{"head":{"title":"App Store Launch Checklist (iOS and Android) | OceanLab","description":"App Store and Google Play rules for 2026 (Xcode 26, API 36, account deletion, Data safety, closed testing) plus launch habits. Track progress and export.","canonical":"https://oceanlab.in/tools/app-store-launch-checklist"},"tool":{"slug":"app-store-launch-checklist","path":"/tools/app-store-launch-checklist","name":"App store launch checklist","h1":"App Store and Google Play launch checklist","lede":"Check the current store rules and launch habits for iOS and Android before you submit, and export what is still open.","category":"delivery","categoryTitle":"Run the project","method":["Store rules come from Apple's App Review Guidelines and upcoming requirements, and Google Play's target API, Data safety, account deletion and testing pages, each checked on the date shown.","Items marked 'Store rule' cite those pages. 'Good practice' items are OceanLab's launch habits, not store requirements.","Pick the stores you are launching on; your ticks are saved in this browser only. Export them as Markdown or print the page."],"sources":[{"label":"Apple App Review Guidelines","url":"https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/","checkedAt":"2026-10-25"},{"label":"Apple upcoming requirements","url":"https://developer.apple.com/news/upcoming-requirements/","checkedAt":"2026-10-25"},{"label":"Google Play target API level requirements","url":"https://developer.android.com/google/play/requirements/target-sdk","checkedAt":"2026-10-25"},{"label":"Google Play Data safety section","url":"https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/10787469","checkedAt":"2026-10-25"},{"label":"Google Play account deletion requirements","url":"https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/13327111","checkedAt":"2026-10-25"},{"label":"Google Play testing requirements for new personal accounts","url":"https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/14151465","checkedAt":"2026-10-25"}],"faq":[{"question":"Which SDK do I need in 2026?","answer":"Apple: Xcode 26 with the iOS 26 SDK for uploads since 28 April 2026. Google Play: target API 36 for new apps and updates from 31 August 2026."},{"question":"Do I need in-app account deletion?","answer":"Yes on both stores if people can create an account. Google Play also asks for a web link where people can request deletion."},{"question":"Why is my new Play account asked for a closed test?","answer":"Personal developer accounts created after 13 November 2023 must run a closed test with at least 12 testers for at least 14 days in a row before production access."},{"question":"Does this guarantee approval?","answer":"No. Store review decides. The list covers the rules most likely to block a first submission."}],"notice":{"title":"Guidance, not a guarantee of approval.","text":"Store rules change; each item links the official page and the date it was checked."},"updatedAt":"2026-10-25"},"related":[{"href":"/tools/project-timeline-estimator","label":"Project timeline estimator","detail":"Give best, likely and worst-case weeks for each phase and get an expected finish date and a safer one to promise."},{"href":"/tools/software-development-cost","label":"Software development cost","detail":"Pick the features and platform, check the rates, and get a cost and timeline range you can take to any vendor."},{"href":"/tools/change-request-template","label":"Change request template","detail":"Describe the change and its impact on effort, cost and dates, and get a change request ready to approve."}],"studies":[{"meta":{"slug":"keystep","industry":"banking","projectType":"Digital bank onboarding","country":"ie","tags":["fintech","mobile","saas","enterprise"],"compliances":["EU AML Directives","CJA 2010 (Ireland)","EBA/GL/2022/15","EU sanctions","CRS / FATCA","GDPR","Payment Accounts Directive","Consumer Protection Code","PSD2 SCA"],"cover":{"src":"/case-studies/keystep/01-home.png","width":1440,"height":1000}},"text":{"en":{"title":"Keystep - Digital Bank Onboarding with ID, Liveness and Risk-Based Review","description":"An onboarding platform for an Irish digital bank: applicants open a EUR current account from their phone with ID and selfie liveness checks, and a staff console lets onboarding and financial crime teams review the cases the rules cannot decide, through to an issued Irish IBAN.","category":"FinTech / Digital Banking","client":"Corrib Bank"}}},{"meta":{"slug":"cairn","industry":"personal-finance","projectType":"Debt payoff coach","country":"us","tags":["fintech","mobile"],"compliances":["FCRA","Credit Repair Organizations Act","GLBA","FTC Safeguards Rule","UDAAP","CARD Act","FDCPA","TCPA","CAN-SPAM","CFPB Section 1033","WCAG 2.2 AA"],"cover":{"src":"/case-studies/cairn/01-home.png","width":1440,"height":1000}},"text":{"en":{"title":"Cairn - Debt Payoff Coach with Side-by-Side Payoff Plans and No Offers","description":"Designed and built a clickable debt payoff coach for a US personal finance company: every card and loan in one list, avalanche, snowball and custom plans compared against paying only the minimums, a minimum-only versus plan view on every debt, and a read-only credit score with no card or loan offers anywhere.","category":"Personal Finance / Debt Payoff Coach","client":"Lindenfield Money, Inc."}}},{"meta":{"slug":"tussock","industry":"insurance","projectType":"Customer self-service app","country":"nz","tags":["insurtech","mobile"],"compliances":["CoFI Act 2022","Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act 2010","Contracts of Insurance Act 2024","Fair Trading Act 1986","Natural Hazards Insurance Act 2023","Privacy Act 2020","Fair Insurance Code","WCAG 2.2 AA"],"cover":{"src":"/case-studies/tussock/01-home.png","width":1440,"height":1000}},"text":{"en":{"title":"Tussock - Customer Self-Service App for Home, Contents, Car and Travel Insurance","description":"Designed and built a clickable self-service app for a New Zealand personal lines insurer: every policy on one home screen, cover in standard or plain language, renewals that explain each reason for a price change, claims with Natural Hazards Commission steps on the timeline, and payments with failed instalments fixed in a tap.","category":"Insurance / Customer Self-Service","client":"Kōtuku Insurance"}}},{"meta":{"slug":"mjera","industry":"ecom","projectType":"Product configurator","country":"ba","tags":["mobile"],"compliances":["EU Consumer Rights Directive","GPSR","EUDR","Furniture fire safety (Ireland)","GDPR","BiH Law on Personal Data Protection","PSD2 SCA","European Accessibility Act"],"cover":{"src":"/case-studies/mjera/01-home.png","width":1440,"height":1000}},"text":{"en":{"title":"Mjera - Made-to-Order Sofa and Dining Table Configurator with Live Price and Lead Time","description":"Designed and built a clickable configurator platform for a Sarajevo maker of made-to-order sofas and dining tables that sells direct to EU consumers: one rules, price and lead-time engine that stops impossible builds, quotes a live price and deposit, and turns confirmed orders into workshop spec sheets.","category":"E-commerce & D2C / Product Configurator","client":"Hrastovac Atelier"}}},{"meta":{"slug":"tocapu","industry":"ecom","projectType":"Seller dashboard","country":"bo","tags":["mobile","enterprise"],"compliances":["EU DAC7","IRS Form 1099-K","INFORM Consumers Act","EU GPSR","EU DSA Article 30","EU Textile Regulation 1007/2011","FTC textile and wool labelling rules","CITES","Ley 530 (Bolivia)","GDPR"],"cover":{"src":"/case-studies/tocapu/01-home.png","width":1440,"height":1000}},"text":{"en":{"title":"Tocapu - Mobile-First Seller Dashboard for an Andean Artisan Marketplace","description":"Designed and built a clickable seller dashboard for a La Paz marketplace of handmade Andean textiles and crafts: a Today view of what to do first, orders grouped by dispatch date, listings checked for EU product safety data and protected materials, and payouts that explain every balance in plain language.","category":"E-commerce & D2C / Seller Dashboard","client":"Qhatu Andino"}}}],"more":[{"href":"/case-studies","label":"All case studies","detail":"Every OceanLab product build."},{"href":"/ai-automation","label":"AI automation","detail":"AI built into real business workflows, with people in charge."}],"today":"2026-10-25"}