Guideline 5.1.1(v) forced registration rejection: how to fix it

What App Store Guideline 5.1.1(v) says

Guideline 5.1.1(v), Account Sign-In, states that if your app does not include significant account-based features, you should let people use it without a login. If your app supports account creation, you must also offer account deletion within the app. Apps may not require users to enter personal information to function, except when it is directly relevant to the core functionality of the app or required by law.

The rule also addresses social sign-in. If your core functionality is not tied to a specific social network, you must provide access without that login or through another mechanism, and pulling basic profile information, sharing, or inviting friends does not count as core functionality. The official text lives on the App Store Review Guidelines page.

Why apps get rejected under 5.1.1(v)

Common triggers:

• The first screen is a sign-up or login wall, and there is no way to use the app without an account.
• The gated content is not account-specific, for example a catalog, a feed, or a tool that works the same for everyone.
• The app requires a social network login to reach features that are not about that social network.
• The app collects personal information up front that the core feature does not need.
• The app supports account creation but provides no way to delete the account from inside the app.

The thread is that the app demands registration or personal data before delivering value that does not depend on an account.

How to fix it

1. Let people in first. Allow access to the non account-based parts of the app without a login, so a reviewer and a new user can see the value before signing up.
2. Gate only account features. Present the registration or login step at the moment the user chooses an account-specific feature, not on launch.
3. Drop unnecessary data collection. Stop requiring personal information that the core feature does not need.
4. Add in-app account deletion. If the app supports accounts, include a clear in-app path to delete the account, following Apple's guide to offering account deletion in your app.
5. Provide a demo account if a login is genuinely required for the core feature, so the reviewer can evaluate it.

Remember that submitted is not approved. A resubmission goes back through review, and Apple checks whether people can use the app without an unnecessary login.

How AppFlight helps

AppFlight builds your native iOS app in Swift and SwiftUI from your prompt, and it can wire authentication through an integration like Supabase, so sign-in can be added where it belongs rather than as a wall on the first screen. Because the flow is generated to your description, you can ask for a guest path into the non account-based parts of the app and a sign-in step only for account features, plus in-app account deletion. When Apple returns a 5.1.1(v) rejection, AppFlight reads the rejection reason, works on the sign-in flow, and resubmits the build. AppFlight does not guarantee approval. Apple reviews every app and every resubmission, and the access path has to genuinely match the rule.