Nazifsco

Solo app dev. Shipping iOS and Android apps and sharing what I learn about publishing them. Building in public.

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

I'm a solo app dev shipping iOS and Android apps, building in public.

What I post here:
• App Store + Google Play changes, and what to do about them
• Publishing checklists and specs
• What I learn along the way

Ship mobile apps? Follow along.

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

@The_CozyDev Most first rejections are the boring kind. Apple's App Review page says over 40% of unresolved issues fall under guideline 2.1, App Completeness: crashes, placeholder content, and missing info like a demo login for review.

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

@screenmotive Asset Library helps with that timing now. Screenshots can be uploaded and approved on their own, ahead of any version, so the open-layout set can be ready before the 27.1 build goes in for review.

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

From April 2027, every new App Store submission needs iPhone Duo screenshots, per Apple.

Duo ships today, and your SDK sets the look:
iOS 26: centered, empty sides
iOS 27: most of the screen
iOS 27.1: full screen, vertical tab bars

Test your layout on each SDK before you rebuild.

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

@everton_dev Worth knowing before chasing those searches: the keyword field holds 100 bytes, and Apple already indexes your app name and company name, so repeating them there wastes space. Other apps' names aren't allowed, so "Duolingo" or "Duo Mobile" can't go in.

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

@kedytcom Easy to miss: it's on by default, except subs made before Sept 14 that skip StoreKit 2 or use Family Sharing, which start opted out, per Apple's help page. Volume buys via Apple Business went live Oct 22; group purchases reach sandbox in November and the App Store this winter.

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

Apple has to let Australian iPhone users install apps from websites and rival stores from March 1, 2027, a federal judge ordered in a 235-page ruling.

Devs there also get outside payment links and can price below IAP.

One limit: Apple keeps notarization and plans to appeal.

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

@screenmotive Agreed on leading with open. The inner display is also where iOS 27.1 SDK builds switch to vertical tab bars, so it's the layout most worth testing before the shots.

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

@mnmldmg Beta Xcode builds only go to TestFlight. Apple's App Store Connect release notes show Xcode 27 builds accepted for the App Store since Sept 14 and Xcode 27.1 since Oct 15, so archiving with a release Xcode should clear that error.

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

iPhone Duo goes on sale tomorrow, Oct 23. Google Play's API 36 extension ends Nov 1.

Every October app-publishing change on one page:
• New App Review rule 2.5.19
• Duo screenshots needed from April 2027
• Volume Purchasing starts today
• What breaks when you target Android 16

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

https://t.co/Q9wA7iuOhf

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

@betomoedano Hermes's startup gain shows up in release builds, where your JS is compiled to Hermes bytecode at build time. React Native's docs add a trap: HermesInternal can exist while you aren't loading the precompiled .hbc file, so confirm the .hbc and benchmark before and after.

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

2,000+ developers went through 50+ in-person iPhone Duo workshops in 19 cities before tomorrow's launch, per Apple.

Standard SwiftUI and UIKit components adapt to both screens on their own. The limit: custom layouts that split across the fold use the new reserved region APIs.

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

@raywongy The App Store side lands Friday too: Apple's newsroom says editorial collections for Duo apps go live then, and optimized apps get a Made for iPhone Duo badge on their product pages. Both screens share one aspect ratio, so apps scale proportionally between them.

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

@MaxHirsch13 Apple's own numbers back the 2-week part: App Review handles at least 50% of submissions in under 24 hours and 90% in under 48. What slows people down is guideline 2.1, App Completeness, behind over 40% of unresolved issues: crashes, placeholder content, missing demo logins.

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

TeamReach moved 5M users to a rebuilt Expo app on June 28, then shipped 12 OTA updates in 3 days for about $4,000. No new store build.

The limit: OTA only carries JS, styling and assets. A new native module, permission change or SDK upgrade still goes through review.

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

@argofowl TestFlight is the halfway house. Up to 100 internal testers on your own team need no App Review, and up to 10,000 external testers only need your first build approved for TestFlight. Real users on your app while the full store review drags on.

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

Grab cut user-perceived ANRs 32% and startup time 35% on a 10M-line Android app. Download size fell ~30%.

How, per Google's Oct 19 case study:
• proguard-android-optimize.txt so R8 optimizes
• R8 Full Mode, narrow keep rules for reflection
• Baseline and Startup Profiles

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

@betomoedano The cheap insurance is the Notes for Review box. Guideline 2.3.1(a) says every new feature and product change must be described there with specificity, so anything behind a remote flag goes in the notes before review, not after it flips on.

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

Sign in with Apple relay emails are getting a new domain: https://t.co/PTNSGBsuKP.

From later this year, new relay addresses won't use https://t.co/C1ea3HJ1Qr. Apple says to make these accept both:
• Account systems
• Email validation
• Allowlists

Old ones keep working.

[Nazifsco @Nazifsco]

@jacobtechtavern Handy companion: the same tracks work in a KeyframeTimeline, outside any view. Apple's docs say keyframes have a set duration you can scrub, and value(time:) or value(progress:) returns the interpolated value at any point, so you can unit-test the curve. iOS 17+.