App launch compliance checklist
A rejection or takedown at launch is the most avoidable delay there is. This is the compliance groundwork to lay early, while it's cheap to get right.
Before launch, most apps need to handle the compliance basics: a privacy policy and accurate data-disclosure labels, consent and data-protection compliance (such as GDPR and CCPA), justified permission requests, an appropriate age rating, and any rules specific to your category — health, finance, payments, or children. Handling these during planning is cheap; discovering them at store review, or after a complaint, is not.
This is a planning checklist, not legal advice. For anything regulated or high-risk, confirm your specifics with a qualified professional.
Why handle compliance early
Compliance shapes architecture and design, so it belongs in the PRD, not the launch checklist. How you collect consent, what data you store, and which permissions you request all affect how the app is built. Retrofitting compliance means rework; designing for it up front is mostly free. It's also a common source of app-store rejection, which can delay a launch by weeks.
Privacy policy and data disclosure
Nearly every app needs a privacy policy that clearly states what data you collect, why, how it's used, and who it's shared with. Both stores also require accurate data-disclosure summaries — Apple's privacy "nutrition labels" and Google Play's Data Safety section — that must match what your app actually does. Inaccurate labels are both a review risk and a trust problem, so get them right rather than optimistic.
Consent and data-protection laws
If you serve users in regions with data-protection laws — the EU's GDPR, California's CCPA, and a growing list of others — you have obligations around consent, transparency, access, and deletion. In practice that means collecting only the data you need, obtaining meaningful consent where required, and giving users a way to see and delete their data. Designing for data minimization from the start makes this far easier than bolting it on.
Permissions and their justification
Every permission your app requests — location, camera, contacts, notifications — needs a genuine reason tied to a feature, and the stores increasingly require you to explain why. Request permissions in context, at the moment they're needed and the value is clear, rather than all at once on first launch. Over-asking hurts both compliance review and activation, since users deny or abandon apps that demand access before showing value.
Age ratings and apps for kids
You'll set an age rating based on your content and features, and it must be accurate. If your app is directed at children, a stricter regime applies — in the US, COPPA imposes real obligations around children's data, and both stores have dedicated kids' program rules. Apps for or appealing to children carry meaningfully higher compliance requirements, so know early whether you're in that category.
Category-specific rules
Some categories carry their own obligations on top of the basics. Health apps that handle medical information, financial apps, and anything processing payments face additional regulatory and store requirements. If you take payments for digital goods, the platforms' in-app purchase rules and fees apply (rules that have been shifting, so verify the current terms). Identify your category's specific requirements during planning — they can materially affect scope, cost, and timeline.
Accessibility and terms
Round out the basics with accessibility and clear terms. Building the app to be usable with assistive technology is both the right thing and, increasingly, an expectation and in some contexts a requirement — and it overlaps heavily with good design. A terms-of-service agreement sets the rules of use and protects you. Neither is exotic, and both are cheaper to do as you build than to add under pressure later. For the full pre-launch picture, see launch and retention.