Widget App Review checklist
Widgets extend the app outside the app. Review readiness depends on whether the widget is useful, current enough, privacy-conscious, and connected to the right in-app state.
A widget should show a small, timely summary that helps users decide whether to act. Apple WidgetKit is for content in contexts outside the app. AppReviewReady interpretation: define the widget's data contract, refresh tolerance, privacy mode, and tap destination before submitting.
Define the widget data contract
A widget should answer a narrow question: next task, current balance, today's progress, latest status, active timer, upcoming trip, or quick control. If it tries to replace the full app, it becomes crowded and harder to validate.
Document the data source, freshness expectation, privacy level, empty state, signed-out state, and tap destination for each widget family. This is more useful than treating the widget as a resized screenshot.
Test every family and configuration
- Small, medium, large, accessory, and platform-specific widgets should each have a layout that fits real data.
- Configurable widgets should handle missing, deleted, renamed, and inaccessible entities.
- Placeholders should not expose private sample data or misleading production claims.
- Dark mode, tinted mode, StandBy, Lock Screen, and watch complication contexts should be checked where supported.
Design for acceptable staleness
Widgets are not guaranteed real-time dashboards. Decide how stale the data can be before it becomes misleading. A hydration reminder can tolerate delay differently from an account security status, package arrival, or financial balance.
AppReviewReady interpretation: include the last-updated label when stale data could change user decisions. If the widget cannot refresh reliably enough for the claim, narrow the claim.
Protect data visible outside the app
- Install the widget on a locked-device surface and inspect what a bystander can read.
- Test signed-out, locked, deleted-account, family-shared, and denied-permission states.
- Avoid showing sensitive health, finance, location, child, or private-message details unless the user chose that display.
- Make redaction, placeholder, or privacy mode behavior clear and useful.
- Tap the widget and verify the app opens to the matching detail screen without bypassing authentication.
Prepare a widget review note when the value is hidden
Review Notes are especially useful when the widget needs app data before it becomes meaningful. Provide a sample account or seed path rather than leaving the reviewer with only empty placeholders.
If the widget displays data generated by a server, record what happens when the server is slow or the account has no recent activity. A useful placeholder should explain the next user action without making the widget look broken or advertising a feature unavailable in the submitted build.
For apps with multiple accounts or workspaces, test switching context after adding the widget. The widget should not keep showing old private data from a previous account after sign-out, account deletion, or workspace removal.
Widget review path: Widget families: [list] Configuration needed: [entity or none] Freshness expectation: [minutes/hours] Privacy behavior: [locked/signed out] Tap destination: [screen] Sample data: [how to create]
Primary references checked for this guide
Policy statements above are grounded in the linked Apple documentation. Operational recommendations are AppReviewReady's interpretation and should be tested against your app and the current guideline text.
Audit widget readiness
Check widget data, privacy, configuration, and tap behavior before review.
Open the tool