Guideline 2.3.2: subscription promotional image rejected

Guideline 2.3.2 covers the listing for your in-app purchases. One rejection it triggers easily: using your app icon as a subscription's promotional image. Apple wants an image specific to each purchase, or no image at all.

I got hit with it on Nolera, my wardrobe app, on two subscriptions at once. Here's what the rule asks for and how to fix it, even when your submission is locked.

What does guideline 2.3.2 say?

Guideline 2.3.2 is part of section 2.3 "Accurate Metadata" of the App Review Guidelines, which requires an accurate listing. It says three things:

• your description, screenshots and previews must clearly show what requires an additional purchase;
• if you choose to promote in-app purchases on the App Store, their name, image ("Screenshot" in the rule's text) and description must be suitable for all audiences and follow Apple's guidelines;
• your app must be able to complete a purchase started from the App Store.

The second part is the trap. In App Store Connect, every subscription and every in-app purchase has a "promotional image" field. You fill it in fast, with whatever you have on hand. And what you have on hand is the icon.

What Apple expects from a promotional image

The guidelines are on the Promoting Your In-App Purchases page.

• Format: high-quality PNG or JPEG, 1024 × 1024 pixels.
• Content: a unique image that represents this specific purchase.
• Screenshot: no, the image must not be a screenshot.
• App icon: no, the image must not be confusable with the icon.
• Text on the image: not recommended.
• Bottom-left corner: nothing important, Apple puts a frame there and sometimes the app icon.

In my opinion, that last point explains the icon rule. When a purchase shows up outside your listing, in search results for example, Apple already adds your app icon in the corner of the image. If the image is the icon itself, the visual says nothing about the purchase.

The 2.3.2 rejection I got on Nolera

On September 17, 2026, Nolera was rejected after a review on iPad Air. The message cited several rules, including 2.3.2: the subscriptions' promotional images weren't compliant.

The cause: on two subscriptions, the promotional image was a copy of the app icon.

The fix: I removed the images from both subscriptions, then recreated the submission.

The lesson: every element of your listing gets reviewed, including the ones you fill in without thinking. An optional field left empty costs you nothing. A badly filled field costs you a review cycle.

Do you really need a promotional image?

No, in the usual case. According to App Store Connect Help, the image is required in two cases: if you promote the purchase on your listing, or if you set up win-back offers. Outside those cases, you can leave the field empty. That's what I did on Nolera.

If you want to promote a subscription, make a real image: a visual with no text, readable at small sizes, that shows what the subscription unlocks.

Fixing a locked submission

After a rejection, your submission moves to "Unresolved Issues". In that state, the subscriptions it contains are locked: you can't delete their promotional image.

Here's what worked for me, using the App Store Connect API from the command line. I haven't checked the equivalent in the web interface.

1. Write down every item in the submission: the app version, each subscription, the subscription group, each in-app purchase.
2. Remove the faulty subscription from the submission. Careful: this removal can't be undone, and you can't add anything to that submission afterward.
3. Fix the subscription, which is editable again: delete or replace the image.
4. Cancel the submission, wait until the cancellation is complete, then create a new one.
5. Add back every item you wrote down in step 1, attach your build and resubmit everything.

If the rejection only concerns something you can fix without touching the subscriptions, the same submission can go back out. The details of dealing with Apple are in the guide on guideline 2.1.

The 2.3.2 checklist before submitting

• Every in-app purchase has a name and description suitable for all audiences.
• No promotional image is the app icon or a screenshot.
• A purchase you don't promote doesn't need an image: leave the field empty.
• Your description and screenshots clearly say what's paid.
• Subscriptions being submitted for the first time are attached to the app version.

For the full subscription setup, read in-app subscriptions with RevenueCat.

Avoiding the 2.3.2 rejection before your next submission

The Apple Review Kit bundles my pre-submission checklist, my fixed Apple rejections and Claude Code skills that review your project and your listing. If your submission is stuck and you want a human eye on it, book an hour with me: we go through it on a video call, on your screen. The full process is on the app rejected by Apple page, and the other common reasons are in why Apple rejects an app.

If you're preparing your first release, take your free diagnostic: it puts the steps in order and sends you my Apple anti-rejection checklist.

Frequently asked questions

Can you use the app icon as a promotional image?

No. Apple asks for an image that can't be confused with the app icon. Outside your listing, Apple already adds the icon in a corner of the image: repeating it adds nothing. That was the reason for my 2.3.2 rejection on Nolera.

What size should a subscription's promotional image be?

Apple asks for a 1024 × 1024 pixel PNG or JPEG file, in RGB, flattened and without rounded corners. The image is often shown small: it must stay readable once scaled down, with no important detail in the bottom-left corner.

Do you need a promotional image for every subscription?

No. The image is only required if you promote the subscription on your listing or set up win-back offers. Each promoted purchase then gets its own image. Otherwise, leave the field empty rather than putting the icon in it.

Do you need a new build after a 2.3.2 rejection?

No, not for this reason alone. The promotional image is part of the listing, not the binary. You fix it in App Store Connect and resubmit. In my case, I had to recreate the submission because the subscriptions were locked.