Guide

How to publish your Shopify app on Google Play and the App Store

Your Shopify app is designed and built — now it has to pass Google Play and Apple App Store review. Here is what each store asks for, how long review takes and how to avoid the most common rejections.

1. Developer accounts

Apple Developer Program

$99 per year. You can enroll as an individual or as an organization; organizations need a D-U-N-S number and their legal entity details. Publish under your company name so customers recognize your brand on the App Store.

Google Play Console

$25 one-time, with identity verification. New personal accounts must run a closed test with at least 12 testers for 14 days before they can publish to production. Organization accounts also need a D-U-N-S number.

2. Store listing assets

• App name and icon — 1024 × 1024 px for the App Store, 512 × 512 px for Google Play.
• Screenshots of real app screens (home, collection, product, cart) for each required phone size; Google Play also needs a 1024 × 500 px feature graphic.
• Short and full descriptions that explain what shoppers can do in the app.
• Privacy policy and support URLs that are live and reachable.
• Privacy forms — the Data safety form on Google Play and App Privacy details on the App Store, describing the data the app collects (for example push tokens and order data).
• Content rating questionnaires on both stores.

3. Review times

Apple App Store review usually takes 24 to 48 hours, up to a week for a first submission. On Google Play, review takes from a few hours up to 7 days once your account has production access.

4. Common rejection reasons

• Minimum functionality — Apple rejects apps that only wrap a website. A native shopping app with catalog, cart, wishlist and push notifications avoids this.
• Broken links or empty screens — make sure every collection has products and every banner links somewhere.
• Missing reviewer access — if any feature needs a login, give the reviewer a demo account in the review notes.
• Privacy mismatches — your privacy forms must match what the app actually collects.
• Placeholder content — remove test products, lorem ipsum and unfinished pages.

5. After approval

Announce the app to your existing customers: add an install banner or QR code on your website, send an email and a social post, and prepare a welcome push campaign. Keep releasing updates when the stores require newer SDK versions.

Publishing with Mobilefy

Mobilefy generates your native Android and iOS builds from the Builds workspace and guides you through Google Play and App Store review. Prefer to hand it off? The optional App Hosting add-on (€59/year) lets Mobilefy publish and update your apps for you. New to app stores? Start with how to turn your Shopify store into an app, or see plans.