Common reasons why Teams apps extensible across Microsoft 365 fail app review
Microsoft extensively reviews apps submitted to the Microsoft Teams store for bugs and potential Microsoft commercial marketplace policy violations. Many apps fail the initial review and only get approval for publishing after they're bug-free and compliant with Microsoft commercial marketplace certification policies.
This section gives you a deeper understanding of the common reasons why Teams apps extensible across Microsoft 365 fail the initial review, help address these issues during app development, and increase the chances of your app passing the review process.
The following are the common reasons why apps fail the review:
| Capability | Common reasons for app validation failure |
|---|---|
| App functionality | Your app must avoid the following common functional issues in Microsoft 365 and Outlook clients: - Continuous loading indicator in tabs and a tab that doesn't load. - Blank screen in tabs after adding the app to Microsoft 365 and Outlook clients which prevents the user from accessing the app workflows. - Error messages in the app. - Call to action buttons not performing the intended action until the session is refreshed. - App requests for authentication in the Outlook client every time the user switches between tabs. - The content in the Help or About tab is specific to Teams and doesn’t include any content for Outlook or Microsoft 365 clients. - The content in the app is specific to Teams and doesn’t include any content to support workflows in the Microsoft 365 and Outlook clients. - Login issues for the app in Outlook. |
| App responsiveness | You must avoid the following issues in your app before you submit for review: - Horizontal scroll bar in tabs. - App with truncated content. Before you submit your app for review, ensure there are no truncations or overlaps in your app’s content that leads to end user dissatisfaction or affect completion of a supported workflow in the app. You must similarly test your app for truncation or overlap of content in the latest versions of Android and iOS. Ensure to test it in Teams, Outlook, and Microsoft 365 on web and desktop. Use a screen resolution of 1920x1080p and a scale of 100% on the latest Windows, macOS, Edge, and Chrome versions. |
| App package and store listing (metadata and manifest) | You must avoid the following common issues in your app before you submit for review: - App listing screenshots are only relevant to the Teams client. - App description in app manifest or metadata is only relevant to the Teams client. - Support URLs, privacy policy, or Terms of use content in app manifest or metadata is only relevant to the Teams client. If you're building a Teams app extensible across Microsoft 365, you must ensure your app listing metadata, support URLs, privacy policy, and Terms of use are relevant for Microsoft 365 and Outlook clients to avoid end user or admin confusion. |
Follow the guidelines outlined here to successfully pass the review process.