How do I get my app onto the App Store and Google Play?

Also searched as: Publish app to App Store · Publish app on Google Play Store · How to launch app on App Store · How to make app live on Play Store · App rejected App Store

Updated 3 October 2026

Short answer

You need a developer account with each store, in your own name: Apple charges 99 USD a year and Google a one-off US$25. Then you submit a build that has been tested on real devices and doesn't crash, with your backend switched on, a privacy policy, and a demo login for the reviewer. New personal Google Play accounts must also run a closed test with at least 12 testers for 14 days before going public.

What's the problem

The app runs on your phone or in a simulator. Getting it into the stores means accounts, certificates, store listings, review, and sometimes rejection, all before a single customer can download it. For many apps the reviewer is also the first stranger to ever use it, and that's where hidden problems show up.

Why it happens

  • Reviewers test the real thing. Apple asks for an app tested on-device, a demo account if there's a login, and the backend switched on. If the server behind the app is down or unfinished, the app fails review even when the app itself is fine.
  • Crashes are an automatic no. Apple rejects builds that crash or have obvious technical problems. A build that works in development can crash in its release form, for example when a setting it needs was only on the developer's machine.
  • The rules go beyond the code. Apple requires a privacy policy, linked in the store listing and inside the app. If people can create an account in your app, they must be able to delete it from inside the app too.
  • Google added a waiting period. Personal developer accounts created after 13 November 2023 must run a closed test with at least 12 testers, opted in continuously for 14 days, before they can apply for production.

How to fix it

  1. Open the developer accounts in your own or your business's name. If your developer published the app under their account, see moving an app off your developer's account.
  2. Get the backend live first. The app is only as available as the server it talks to.
  3. Test the release build on real phones, not just the simulator, and fix anything that crashes.
  4. Prepare what review asks for: a privacy policy page, in-app account deletion if users can sign up, screenshots, a description, and a working demo login for the reviewer.
  5. On Google Play with a new personal account, start the 12-tester closed test early. It's 14 days of calendar time you can't speed up.
  6. Submit, and read any rejection carefully. Apple's and Google's messages name the guideline. Fix that specific thing and resubmit.

When to call Preventionlabs

Call us when the app itself is the problem: it crashes, its backend isn't live, or nobody can build it any more. Getting it running is the job, with its backend deployed in your own hosting account, protected to MVP level, and on infrastructure that scales. Store approval is Apple's and Google's decision, so it isn't something we, or anyone, can promise, and it isn't part of what we deliver. What we deliver is an app that runs, with a backend that stays up, so that's what the reviewer sees.

Submit your project for a free assessment

Free assessment. $10,000 AUD flat to get it live, only if we take it on and you go ahead.

Sources

  1. Apple: App Review Guidelinesapp store rulesMake sure your app has been tested on-device for bugs and stability before you submit it, and include demo account info (and turn on your back-end service!) if your app includes a login.
  2. Apple: App Review Guidelinesapp store rulesWe will reject incomplete app bundles and binaries that crash or exhibit obvious technical problems.
  3. Apple: App Review Guidelinesapp store rulesIf your app supports account creation, you must also offer account deletion within the app.
  4. Apple: App Review Guidelinesapp store rulesAll apps must include a link to their privacy policy in the App Store Connect metadata field and within the app in an easily accessible manner.
  5. Apple: Program enrollmentdeveloper programThe Apple Developer Program annual fee is 99 USD and the Apple Developer Enterprise Program annual fee is 299 USD, in local currency where available.
  6. Google Play: App testing requirements for new personal developer accountsapp store rulesDevelopers with personal accounts created after November 13, 2023, must run a closed test for their app with a minimum of 12 testers who have been opted in continuously for at least 14 days.
  7. Google Play: Get started with Play Consoledeveloper programThere is a US$25 one-time registration fee that you can pay with the following credit or debit cards:

Related

My app is on my developer's App Store account. How do I move it? Both stores let the current holder transfer an app to your account, keeping reviews and users. They have to start it, and you need your own account first. My app crashes as soon as it opens. Why? The crash report names the line. Usually the release build lacks something the test build had: a setting or key, code stripped to save space, or a live backend. My app was removed from the App Store. Why, and can I get it back? Stores remove apps that crash, break the rules, or go years without updates. Update it to current requirements and resubmit; Apple sets no time limit. How do I get my app live? Hosting that fits how the app is built, its settings, a database, your domain and HTTPS. The order to do it in, and where projects usually get stuck.
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