How to Publish Your Shopify App on the App Store and Google Play
Developer accounts, D-U-N-S numbers, store listings, screenshots, review times and the most common rejection reasons, explained for Shopify merchants publishing their first app.
Designing your app is the fun part. Getting it into the App Store and Google Play is where most merchants get nervous: developer accounts, certificates, review guidelines. This guide explains each step in plain language so nothing surprises you.
1. Create your developer accounts
Publish under your own business's developer accounts, not your builder's. Your business then appears as the developer, and you own the listing, its reviews and its download history even if you change builders later.
| Google Play Console | Apple Developer Program | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | $25, once | $99 a year |
| Account type | Organization | Organization |
| You'll need | D-U-N-S number, business details, ID verification | D-U-N-S number, legal business name, website; Apple may call to verify |
| Approval | A few days | A few days to two weeks |
Why "organization" matters
Google requires new personal accounts to run a closed test with testers for 14 days before an app can go live. Organization accounts skip it. On Apple, individual accounts can't add team members, so your builder can't help you submit. Either way, organization accounts save you weeks.
Get a D-U-N-S number first
Both stores look your business up by its D-U-N-S number. It's free from Dun & Bradstreet, but it can take a week or more to issue, so request it the day you decide to build an app.
2. Prepare your store listings
Your listing is your app's product page. Treat it like one.
- App name (30 characters on both stores). Use your brand name, optionally with a short descriptor: "Acme: Organic Skincare".
- Subtitle / short description: one line on what customers get.
- Full description: what's in the app, what's app-exclusive, and why to turn on notifications.
- Keywords (App Store only, 100 characters): product types and terms customers search for. Don't repeat words already in your name.
- Screenshots: your home screen, a collection, a product page and the cart. Apple requires iPhone screenshots; add captions that sell.
- Category: usually Shopping.
- Privacy policy URL, support URL and contact email.
- Data safety (Google) and App Privacy (Apple) questionnaires, describing what data the app collects. Your builder should tell you what to answer.
3. Submit for review
Your builder produces signed builds for both stores. Depending on the builder, you either upload them yourself or invite the builder's team to your accounts to do it. With Casa, you invite our team, and we submit within 48 hours of accepting the invites. The Store listings page in the app tracks each submission from Pending to Published.
Typical review times:
- Google Play: 2 to 4 business days for a new app.
- Apple App Store: usually a few days to a week; longer around holidays.
4. Avoid the common rejections
"Minimum functionality" (Apple guideline 4.2)
Apple rejects apps that are just a website in a frame. Native shopping apps with real navigation, search, cart and account screens pass. This is one reason native builders have an easier time with Apple than simple webview wrappers. See native vs webview.
Missing account deletion
If customers can create an account in the app, Apple requires a way to delete it from inside the app. Check that your builder includes one (Casa does).
Placeholder or empty content
Reviewers open your app. Empty collections, test products, broken banner links and "Lorem ipsum" get rejected. Tap through every screen first.
Login problems
If parts of the app need sign-in, give the reviewer a test account in the review notes. If your store is password-protected, remove the password before review.
Permission prompts
Explain why you want notifications before the system asks, and don't label your own buttons "Allow": app review reserves that word for the system dialog. Casa shows a short explanation screen first, then the system prompt.
Metadata mismatches
Screenshots must show the actual app, and the description can't promise features the app doesn't have.
5. After you're live
- Design changes: with Casa, blocks, colors, menus and texts update in the published app the next time customers open it. No resubmission.
- New app versions: needed only for new native features or OS updates. Your builder should handle them.
- Apple renewal: renew your Apple membership every year, or your app is removed from the store.
- Reviews: answer store reviews, and ask happy customers to rate the app.
Next step: set up push notifications so your new app can bring customers back.