Prepare your App for Release

Congratulations! You've built your own app and want to submit it to the App Store.

But first, lets go over a few things to make sure your app is ready for release. Here's a checklist to make sure you've covered all the bases.

Release Checklist

1. App Information

Make sure you have filled out all the necessary app information in the Constants.swift file. This includes your app's name, support email, privacy policy link, and more.

2. App Icon & Other Assets

Make sure that your assets are all correctly set up, as they will be used for the Launch Screen, App Icon, Sign in Screen and other parts of your app.

3. Onboarding View

Make sure to adjust your Onboarding to ensure a smooth user experience.

4. What's New Screen

If it's not your first app release, make sure to update the What's New Screen to inform users about the latest changes.

5. Paywall

Check that your Paywall is set up correctly, shows correct information and all purchases work!

6. Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

All apps on the App Store require a Privacy Policy and Terms of Service hosted on a website. Make sure to write them and add them as links in the Constants.swift file and to your paywall in the RevenueCat Dashboard.

7. Deployment of BackendKit

If you have worked on BackendKit locally, make sure to deploy your backend endpoints to Cloud Functions.

8. Check Firebase Firestore Rules

If you are accessing Firestore, make sure to check the Firestore Rules (opens in a new tab).

We recommend setting following rules:

• Public Data freely available from the app
• Personal / Sensitive Data only available through calls via BackendKit (Cloud Functions)

9. Good Error Handling & Analytics

Make sure to capture as many events with AnalyticsKit as possible. Capturing Errors and Detecting Crashes are especially useful to ensure a bug-free experience for your users.

Capture usage events or having Session Recordings turned on is a great way to see how your users use your app — what works and what doesn't.

10. Update the App Version and Build Number

If you are pushing an update to an already existing app, make sure to update the version and build number. God knows I've forgotten this a few times.

11. Update Capability Request Descriptions

If you request access to certain capabilities like photo library or location services, or you use biometric authentication make sure to update the description in the Info.plist and all the corresponding strings in the RequestType.swift file.

12. Test for platform-specific UI

If you set to launch your app on multiple platforms, such as iOS and iPadOS, make sure to test the way your UI adapts to different screen sizes.

Especially if you have iPadOS support, your app will automatically be able to be run on Apple Silicon Macs, as well as the Apple Vision Pro. Make sure to test your app on these platforms as well or disable them.

13. Test for all UI sizes

Your App will be able to run on a 4.7" iPhone SE, as well as the 6.9" iPhone 16 Pro Max. The UI should look good on all them. Make sure to test it on all devices.

We personally develop on "medium"-sized devices, like the iPhone 16, but always test the app on the biggest and smallest devices before release.