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Terms & Conditions Generator for iOS Apps

Written for App Store review: privacy nutrition labels, ATT, required-reason APIs and the privacy manifest.

Generate your terms and conditions Read the terms and conditions guide

For an app with a backend service, the EULA licenses the client and the terms govern the service. Subscription mechanics belong in the terms, but they have to describe Apple’s billing reality rather than a card-on-file model you do not control.

Apple does not merely require a privacy policy URL - it requires the policy to be consistent with the App Privacy details you declare, and review rejects submissions where they diverge. The nutrition label, the manifest and the policy are three views of the same facts, and reviewers compare them.

App Tracking Transparency governs cross-app and cross-site tracking. Accessing the advertising identifier or linking user data with third-party data for advertising requires the ATT prompt, and the policy has to describe the same behaviour the prompt asks about.

Privacy manifests added another layer. SDKs must declare their data collection and their use of required-reason APIs, and apps must include the manifests of the third-party SDKs they bundle. The SDK list is therefore also a recipients list.

What a terms and conditions for an iOS app has to cover

Subscription terms reflecting that Apple bills, renews and refunds - not you
Auto-renewal disclosure meeting Apple’s requirements and applicable renewal laws
Acceptable use, and the enforcement route for a user you need to suspend
User content licensing where the app hosts uploads
That refunds are handled through Apple, with your own goodwill position stated separately

How an iOS app actually moves personal data

Device and advertising identifiers

IDFA access requires ATT authorisation. IDFV, and vendor SDK identifiers, are separate and still personal data in most regimes.

Analytics and crash reporting SDKs

Firebase, Crashlytics, Amplitude and similar collect device, session and event data and transmit it to their own infrastructure.

Attribution and advertising SDKs

AppsFlyer, Adjust, Meta and Google SDKs perform exactly the cross-party linking ATT governs.

In-app purchases and subscriptions

Apple handles payment, but you receive transaction identifiers and subscription status, which are linked to the user.

Permissions-gated data

Location, contacts, photos, microphone, health and motion each require a purpose string that must match the policy.

Push tokens

Device tokens tied to installs, retained for as long as notifications are enabled, and a recipient relationship with your push provider.

Third parties the draft will ask you about

Apple · Firebase and Crashlytics · Amplitude or Mixpanel · AppsFlyer or Adjust · Sentry · RevenueCat · OneSignal · AWS or Google Cloud

The rules that apply

App Store Review Guideline 5.1

A publicly accessible privacy policy URL is mandatory, covering data collected, use, retention and third-party sharing, plus a way to revoke consent and request deletion.

App Privacy details (nutrition labels)

Declared per data type across data used to track, data linked to the user and data not linked. Must match the policy.

App Tracking Transparency

The ATT prompt is required before tracking, and the policy has to describe tracking consistently with it.

Account deletion requirement

Apps offering account creation must offer in-app account deletion, not merely a support email.

Privacy manifests and required-reason APIs

Apps and SDKs declare collected data and the approved reasons for using certain APIs, which surfaces third-party collection you may not have documented.

What the generated terms and conditions contains

Who the contract is with and how it is formed
Your legal entity, and the exact moment acceptance happens - account creation, checkout, or continued use.
The service, the licence and its limits
What you are actually providing, what the user may do with it, and what they may not.
Price, payment, renewal and cancellation
Billing cycle, auto-renewal, price-change notice, and how either side ends the arrangement.
Acceptable use and enforcement
The behaviour that gets an account suspended, and the process you follow before you suspend it.
User content and intellectual property
Who owns what, the licence you need to run the service, and the takedown route for infringing material.
Warranties, liability and indemnity
Disclaimers that survive local consumer law, and caps that are actually enforceable rather than theatrically broad.
Governing law, jurisdiction and disputes
The law that applies, the courts that hear it, and any pre-litigation steps you require.

Getting through App Store review

Inventory every SDK and what it collects
Including transitive dependencies. Privacy manifests make this list explicit.
Write the policy, then fill in the nutrition labels from it
Not the other way round - the policy is the document with room to be precise.
Host the policy at a stable public URL
Same URL in App Store Connect and inside the app’s settings screen.
Implement in-app account deletion
Reachable in a few taps, with a clear statement of what is deleted and what is retained by law.
Align ATT prompt copy with the policy
Both should describe the same tracking in the same terms.
Re-check on every SDK update
A new SDK version can change what is collected and what the manifest declares.

Where this usually goes wrong

Nutrition labels that do not match the policy

The most common privacy-related rejection. Reviewers read both.

Tracking without an ATT prompt

Or presenting the prompt after the SDK has already started collecting.

No in-app account deletion

An app that lets users register must let them delete in-app. A support email is not sufficient.

Undeclared third-party SDK collection

SDKs collect on their own account, and the privacy manifest requirement has made those flows visible to Apple.

Vague permission purpose strings

"To improve your experience" is rejected. The string has to explain the specific use.

A policy URL that 404s or sits behind a login

It must be publicly reachable, and reviewers check it.

Frequently asked questions

Does my iOS app need a privacy policy?

Yes. App Store Review Guideline 5.1.1 requires a publicly accessible privacy policy URL for every app, with no exception for free apps or apps that collect little data.

What happens if my nutrition labels do not match my policy?

Rejection is common, and inconsistency between declared collection and actual behaviour can also be a deceptive-practice issue with regulators independently of Apple.

Do I need an ATT prompt?

If you access the advertising identifier or link user data with third-party data for advertising or measurement, yes. Analytics used only for your own product typically does not require it, but SDK defaults often do more than expected.

Is in-app account deletion really mandatory?

Yes for apps that support account creation. It must be initiated inside the app rather than only through a website or support request.

Are terms and conditions legally binding?

They are when the user had a genuine opportunity to read them and took a positive step to accept. Clickwrap - a ticked box next to a visible link - holds up far more reliably than a "by using this site you agree" line in the footer.

What is the difference between terms of service and terms and conditions?

Nothing substantive. "Terms and conditions" is the more common phrasing in the UK and Commonwealth markets, "terms of service" in the US and in SaaS. The clauses do the same job.

Can I limit my liability to zero?

No. Most consumer regimes void attempts to exclude liability for death, personal injury or fraud, and unfair-terms rules strike out caps a court considers unreasonable. A cap that is drafted to survive review is worth more than one that is struck out entirely.

Do I need terms if I sell nothing?

If users can register, post, comment or upload, yes - the terms are what let you moderate, suspend and remove content without being in breach of contract yourself.