About App Review Decline Reasons

When you submit your app to the Wix App Market, the review team checks it against a set of technical, UX, and marketing requirements. If your app doesn't meet these, it's declined and you receive feedback explaining what needs to change.

This article covers the most common reasons apps are declined, organized by category, so you can address them before you submit, or fix them quickly if you get a decline notice.

Note: Your app is locked during the review period and can't be edited until the review is complete.

Tip: Before you submit, run through the App Checks and Testing Guide and make sure your app aligns with the App Market Guidelines.

Bugs preventing core functionality

Bugs preventing core functionality is the most common decline reason. If the review team can't use your app's core features, your submission is declined immediately.

Common issues include:

  • Buttons, forms, or interactive elements that don't respond or throw errors.
  • Widgets that appear distorted, blank, or fail to load in the editor or on the live site.
  • Dashboard pages that don't update after actions (for example, adding or deleting an item requires a manual page refresh).
  • Features that get stuck on loading indefinitely.

How to avoid it

Test your app thoroughly on a real Wix site before submitting, including after installation, after upgrading to a paid plan, and on the published live site. Wix offers free Premium development sites for exactly this purpose. Make sure every flow a user could take actually works end to end.

Listing and behavior mismatch

Even if your app doesn't crash, it may still be declined if it doesn't behave the way your listing says it does. The review team reads your listing description and tests the app against it.

Common issues include:

  • Features listed in your description or App Market listing are missing or partially implemented.
  • Functional flows that work differently than documented (for example, a form that submits but doesn't save data correctly).
  • Missing in-app navigation or guidance, such as a settings panel with no instructions for users who need to complete setup steps.

How to avoid it

Align your app's actual behavior with what your listing promises. If a feature is not yet ready, don't include it in your description. If your app requires specific setup steps, make them visible in the app. Don't rely on users finding external docs on their own.

Unclear app behavior and UX

The review team assesses whether your app is intuitive to use. An app can be fully functional but still get declined if users would find it confusing.

Common issues include:

  • No clear indication of what the app does when first installed.
  • Missing onboarding or tutorial for first-time users, especially for complex setup flows.
  • Text, banners, or messages that are confusing, incorrect, or irrelevant to the current user state (for example, showing a message meant for the Wix user to site visitors).

How to avoid it

Follow Wix's UX and UI best practices. Test your app as a first-time user would. What do they see on first install? Is it clear what to do next? If your app requires setup, prompt users to complete it.

App profile media

Your app's profile media is one of the first things users see in the App Market. Low-quality or non-compliant media is a very common decline reason.

Common issues include:

  • Images stretched or shrunk to fit the resolution requirements instead of being created to the correct dimensions.
  • Screenshots that show login or splash screens, plain text, or low-quality content rather than the app in use.

How to avoid it

Follow the full media specifications in Add Your Media. Aim for 5–6 high-quality images that show your app working on a real Wix site. Use images to tell a story: show key features progressively from one image to the next.

Market listing: App info

Your App Market listing text needs to be accurate, complete, and professionally written. The review team checks that links work, the description matches the app, and the content meets quality standards.

Common issues include:

  • Demo site URL pointing to a broken or empty page. A demo site is required when your app has a visual component on the live site.
  • Description written as a step-by-step guide or feature list instead of prose.
  • Spelling or grammar issues.
  • Missing or broken links to terms and conditions.
  • App name or description referencing brands you're not affiliated with.

How to avoid it

Review Add Your App Info before submission. Make sure your demo site is live, your description reads naturally, and all links work. Write your description in fluent paragraphs. The features section handles bullet points.

App audience and required products

If your app integrates with a specific Wix business solution (such as Wix Stores or Wix Bookings), you need to configure your app's audience requirements so it's only installed on compatible sites. Misconfiguring this is a common reason for decline.

Common issues include:

  • App requires Wix Stores but doesn't list it as an installation prerequisite.
  • App is listed as available worldwide but only supports specific countries.

How to avoid it

Read Add Your App Audience Info. Only require the products your app actually depends on. To verify your configuration, install your app on a site that doesn't have the required product. If configured correctly, Wix prompts the user to install the required product before your app can be installed.

Pricing and business model

Many pricing-related declines come down to incomplete setup or a business model that needs clarification before the team can approve the app.

Common issues include:

  • Pricing page not set up, or showing plans with no descriptions of what's included.
  • Pricing plans missing benefit descriptions or not clearly differentiated between tiers.
  • Business model set to "Free" when the app actually charges users through a mechanism not disclosed in the listing.
  • External pricing page is broken or leads to an error.
  • App uses external billing (for example, shipping fees or 3rd-party payments) without being set up as a Partner Billed App.

How to avoid it

Set up your pricing carefully before submitting. Use a Wix pricing page and make sure each plan has a clear name, description, and set of benefits. If your app uses external billing, configure it as a Partner Billed App before submitting.

Premium upgrade flow

If your app has paid plans, you're responsible for implementing the logic that restricts features for free users and guides them toward upgrading. The review team tests this flow, and it's a frequent source of declines.

Common issues include:

  • No upgrade button or call-to-action in the dashboard or editor.
  • Free users can access paid features without upgrading.
  • After upgrading, the app doesn't recognize the upgrade and still shows the free-tier experience.
  • Site visitors see upgrade prompts or owner-facing messages on the live site, when those should only appear in the editor or dashboard.
  • Widgets that appear on the live site for non-upgraded users when they're meant to be hidden.

How to avoid it

Implement plan detection using the app instance and enforce feature restrictions in your code. Add an upgrade CTA wherever a free user would hit a paywall. Test the full upgrade flow: install as a free user, upgrade, and verify the experience changes as expected. See Test Your App's Upgrade Process for step-by-step guidance.

Installation failures

If the review team can't successfully install your app, the review ends there.

Common issues include:

  • After installation, the app shows an error or lands on a broken page.
  • No way to create a new account if accounts are required.
  • Login or session issues when switching between different Wix sites during testing.

How to avoid it

Test your full installation flow on a fresh Wix site before submitting. Think about how a first-time user with no prior knowledge of your app would experience the installation flow.

Unreleased app profile version

If you've made changes to your app profile but haven't released a new version, the review team sees an incomplete or outdated profile.

Common issues include:

  • Profile changes saved as a draft but not released before submission.

How to avoid it

Before submitting, make sure you've released a new version that includes all your latest changes. Check that the version status in the app dashboard shows Released, not Draft.

See also

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