Submitting to the App Store? Try this checklist.

You’ll want to make sure your app looks good on devices of all sizes and aspect ratios, so that every user has a pleasant experience. The big things to look out for here are how your app handles safe areas, adaptive layouts (don’t forget about Dynamic Type), and small screens like that pesky iPhone SE. If your app targets iPad or landscape orientation, be sure to test those as well.

Apple requires that every app submitted to the App Store has a legally compliant Privacy Policy accessible in the app and on the product page. This can be as simple as a link in your Settings page to a publicly accessible URL hosted on your website somewhere, but without it your app will be rejected. If you've got a paywall, your privacy policy must be accessible from both sides as well.

Before you’re ready to show your shiny new app off to the masses, you’ll want to use TestFlight to gather feedback from beta testers. Testers will help you identify any potential launch day blow-ups before they happen. Try not to provide too much guidance to testers here - let them discover your app organically and pay attention to any confusion or sticking points they come across.

While not strictly necessary, you’ll likely want to launch your app with some tooling to keep track of crashes, bugs, and some basic analytics. Crash reports will help you track down and diagnose those tricky to find bugs that will inevitably slip through even the most rigorous of QA.

Basic analytics will allow you to better understand how users move through your app, and gain an objective view on what features users are and aren’t using to guide future development. Our current favourites are Mixpanel for analytics and Sentry for crash reporting, but spend a little time researching a solution that works for you, and your budget.

This is the first thing users will see of your app, so make sure it grabs their attention. Your icon should be simple but recognizable. You can always refer to Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines for more info.

This is the elevator pitch for your app, like a first introduction at summer camp. Keep it short and sweet, but let users know what makes your app special.

At the very minimum, you’ll want 3 screenshots at the most common device resolutions. Apple will automatically scale your screenshots for any resolutions you don’t provide, so while you can save time skipping some, beware they may come out looking a little funny.

A good description will draw users in with a short paragraph explaining why they will love your app, then use some bullet points to highlight key features. Keep all the best information up front, as users likely won’t read the whole description.

You get 100 characters to fill with all the keywords you can to help users find your app when searching. Make the most of your space by not repeating words, and try to choose words you think users searching for an app like yours might enter.

Crashes or instability will result in an immediate rejection, and reviewers test on real devices. While the simulator can be great for testing on a wide range of devices, be sure to try your app on as many real devices as you can to simulate an experience as close to your users’ as possible.

Ensure your Review Information section in App Store Connect is updated and accurate. If your app requires a login, set up a dummy user for the tester instead of making them create an account. If they can’t log in and test out your app, you’ll be rejected.

Webviews can be a great way to provide dynamic content or temporarily fill in screens that aren’t quite ready for a fully native experience, but they still need to feel native. As a rule of thumb, if a reviewer is able to browse around the wider web inside your webview, you’re likely to get rejected. Make sure your webviews are self-contained, and don’t link out to other pages when possible.

Your Privacy Policy should be easy to find within your app, generally at the bottom of your account or settings page. All permission requests (camera, location, contacts, etc) must also have a clear justification for why your app needs that access, and users must be able to revoke that consent and request data deletion.

Account deletion should be clear and simple. If you offer users the opportunity to create and sign in with an account, you’ll also need to provide them with a clear and easy way to delete their account and the associated data right in the app. Want to learn more? We’ve got you covered.

Don’t collect any more user data than you have to, and be completely transparent about what you are collecting. You’re also responsible for any third-party services you use, so be sure you understand what information any tools like analytics or bug tracking might be collecting as well. Xcode can generate a privacy report that summarizes all the third-party SDKs your app uses and what data they track to help you as well.

Any time your app allows users to create content other users might see, you’ll need to provide moderation tools for that content. At the minimum this means every piece of content needs a “report” button and every user profile needs a “block user” option.

If a user pays for anything digital inside your app, it must go through StoreKit. That means no linking to a web checkout and no unlocking features via external payment. Subscriptions also need clear pricing, trial terms if you offer them, and cancellation info displayed before the user commits.