App Store Submission — The Complete Checklist

App Store submission is more complex than most developers expect the first time. Apple reviews apps for compliance with their Human Interface Guidelines, technical requirements, privacy requirements, and business model guidelines. A single missing element can cause a rejection that costs you days or weeks of delay. Technical requirements before submission: your app must be built with the current Xcode SDK (Apple rejects apps built against SDKs more than one year old), tested on a real device (not just simulator), and passing TestFlight internal testing without crashes. Memory pressure tests, background task tests, and network failure handling should all be verified. Apple's TestFlight crash reports and the Organiser in Xcode are your primary tools here. App Store Connect setup: you need a paid Apple Developer Program membership ($149 AUD/year), an app bundle ID registered in Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles, a provisioning profile for App Store distribution, and your app signing configured correctly. First-time developers spend more time on code signing than on any other part of submission — use Xcode's automatic signing unless you have a specific reason not to.

App Store metadata is your marketing and legal documentation simultaneously. You need: app name (30 characters max), subtitle (30 characters), description (4,000 characters max, though most users read only the first 3 lines), keywords (100 characters, comma-separated), support URL, privacy policy URL (mandatory — not optional), and age rating responses. Privacy nutrition labels are now required and reviewed carefully. You must disclose every data type your app collects or tracks — and this must match what your app actually does. If you collect email addresses for account creation, that must be declared. If you use third-party analytics SDKs (Firebase, Mixpanel, Amplitude), their data collection must also be declared. Mismatches between your privacy labels and actual behaviour is a common rejection reason and a serious trust issue with users. App Privacy Policy: must be a live URL (not under construction), must be in English, and must specifically describe what data you collect, how it's used, how long it's retained, and who it's shared with. Iubenda and Termly generate compliant privacy policies for $30–$60/year. Don't use a template from 2019 — Australian Privacy Act requirements have evolved and Apple's reviewers check for adequate detail.