Prepare your Apple Developer account (Coming Soon)
A step-by-step checklist to get your Apple Developer account ready so we can publish your app to the App Store the moment the feature is live.
Coming Soon — App Store publishing is in early access. Contact support to join the waitlist.
Publishing to the App Store happens under your own Apple account — you own the app, and Apple's fees go to you, not through us. This is the one part of the process you can get a head start on today. Work through this checklist and you'll be ready to publish the moment the feature turns on for your account.
For the big picture, start with Publish to the App Store.
1. Enroll in the Apple Developer Program
Apple charges $99 per year for a developer account, paid directly to Apple. You'll choose an account type when you enroll:
- Individual (recommended for most people) — approves in 1–2 days, and there's no D-U-N-S number to chase down. Your personal or business name is on file with Apple, but the App Store listing still shows your app's own branding.
- Organization — choose this only if you need a registered company name shown as the seller on your listing. It takes longer and requires a D-U-N-S number for your business.
Enroll at developer.apple.com. When in doubt, pick Individual — you can always move to an Organization account later.
2. Accept Apple's agreements
Once enrolled, open App Store Connect and accept the current Paid Apps and legal agreements (under Business). Builds can't be uploaded until these are accepted, so it's worth doing right away — even if your app is free.
Open App Store Connect.
3. Create a secure key so we can publish for you
To upload your app and manage your listing without you living in Xcode, we use a secure key you generate in your account. It's quick:
- In App Store Connect, go to Users and Access → Integrations → Keys.
- Create a new key with the App Manager role. (Use App Manager, not Admin — it's the least access needed to do the job.)
- You'll get three things to paste into the publish wizard:
- Key ID — a short code shown next to the key.
- Issuer ID — a longer code (the same for every key in your account).
- The key file (a
.p8file) — download it.
A few things to know about the key file:
- It downloads only once. Apple will never let you download that same file again — so save it somewhere safe the moment you create it. (If you lose it, no harm done: just delete that key and make a new one.)
- Apple allows only two active keys on an account at a time. If you're already at the limit, revoke an unused one first.
- Your key is encrypted and stored securely on our side, never shown again, and you can revoke it anytime in App Store Connect. With it, we can upload builds and manage your listing — we cannot touch your bank or tax details, or accept agreements on your behalf.
4. Add yourself as a test tester
Apple's TestFlight lets you try a build on your own phone before it goes to the public. Add yourself as an internal tester in App Store Connect so your first build lands on your phone the moment it's ready — you'll confirm it looks right before it's ever submitted for review.
One small manual step later
When you reach the branding step of the wizard, you'll get a bundle ID (your app's permanent unique identifier). You'll use it to create the app's record in App Store Connect — a roughly two-minute step Apple requires you to do yourself. Everything after that is automated. We'll walk you through it in the wizard.
What to read next
- Publish to the App Store — the full overview
- Selling in your mobile app — how payments work by country
- Mobile app capabilities — what your app can do on a phone