uarpie

Putting your app on the App Store

What uploading an iPhone app involves, for someone who has never done it — and where the platform stands today.

Where this stands: the platform cannot yet build the iPhone file (an .ipa) for you. Building one needs Apple hardware, which the platform will rent per build; that service is not connected yet, and your AI will tell you so honestly if you ask. What you can do today is the installable web app — open the link on an iPhone, Share, Add to Home Screen — which for a family or a club is usually the better answer anyway: no review, no yearly fee, updates instantly.

This page is here so you know what the store route involves when the build arrives.

Before you start — once, ever

  1. An Apple Developer account. developer.apple.com/programs. Apple charges $99 a year, in your own name, with identity verification and legal agreements only you can accept. For a business, Apple also asks for a D-U-N-S number, which is free but takes days.
  2. A Mac, or not. Uploading to Apple is normally done from a Mac with Apple's Transporter app. Without a Mac, the platform's release option (which uploads for you once your account is connected) is the way, when it exists.
  3. Things to write down: a name (30 characters), a subtitle, a description, an icon (1024×1024), screenshots for at least one iPhone size, a support web address, a privacy policy web address, and answers about what the app collects. Your AI can write the descriptions and the policy page.

Creating the app in App Store Connect

  1. Go to appstoreconnect.apple.com → My Apps → + → New App.
  2. Choose iOS, give it the name, choose the language, and choose the bundle ID (the platform tells you what it is — it looks like app.uarpie.family-books).
  3. Fill in the App Information and Pricing pages (Free).

Uploading the file

  • With a Mac: open Transporter, sign in, drop the .ipa in, and choose Deliver. A few minutes later the build appears under TestFlight in App Store Connect.
  • Without a Mac: the platform's release option does this step for you once your account is connected.

Under TestFlight, add yourself as a tester; you can install the app on your own iPhone before it is public.

The forms Apple needs

On the version page: the screenshots, descriptions, keywords, support and privacy addresses; the App Privacy questionnaire (what the app collects — your AI knows); the age rating questionnaire; and, if the app needs a login, a demo account for the reviewer.

Then choose the build under Build, and Add for Review → Submit to App Review.

The review

A person at Apple opens the app, usually within a day or two. Apple is stricter than Google: apps that are "just a website", have too little to do, or ask for a login without explaining why are commonly refused the first time. The email says exactly why; paste it to your AI. Approval means the app appears on the App Store within a day.

Updating it later

Each update is a new version number, a new build uploaded the same way, and a new (usually faster) review.