How to get your app on the App Store and Google Play under your company name

Why your name, not the developer's

The account an app is published on decides the name customers see under the app: "Your Business (Pty) Ltd", or the name of whoever built it.

It also decides who controls the app. If your app sits on a developer's account, you can't update it, move it or keep it if you part ways, and moving an app between accounts later is slow. Open the accounts in your business's name from day one, and give your developer access.

Accounts and company verification

• Apple: enrol in the Apple Developer Program as an organisation, not an individual. Apple asks for your legal entity name and a D-U-N-S number, a free business identifier you can request if you don't have one. There's a yearly membership fee.
• Google: create a Google Play developer account as an organisation. Google verifies your business identity and also asks for a D-U-N-S number for organisations. There's a once-off registration fee.
• Use a company email address and a phone number the business controls, not a staff member's personal ones.
• Verification can take from a few days to a few weeks, so start early.
• Add your developer as a team member with the access they need, rather than sharing your password.

Store listing assets

• App name and short description.
• Full description written for customers, with the words they search for.
• Screenshots for each phone and tablet size you support.
• App icon, and a feature graphic for Google Play.
• A privacy policy at a public web address.
• Privacy details: Apple's privacy labels and Google's data safety form, saying what data the app collects and why.
• Age rating questionnaire, category and contact details.
• A test account and notes so reviewers can log in and try every feature.

Review and common rejections

Both stores review apps before they go live, and review updates too. Apple's review often takes a day or two, and sometimes longer. Google's first review of a new app can take longer than later updates.

The most common reasons apps get rejected:

• The app crashes, or a feature doesn't work during review.
• The reviewer can't log in, because no working test account was given.
• Placeholder text, broken links or unfinished screens.
• Privacy details that don't match what the app actually does.
• No way for users to delete their account from inside the app, when the app lets them create one.
• Digital goods or subscriptions sold without the store's own in-app purchase system.
• The app is just a website in a wrapper, with no real app features.
• Asking for permissions, such as location or contacts, without a clear reason.

Before you submit: a short checklist

• Test the release build on real phones, not just the developer's.
• Remove every placeholder, test screen and sample text.
• Make sure the test account works and shows every feature.
• Check that the privacy policy link works and matches the privacy details.
• Check that screenshots show the current version of the app.
• Explain any login, payment or location features in the review notes.

Updates on both stores

Each update goes through review again, so plan releases with a few days' margin. Release the same version on both stores where you can, so iPhone and Android users have the same features and your support stays simple.

Both stores also set yearly requirements, such as building for newer operating system versions. Apps that fall behind can be hidden from new users or removed. Keep someone responsible for updates after launch.

How Peak Software helps

We publish apps on your own accounts, under your business name. We help you open and verify the accounts, prepare the listing and privacy details, check the app against each store's rules before we submit, and take it through review. On the optional care plan, from R800 a month, we keep it up to date with store changes. We work remotely with businesses across South Africa.

Questions