WKWebView links open in a new window but nothing handles the popup
Check PB-42 · App Store Review Guideline 2.1 · Review warning · verified 2026-09-16
Why App Review rejects under Guideline 2.1
2.1 is the single most common rejection because it is a catch-all: crashes, dead links, placeholder content, a demo account that does not work, a feature the description promises but the build does not have. The reviewer runs the app on a real device for a few minutes and reports whatever breaks. The frustrating part is that most 2.1 rejections are mechanical and visible in the build before you upload: a framework that was not embedded (crash on launch), a support URL that returns 404, a leftover localhost address from development. Fix what they named, then look for what they did not name — on the next round they only re-check the diff.
How to fix it
In a WKWebView, a link with target="_blank" (or window.open) does nothing unless the app implements WKUIDelegate's webView(_:createWebViewFor:navigationAction:windowFeatures:) — the tap silently fails and App Review reports it as a broken feature under 2.1. Either implement that delegate method (load the request in the same web view or open it in Safari), or strip target="_blank" from the web content. react-native-webview: set setSupportMultipleWindows={false} or handle onOpenWindow.
How RejectProof detects it
The scan reads your .ipa in the browser (or locally with npx rejectproof): Info.plist, entitlements, the privacy manifest, embedded frameworks and the executable itself. Check PB-42 reports the exact evidence it found — the key, the symbol, the file or the URL — so you can confirm it in your own project before changing anything. Nothing is uploaded; only a small redacted summary is sent to build the report, and you see it first.
Related Guideline 2.1 checks
- PB-30 Development server references left in the build
- PB-33 Dead links inside the app
- PB-34 Embedded framework missing — crash on launch
- PB-35 Missing arm64 slice / unsupported architecture
- PB-36 Minimum iOS in Info.plist does not match the binary
- PB-43 Localized resources shipped but CFBundleLocalizations not declared