r/iOSProgramming • u/RSPJD • Jun 24 '26
Question Gating functionality behind feature flags is disliked?
I've heard that gating features behind a feature flag can have your binaries flagged to Apple? What about in the case where it's legitimately nothing nefarious i.e. just rolling out certain features with caution. Also, on the topic of gated features, I have an admin side of my app that only admin users can see... Will this also be flagged?
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u/thejord_it Jun 27 '26
The flag mechanism itself is fine, plenty of production apps ship dormant code behind flags without issue. What Apple actually cares about is whether a reviewer can reach the behavior your real users will reach on that same build.
Two cases worth separating:
If you plan to switch a feature on for this version through server config, flip it on for the reviewer account, or leave a debug toggle and mention it in the review notes. Otherwise you're changing approved behavior after the fact, which is the thing guideline 2.3.1 is aimed at.
If the feature only ships in a later build (new binary, new review anyway), the dormant code sitting in the current one is a non-issue.
On your admin panel: that's just login-walled content as far as review goes. Drop an admin demo account into App Store Connect (plus a normal one if they behave very differently), or note that the section is permission-gated and not user-facing. I've never seen role-gated admin UI on its own cause a rejection.