The Support URL is easy to treat as a box to tick, which is exactly why it causes avoidable rejections. It is a required field, and Apple checks that the page actually works and actually lets users reach you. A placeholder, a broken link, or a page with no contact method will hold up your submission. Here is what the field requires and how to satisfy it without building a website.
Short answer
Yes, the App Store Connect Support URL is mandatory for every app, while the Marketing URL is optional. Under Guideline 1.5, the page it points to must be functional and give users an easy way to contact you, such as a support email, a contact form, a phone number, or a ticket system. An FAQ alone is not enough, and a placeholder, a coming-soon page, or a broken link gets the app rejected. You do not need a full website, just a simple, live page with a real contact method, and it is editable metadata you can fix without a new build.
What you should know
- The Support URL is required: every app needs one, unlike the optional Marketing URL.
- It must work: a broken, empty, or coming-soon page is rejected.
- It must offer contact: a support email, form, phone number, or ticket system.
- An FAQ alone is not enough: there has to be a way to reach you, not just answers.
- It is metadata: you can fix or change it without uploading a new build.
Is the Support URL required?
Yes. App Store Connect requires a Support URL for every app, and you cannot submit without one. The Marketing URL beside it is optional, which is where the confusion comes from, but the Support URL is not. Guideline 1.5 frames the reason: people need to know how to reach you with questions and support issues, and your app and its Support URL must include an easy way to contact you. So the field exists to give users a route to help, and Apple treats a missing or non-working route as a real defect, not a formality. It is also one of the few metadata fields a reviewer actively opens and tests, so unlike a field they only read, the Support URL is checked by visiting it.
What must the support page contain?
A working way to contact you. The page has to give at least one real contact method, an email address, a contact form, a phone number, or a support ticket system, and that method has to be live and monitored. An FAQ or a help article is fine to include, but on its own it does not satisfy the requirement, because it answers questions without letting a user reach a person. The table sorts common support pages.
| Support URL | Acceptable? |
|---|---|
| A page with your support email or a contact form | Yes |
| A page with an FAQ and a contact method | Yes |
| An FAQ page with no way to contact you | No, it needs a contact method |
| A coming-soon or empty placeholder page | No |
| A broken or non-resolving link | No |
| A bare social media profile with no contact path | Risky, provide a real contact method |
Do I need a website for the support URL?
No. The Support URL does not require a full website, only a single live page that loads and offers a contact method. A simple page on a free site builder, a one-page site, or even a hosted document works, as long as it resolves and shows users how to reach you. Many indie developers use a dedicated support page with a support email and a short note about the app. What matters to App Review is that the link works and a user landing on it can contact you, not how elaborate the page is.
What gets a support URL rejected?
A page that does not work or does not let users reach you. The common failures are a broken or non-resolving link, a placeholder or coming-soon page, a page with only an FAQ and no contact method, or a bare social media handle that gives no real way to get support. Apple expects the version you submit to be final, with fully functional URLs and no placeholder content, so a support page that is not finished is treated as incomplete. The fix is the same in every case: make the page resolve, and make sure a user landing on it can find a way to contact you within a moment. Each of these is a metadata problem, so it surfaces as a metadata rejection rather than a binary issue, and the upside is that a support URL fix never needs a new build, so you correct the page or the link and resubmit.
What to watch out for
The first trap is treating the Support URL as a formality and pointing it at a page that is not ready, when Apple actually visits it and checks for a contact method. The second is an FAQ-only page, which looks helpful but fails the requirement because there is no way to contact you. Since this is metadata, you can correct it without a new build by editing the field and resubmitting. The Support URL has nothing to do with the security of your app, so it sits apart from a pre-submission scan; a scan such as PTKD.com (https://ptkd.com) reads the compiled binary against OWASP MASVS for the security side, while the Support URL is a quick metadata fix.
What to take away
- The Support URL is mandatory for every app; the Marketing URL is the optional one.
- The page must be functional and offer a real contact method, such as an email, a form, a phone number, or a ticket system.
- An FAQ alone, a placeholder, a coming-soon page, or a broken link will be rejected.
- You do not need a full website, only a live page with a contact method, and it is editable metadata, separate from the binary checks a pre-submission scan such as PTKD.com performs.
