.3.13
What it means
In-App Events are cards on your App Store page and in search. Apple reviews each one. Premieres (a new feature, new content, a new season) pass easily; a recurring challenge is judged as routine use of the app, not an event.
What happened to us
Quiver's "Ten X November" challenge was rejected on October 20. Everything else in that submission was accepted within about an hour. Because one rejected item blocks the whole submission, we removed it through the API (PATCH /v1/reviewSubmissionItems/{id} with removed: true) and the version went to Accepted.
Every case on our account (2)
| App | Type | Submitted | Decided | Wait | Outcome | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quiver | Update | Oct 19, 2026 | Oct 20, 2026 | 1.2 h | Not approved | A monthly-challenge In-App Event was rejected: "does not introduce new features or content, or recurs too frequently" |
| Quiver | Update | Oct 19, 2026 | Oct 20, 2026 | 1.5 h | Approved | Version accepted 19 minutes later, after the event item was removed from the submission |
Wait = from the "Submitted" time in the Apple email to the decision email. Source: our App Review decision emails.
What worked
- Removing the single rejected item instead of cancelling the whole submission kept everything else approved.
- Only premiere-style events (a new feature or new content) since.
If you got Guideline 2.3.13: do this
- Use events for premieres, launches and limited content, not "do the thing the app always does, this month".
- If one event is rejected, remove that item from the submission rather than cancelling it.
- Make the deep link open the exact event screen.
Related
- Guideline 2.3.7: Accurate Metadata: names, keywords, prices
- Guideline 2.3.2: In-app purchases in metadata and promoted purchases
- App Store review times, monthly report
- Every guideline and message we hit
Sources
- Apple App Review Guidelines, 2.3.13: developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#2.3.13 (read Oct 24, 2026)
- Apple: In-App Events: developer.apple.com/app-store/in-app-events/
- Our decision data (every App Review email, CSV): tensorust.com/reports/app-store-review-times/2026-10/decisions.csv (through Oct 23, 2026)
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Up next
Often comes with this oneGuideline 2.3.7: Accurate Metadata: names, keywords, pricesThe next rule our apps ran into, with the cases and the fix.Read it next →Did this answer your question?