Based on a talk by Natallia Kulaha, a Senior Business Analyst at LeverX, delivered during LeverX’s Analyst Day — an internal educational event for Business Analysts.
When a mobile application is ready to meet its first real users, one final step stands between your product and the public: app store review.
For Business Analysts involved in mobile development, understanding this process is not just a matter of compliance — it’s a crucial part of delivering a product that reaches users without delays or rejections.
At LeverX’s Analyst Day, Senior Business Analyst Natallia Kulaha shared her detailed experience of navigating the Apple App Store and Google Play review processes. Her presentation, “Cracking the Stores,” broke down what every BA should know to help their team prepare a compliant, review-ready app.
“Think about this process like a security report check,” Natallia explained. “Before passengers — our real users — can download the application, it goes through a scan for safety and user experience.”
An app review is a mandatory procedure every mobile app must go through before it can be published or updated in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
The main goal is to ensure the application meets the platforms’ technical, content, legal, and design standards — all before it’s visible to real users.
“App stores receive all kinds of applications every day — from great polished products to weekend experiments,” Natallia noted. “This process helps prevent unnecessary, broken, or misleading apps from reaching users.”
For Business Analysts, understanding the app review process is key to:
Natalia grouped the core review standards into four categories — each of which Business Analysts can use as a review checklist before submission.
“If the application crashes or contains unfinished features, it will be uninstalled immediately,” Natallia warned. “Imagine downloading a banking app and instead of your balance, you see a ‘coming soon’ screen.”
“Don’t promise what you can’t deliver,” Natallia emphasized. “If your app claims users can make money in five minutes — make sure it really can.”
Apple and Google both evaluate user interface and navigation.
“It was a surprise for me, but yes — stores care about UI,” Natallia said. “Apple has Human Interface Guidelines, Google follows Material Design. Navigation must be intuitive and understandable for real users.”
How the App Review Workflow Works
Understanding the review flow helps teams plan timelines and manage stakeholder expectations.
Both platforms use automated tools to ensure apps install properly.
Here’s where Apple and Google differ:
“Google’s AI sometimes flags a feature for human attention,” Natallia said. “In this case, a real person reviews the app and decides whether to approve or reject it.”
While quick overall, Natallia cautioned teams to plan release dates with these review times in mind.
The app review should start with metadata. When submitting, ensure:
If rejected, teams receive a detailed rejection note (Apple) or a short message (Google). Once issues are fixed, the app can be resubmitted.
“Nobody died when my app got rejected,” Natallia joked. “The main idea is to understand the problem, fix it, and resubmit.”
Repeated violations, however, may lead to developer account suspension, especially if rejections involve the same issue or canceled reviews.
Certain functionalities directly impact approval chances. Business Analysts should verify their inclusion before submission.
Allows users to access public content without registration.
“Apple cares about freedom of users,” Natallia explained. “If you force login just to see public content, the app will be rejected.”
For apps with user-generated content (UGC) — posts, comments, uploads — content moderation is essential.
Natallia recalled a rejection:
“Our app was rejected because we didn’t include an AI profanity filter. We connected a plugin that replaced inappropriate words with ‘XXX’, and it passed.”
Required in any app that allows user-to-user interaction.
The feature must stop all communication — messages, calls, tags, and visibility — between blocked users.
Transactions for digital goods must go through Apple or Google’s in-app purchase system.
“Think of in-app purchases like cashiers for digital goods,” Natallia said. “They control quality, protect users — and take their commission.”
A relatively new requirement:
“Apple doesn’t allow redirection or admin contact — deletion must happen inside the app,” Natallia emphasized.
The Weird Side of App Review: Real Rejection Stories
Even technically perfect apps can be rejected for unexpected reasons.
“Sometimes the rules protect users’ privacy or the platform’s reputation,” Natallia reflected. “Other times, the reviewer’s taste or mood decides the fate of the product.”
Here are a few memorable examples from her presentation:
Lesson: Apps must serve a clear purpose. If it’s pointless, it’s rejected.
Lesson: Claims must be verifiable.
“Don’t promise magic,” Natallia said.
Lesson: Reviewers are human — don’t shock them.
“Nearly 30% of apps never reach the stores,” Natallia noted. “Not because they’re broken, but because someone decides they don’t belong there.”
What Business Analysts Should Do
A Business Analyst plays a key role in preventing app rejections long before the submission stage. Natallia outlined several best practices:
The app review process may seem unpredictable, but it exists to protect users and ensure platform trust. For Business Analysts, it’s an opportunity to strengthen product quality and reduce friction at launch.
“Sometimes it’s safety, sometimes it’s overprotection,” Natallia concluded. “The question is: Whose side are you on? The rulebook or the reviewer? Think about it.”
In the end, cracking the stores isn’t about finding loopholes — it’s about aligning your product with standards that make it safer, clearer, and more user-friendly.
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