App Review for messaging permissions, without three rejections
App Review is a person watching a video of your product using the permission you asked for. Almost every rejection is the same thing: the video did not show it working end to end, from a state the reviewer can see was fresh.
What the reviewer needs to see
- Login, on screen, with the test credentials you supplied.
- The permission being used - a message actually arriving, or actually being sent, in the live product.
- The result, visible. Not a success toast - the message in the conversation.
- Continuously. Cuts read as concealment even when they are not.
Why screencasts fail
| Rejection | What happened |
|---|---|
| Cannot reproduce | Test credentials did not work, or expired |
| Does not demonstrate the permission | The video showed the UI around it, not the thing itself |
| Appears to be a mock | Static screens, or data that never changes |
| Unclear use case | The written description did not match the video |
Record it on the account you gave them, in the environment they will use, on the day you submit. A video from your own admin account, on staging, three weeks ago is the single most common reason for "cannot reproduce".
The order that avoids the loop
- Business verification first. Several permissions cannot be granted without it, and finding that out at the end costs a full cycle.
- Build it working before you ask. Review is not permission to start; it is permission to go live with something already finished.
- Ask for the least you need. Every extra permission is another thing to demonstrate and another reason to bounce.
- Write the use case in the reviewer's terms. Who the users are, what they do, why the permission is necessary. Not your marketing copy.
If you are asking for human agent
Show a human agent. The whole justification for the seven day window is that a person is answering, so the video needs a person reading and typing - not an automation producing a reply that happens to be tagged.
Questions people actually ask
How long does Meta App Review take?
Days, usually, and longer if it bounces. Each rejection restarts the clock, which is why getting the screencast right first time is worth an afternoon.
Why was my screencast rejected?
Most often because it does not show the permission being used end to end from a fresh state, or because it shows a mock rather than the live product.
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