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App Store Connect detects NSUserTrackingUsageDescription after removal in React Native/Expo rebuild #59785
Description
Description
Apple Developer Support directed us to seek technical support for our React Native/Expo app after it was rejected under App Store Review Guideline 5.1.2(i) – Data Use and Sharing.
Apple reports that our app contains NSUserTrackingUsageDescription, even though we do not implement App Tracking Transparency (ATT).
We inspected the compiled IPA files for two builds, 6.0.0 (5) and 6.0.0 (6), and confirmed that NSUserTrackingUsageDescription is absent from both.
However, App Store Connect continues to display the following error when we attempt to update our App Privacy declarations:
Your app contains NSUserTrackingUsageDescription, indicating that it may request permission to track users. To submit for review, update your App Privacy response to indicate that data collected from this app will be used for tracking purposes, or update your app binary and upload a new build.
We found a similar issue reported in [#47200](#47200).
Could React Native or its dependencies be triggering this detection despite the key being absent from the compiled binaries?
Steps to reproduce
- Upload a React Native/Expo iOS build without
NSUserTrackingUsageDescriptionto App Store Connect. - Navigate to Distribution → App Privacy → Data Types → Edit.
- Uncheck Other Diagnostic Data.
- Click Publish.
- App Store Connect displays an error stating that the app contains
NSUserTrackingUsageDescription, despite the key being absent from the uploaded IPA.
Note: This occurs with an existing app whose previous production version may have included ATT configuration. We have not reproduced it with a newly created app.
React Native Version
0.83.10
Affected Platforms
Runtime - iOS
Output of npx @react-native-community/cli info
npx @react-native-community/cli info
info Fetching system and libraries information...
System:
OS: macOS 26.5.2
CPU: (10) arm64 Apple M2 Pro
Memory: 449.03 MB / 16.00 GB
Shell:
version: "5.9"
path: /bin/zsh
Binaries:
Node:
version: 22.16.0
path: /Users/latoyaallen/.nvm/versions/node/v22.16.0/bin/node
Yarn:
version: 4.9.1
path: /opt/homebrew/bin/yarn
npm:
version: 11.7.0
path: /Users/latoyaallen/.nvm/versions/node/v22.16.0/bin/npm
Watchman: Not Found
Managers:
CocoaPods:
version: 1.16.2
path: /Users/latoyaallen/.rbenv/shims/pod
SDKs:
iOS SDK:
Platforms:
- DriverKit 25.5
- iOS 26.5
- macOS 26.5
- tvOS 26.5
- visionOS 26.5
- watchOS 26.5
Android SDK: Not Found
IDEs:
Android Studio: 2026.1 AI-261.26222.65.2614.16204760
Xcode:
version: 26.5/17F42
path: /usr/bin/xcodebuild
Languages:
Java:
version: 17.0.20.1
path: /opt/homebrew/opt/openjdk@17/bin/javac
Ruby:
version: 3.3.0
path: /Users/latoyaallen/.rbenv/shims/ruby
npmPackages:
"@react-native-community/cli": Not Found
react:
installed: 19.2.0
wanted: 19.2.0
react-native:
installed: 0.83.10
wanted: 0.83.10
react-native-macos: Not Found
npmGlobalPackages:
"*react-native*": Not Found
Android:
hermesEnabled: Not found
newArchEnabled: Not found
iOS:
hermesEnabled: Not found
newArchEnabled: Not found
info React Native v0.88.1 is now available (your project is running on v0.83.10).
info Changelog: https://github.com/facebook/react-native/releases/tag/v0.88.1
info Diff: https://react-native-community.github.io/upgrade-helper/?from=0.83.10&to=0.88.1
info For more info, check out "https://reactnative.dev/docs/upgrading?os=macos".
[ios-submission-oct-26][~/Code/LuxeHunt/luxe-front]
Stacktrace or Logs
No React Native stacktrace or runtime errors.
App Store Connect displays the following validation error:
"Your app contains NSUserTrackingUsageDescription, indicating that it may request permission to track users. To submit for review, update your App Privacy response to indicate that data collected from this app will be used for tracking purposes, or update your app binary and upload a new build."
We inspected the compiled IPA files for builds 6.0.0 (5) and 6.0.0 (6) and confirmed that `NSUserTrackingUsageDescription` is absent from their Info.plist files.
MANDATORY Reproducer
Not reproducible in an isolated React Native project. The issue occurs in App Store Connect when updating privacy declarations for an existing app.
Screenshots and Videos
Activity
react-native-bot commentedon Nov 3, 2026
Caution
Too old version: It looks like your issue or the example you provided uses a Too Old Version of React Native.
Due to the number of issues we receive, we're currently only accepting new issues against one of the supported versions. Please upgrade to latest and verify if the issue persists (alternatively, create a new project and repro the issue in it). If you cannot upgrade, please open your issue on StackOverflow to get further community support.
react-native-bot commentedon Nov 3, 2026
Caution
Too old version: It looks like your issue or the example you provided uses a Too Old Version of React Native.
Due to the number of issues we receive, we're currently only accepting new issues against one of the supported versions. Please upgrade to latest and verify if the issue persists (alternatively, create a new project and repro the issue in it). If you cannot upgrade, please open your issue on StackOverflow to get further community support.
react-native-bot commentedon Nov 3, 2026
Warning
Missing reproducer: We could not detect a reproducible example in your issue report. Reproducers are mandatory and we can accept only one of those as a valid reproducer:
You can read more about about it on our website: How to report a bug.