The prototype proves the happy path
AI-assisted development can make the first working flow dramatically faster. App Store readiness is where the hidden state appears: interrupted downloads, missing permissions, expired credentials, restored purchases, background transitions, low storage, slow networks, and older supported devices.
List the states that can strand a user and make each one recoverable. A clear retry, cancel, restore, or support path matters more than another decorative screen.
Commerce is more than a paywall
Subscription products need a durable entitlement source, purchase and restore handling, loading and error states, plan changes, and an honest distinction between free and paid capability. Test new purchase, renewal, cancellation, expiration, billing retry, and restore behavior before review.
The paywall must also match the configured products, pricing period, legal links, and actual app behavior. Review problems often begin where interface copy and backend state disagree.
Prepare privacy and review evidence
App privacy answers should come from the product’s real data paths. Map what the app collects, what third-party SDKs receive, what stays on-device, what is optional, and how a user can delete or control it.
- Permission prompts explain the immediate user benefit.
- Privacy manifests and required-reason APIs match the shipped binary.
- App Review notes explain non-obvious setup and local model downloads.
- Demo access or a review path works without private developer state.
- Support and privacy URLs are live before submission.
Make release repeatable
The first archive should not be a ceremony nobody can reproduce. Record the scheme, configuration, versioning, signing assumptions, environment values, TestFlight checks, and production verification. Keep secrets out of the repository and know which service owns each production setting.
After approval, verify the public listing, purchase path, analytics, support link, and first-run experience as a customer would. “Approved” and “working in production” are different milestones.