Launch path
Ship an App
Eight steps between an idea and a live listing, ordered by how hard each one is to undo. Whether you wrote the code yourself or an AI wrote it for you, the store requirements are the same — and most of them have nothing to do with code.
- Step 1
Get a name worth checking
Most first-time launchers arrive with an idea and no name. Generate brandable candidates first, then take the best three or four into the checks below — it is far cheaper to discard a name now than after your icon, landing page and store listing all carry it.
- Step 2
Check the name on both stores
Apple enforces globally unique app names, so the iOS verdict is definitive — a collision means a rejected listing. Google Play does not reserve names at all, so for Android what matters is how crowded the name already is. One search covers both stores plus the matching domains and social handles.
- Step 3
Screen it for trademarks
Apple and Google both remove apps over intellectual-property complaints, and a trademark holder can take down a live, earning listing with a single form. Screen the register before you commit — for software that means Class 9 (downloadable software) and usually Class 42 (SaaS), which is where an examiner would look first. It is a screen, not legal advice.
- Step 4
Lock the package ID — this one is permanent
Your application ID (com.acme.notes on Android, the bundle identifier on iOS) is the single most irreversible decision in the whole launch. Once published it can never be changed and never be reused, even by you. It uses reverse-domain notation, so pick it from a domain you actually own rather than one you hope to.
- Step 5
Register the domain and stand up a page
Apple will not review your app without a working support URL, and Google Play requires a contact address on the listing. Both point at a website you do not have yet. A domain plus a single-page site clears the support URL, the privacy policy URL and your marketing page in one afternoon.
- Step 6
Write the privacy policy — it is a hard gate
App Store Connect will not let you submit without a publicly reachable privacy policy URL, and Google Play requires one for every app that handles user data. Apple additionally makes you declare each data type on the App Privacy label, and the declaration must match what your policy and your SDKs actually do. Analytics or crash reporting counts as data collection.
- Step 7
Budget the real numbers
The Apple Developer Program is $99 per year and recurring; the Google Play Console is a $25 one-time registration fee. Neither covers a domain, an icon, a landing page, or the Mac you need for an iOS build. Know the total before you start rather than at the submit button.
- Step 8
Submit without tripping the obvious rejections
Titles are capped at 30 characters on both stores. Apple's Guideline 4.3 removes apps that duplicate something already on the store, which is the wall AI-generated apps hit most often. Screenshots must show the real app. Get these right and the first review is usually the only review.
The two things every submission needs and nobody plans for
A live page to point the support and privacy URLs at, and a 1024×1024 icon. Neither requires a developer, and both block review until they exist.
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App launch questions, answered
- What do I actually need before I can submit an app?
- A name that clears the App Store, a permanent package ID, an Apple Developer Program membership ($99/yr) or Google Play Console account ($25 one-time), a 1024×1024 icon, screenshots of the real app, a publicly reachable privacy policy URL, and a support URL. Apple blocks submission without the last two.
- Do I need a website to publish an app?
- Effectively yes. Apple requires a support URL and a privacy policy URL in App Store Connect, and Google Play requires a privacy policy URL plus contact details. A single-page site satisfies all of them, so you need a domain and one page — not a full website.
- Can I change my app name or package ID later?
- You can change the store-listing name later on both stores, subject to review. You can never change the package ID or bundle identifier once the app is published — it is permanent and cannot be reused even if you unpublish. Decide it deliberately at step 4.
- I built my app with an AI tool. Does anything change?
- The requirements are identical, but one rejection reason hits AI-built apps disproportionately: App Store Review Guideline 4.3, which removes apps that duplicate something already on the store. If your app is a thin wrapper around a common template or a single API, expect scrutiny and be ready to show what is genuinely yours.
Start at step two
If you already have a name in mind, check it before you do anything else. It is the cheapest step and the one that invalidates the most work when it fails.
Check your app name