Certify Your Ring Application
Before your app can be published on the Ring Appstore, it must pass a certification review covering technical, security, and policy compliance. This guide walks through the submission flow and what to expect.
Prerequisites
- App configuration is complete (Configure phase)
- OAuth endpoints are deployed, accessible, and tested
- You have tested the account-linking workflow in the staging environment with both staging and production endpoints
Starting Certification
From your app's overview page, click the Certify section (step 4 in the app lifecycle). This opens the certification screen.
If a previous version was withdrawn, a banner at the top shows the withdrawn review details — version number, original submission date, and status. You can submit a new version whenever you're ready.
Submission Steps
The certification screen lists two items you must complete before you can submit:
1. Privacy & Legal Questionnaire
Click Complete questionnaire to open the questionnaire form. This helps Ring verify that your integration meets data protection and compliance standards.
The questionnaire is organized into five tabs:
| Tab | What it covers |
|---|---|
| General | Company overview (business description, location, years in operation) and business context (features provided through Ring, whether you serve users outside the US, whether the product targets children under 13). |
| Data processing | What Ring user data you collect, how each element is used, how you handle video metadata, data minimization practices, whether data is used for AI training, and any secondary uses beyond the core service. Also covers transparency disclosures — links to your privacy policy and terms of service, and how you communicate data practices to users. |
| AI governance | AI models in use, performance monitoring (drift, edge cases, consistency), version management, explainability of AI decisions, content and output controls, automated decision-making safeguards, and any law enforcement integrations. |
| Data protection | Security architecture (encryption, data flow diagrams, backups), security programs (pen testing, attestations, vulnerability management), access controls and monitoring, audit capabilities, employee training, compliance framework, rights management (consent, retention, DSARs, deletion), and privacy governance. |
| Third-parties | Which third parties access Ring data and why, vetting and monitoring processes, contractual safeguards, access revocation, audit trails, and whether users can restrict third-party sharing. |
Each tab contains a mix of free-text fields, radio buttons, and conditional follow-up questions. Fill in all required fields across every tab.
At the bottom of the questionnaire you have two options:
- Save draft — saves your progress so you can return later.
- Save and submit — finalizes and submits the questionnaire.
2. Add Notes for Reviewer
Click Add notes to open the reviewer notes form. These notes give the Ring certification team the context they need to test your integration end-to-end. The form has three fields (each 20–4000 characters):
- How can a Ring reviewer create an account on your platform? — Step-by-step instructions for creating a reviewer account, including any special credentials or signup links.
- How can a Ring reviewer perform account linking? — Describe the account linking process, including authentication steps and any Ring-specific OAuth flows.
- How can a Ring reviewer test the end-to-end integration with your app? — Explain how reviewers can test the full integration workflow, including test devices, sample scenarios, and expected outcomes.
Click Save when done.
Submitting for Review
Once both steps are complete, the acknowledgment checkbox at the bottom of the page becomes enabled:
"I have tested my app in staging environment. I was able to test the account-linking workflow with both my staging and production endpoints. I am ready for Ring's certification team to test my app with production endpoints for account linking."
Check the box, then click Start review process to submit your app for certification.
During Review
After submission, the portal shows your review status:
- Version and submission timestamp are displayed.
- Estimated completion: On average, 90% of submissions are reviewed in less than 48 hours. You'll be notified by email of status changes. To check your review status, go to the Ring Developer Console, select your app, and click Certify (enabled while certification is in progress). If your submission is incomplete, review times may be delayed or your submission may not pass.
- A Withdraw option becomes available 1 minute after submission if you need to pull the app back and make changes.
Review Outcomes
| Outcome | What happens next |
|---|---|
| Passed | Your app is certified and ready for the Publish phase. |
| Failed | Feedback is provided. Fix the issues, then resubmit (creates a new version). |
| Withdrawn | You pulled the submission. Resubmit when ready. |
Version History
Click Review version history from the certification page to see all submitted versions with their status (Certification Under Review, Deployment Pending, Certification Withdrawn) and last-active dates. The summary at the top shows total versions, the current live version, and the latest version number.
Updating a Live App
Once your app is live, some changes need to come back through certification as a new version and many don't. Check your change against this section before you submit — submitting when you don't need to costs you a review cycle, and shipping a change that needed review without submitting it puts your app out of compliance.
Changes That Don't Require Re-Certification
You can ship these to your own backend at any time without submitting a new version:
| Change | Example |
|---|---|
| Fixing a defect so your app behaves the way you certified it | A webhook handler that intermittently failed now processes events correctly |
| Performance, scaling, and reliability work | Adding caching, resizing infrastructure, tuning database queries |
| Infrastructure changes customers don't see | Moving between regions or hosts while keeping the same endpoint URLs and behavior |
| Correcting copy or visuals inside your app | Fixing a typo, adjusting layout or styling, replacing an icon |
| Dependency and security patching that doesn't change behavior | Upgrading a library, applying an OS patch |
The common thread is that none of these change what your app does, what data it handles, or what customers get. You can note them in the Latest release field the next time you submit a version, but they don't require a submission of their own.
Changes That Require Re-Certification
Submit a new version for re-certification when you make any of these changes. They correspond to the material changes listed in Program Requirements §7.
| Change | What to submit |
|---|---|
| Adding a feature or capability customers can see | New version, plus an updated Latest release description. Update your Detailed description if the change alters what your app does |
| Removing, reducing, or limiting a feature customers rely on | New version, plus updated descriptions |
| Moving an existing feature into a different pricing tier or subscription plan | New version |
| Changing what a subscription includes | New version |
| Changing what end user data you collect, how you use or store it, or who you share it with | New version, plus an updated privacy policy |
| Starting or stopping training an AI model on Ring device data | New version, plus an updated privacy policy |
| Changing your terms of service or privacy policy | New version |
| Changing a third party integration or service in a way that affects customer experience or data handling | New version |
Deciding on a Change That Isn't Listed
The list in Program Requirements §7 is not exhaustive. For anything you don't see above, your change is routine and needs no submission when all three of these hold:
- It restores behavior you already certified. The change brings your app back to what you documented and certified.
- Your data practices stay the same. What end user data you collect, how you use and store it, and who you share it with all stay as they are.
- What customers receive stays the same. The features customers rely on, and what subscribers get in every tier, all stay as they are.
If your change goes beyond any of the three, treat it as a material change and submit a new version.
A useful check: if you'd describe the change to customers as a new capability or an improvement to what they get, it needs re-certification, whatever your internal ticket calls it.
Changes That Follow a Different Path
Some changes to a live app aren't certification events at all:
| Change | How it works |
|---|---|
| Your distribution location | Edit it at any time from the Rollout process page. See Publish Your Ring Application |
How a Re-Certification Submission Works
A re-certification submission uses the same flow as your first one — see Submission Steps above. A few differences apply to an app that's already live:
- Submitting creates a new version. Your current version stays live and serving customers throughout the review.
- Update your reviewer notes so the certification team can test the change specifically, not just your integration in general.
- Revisit the Privacy & Legal Questionnaire if your change touches data handling, third parties, or AI use. Those answers are what the change is being reviewed against.
- After the new version passes, roll it out from the Publish phase. A gradual rollout is worth considering for customer-facing changes. See Publish Your Ring Application.
Developer FAQ & Certification Best Practices
For answers to frequently asked questions about account linking, nonce matching, device capabilities, and testing — as well as best practices for preparing your app for certification — see the Developer FAQ & Certification Best Practices page.
Related topics
- Developer FAQ & Certification Best Practices — Common questions and troubleshooting tips
- Publish Your Ring Application — Rollout strategies and deployment options
- Configure Your Ring Application — App registration, credentials, and endpoint setup
- Ring Appstore Program Requirements — Material changes and ongoing program obligations
- Ring Appstore Marketing Guidelines — Brand rules to follow when you announce your app
