How to publish an app to the App Store and Google Play
To publish an app to the App Store, you need a developer account, a signed build, a complete listing and some patience while Apple reviews it. Eqlo signs the iOS and Android builds, uploads them to TestFlight and to Google Play's internal testing track, and drafts the listing from your website. The accounts, the screenshots and the Submit for review button stay with you.
- 5Steps to a live listing
- 24 hLifetime of the test link and QR code
- $19A month on Plus, signed builds included
- 12 × 14Testers and days in a Google closed test
Open the developer accounts
An Apple Developer account costs $99 a year and a Google Play account $25 at sign-up, both paid directly to them. Open them once a few people have tried the app through the test link, not on the first evening. Have a legal identity, a payment method and an email inbox you actually read, because review questions arrive there. The accounts are in your name, and Eqlo never knows their passwords.
Gather what the stores ask for
Apple and Google expect a privacy policy online, data declarations that match the app, and a demo login if the app has accounts. Eqlo generates the App Privacy and Data safety declarations, along with the list of permissions and the reason for each. It also drafts the name, subtitle, description and keywords from your website, within each store character limit. You review that text and pick the category and the age rating.
Produce the signed build and send it to testing
On Plus at $19 a month or Team at $49, you connect your App Store Connect key and your Google Play service account, which are checked with the stores and then stored encrypted. Eqlo compiles signed iOS and Android builds with live progress, then uploads each one to its store testing area. On Free, you keep the 24-hour test link. Install the test build on a second phone and cold-start it before you think about review.
Fill in the store listing
The first line of the description should say what the app is for. A string of adjectives holds nobody. The screenshots, which you take yourself, show the real screens of the build you are sending, not an advertising montage. Check that the privacy policy and the Google form reflect the permissions declared in Eqlo.
Get through review
From App Store Connect or the Play Console, you submit the build that arrived in testing. Add a demo login if the app asks people to sign in. When a reviewer asks a question, answer with a fact they can check. Once the listing is live, keeping it current is your job. Because the app displays your published website, a content change made in Eqlo shows up without another review.
How long it takes to publish an app to the App Store
Apple often answers within one to three days when the build is clean. A missing demo login, a crash on first launch or a public holiday stretches the wait. On the Google side, the closed test weighs most on a recent personal account. Eqlo heads off common mistakes, such as a data declaration that contradicts the app or a permission with no reason given. The calendar is still set by Apple and Google, on top of the time you spend reading your screens.
The Google Play closed test before production
A recently created personal Google account must run a closed test with at least 12 testers for 14 days before it can go to production. Line up those twelve people before the clock starts, among your customers or members for instance. Team at $49 opens ten seats if several people prepare the release together. Apple has no such gate, but a failed first launch costs you another review cycle. Meanwhile, the 24-hour test link lets people try the app without going through either store.
Version numbers and resubmitting
Every upload needs a version number higher than the last. You set it in Eqlo alongside the app identifier, and the build tracker shows the version of each file. If review rejects a build because of something generated, fix it in the project, raise the version and run the build again. A plain text or image change on the site needs no new build. A new icon, name or permission does, along with a fresh review.
Related pages
To get the app ready before you submit it to the stores.
Frequently asked questions
Does Eqlo submit the app for me?
Eqlo uploads the signed build to TestFlight and to the internal testing track. Submitting for review is done by you, from your own accounts. That keeps the listing yours, and sends reviewer questions to the person who can answer them.
Can I publish to only one store?
Yes. Plenty of teams start with Android or with iPhone, depending on what their users carry. Connect only the account for the store you are targeting, and add the other when the time comes.
What if I already have store listings?
Use the same app identifier in Eqlo to ship an update to the existing listing, keeping its history and ratings. A new identifier creates a new app, with a full new review.
Who pays Apple and Google?
You do, directly: $99 a year for Apple and $25 once for Google. Eqlo charges nothing per upload beyond the Plus or Team plan that signs the builds.
When should I take the screenshots?
Once your testers have signed off the screens. Take them from the build you are really sending, at the sizes each store asks for. Screenshots of an old build waste a review cycle.
Eqlo signs the builds. The listings stay in your accounts.
Test for free with a link and a QR code, no card needed. Signed builds for the stores come with Plus, at $19 a month. Apple and Google fees are paid to them.