Apple App Store

Distributing on iOS requires macOS and an Apple Developer Program membership. The membership is annual and paid; without it you cannot ship to anyone but yourself.

Build

ti build --platform ios --target dist-appstore \
  --distribution-name "Apple Distribution: Example Ltd (ABCDE12345)" \
  --pp-uuid <profile-uuid> \
  --output-dir ./dist

A distribution build always runs xcodebuild and always rebuilds, because the archive has to be assembled from scratch. It is slower than a simulator build and there is no way around it.

The result is an .ipa in --output-dir.

Use dist-adhoc instead for a build that installs on named devices without the store. The profile has to list each device's UDID, which is the part people forget when a tester says it will not install.

Upload

Two ways, and both want the same .ipa.

Xcode, through Window, Organizer, which validates before it uploads and explains what it found.

Transporter, Apple's standalone uploader, which is what to use from a machine that does not have the project open. There is also xcrun altool for scripting.

Uploading is not releasing. The build appears in App Store Connect, you attach it to a version, and you submit that version for review.

Before you submit

Every permission needs a usage string. A missing NSCameraUsageDescription is a rejection, and before that the permission dialog silently never appears. They go in tiapp.xml under <ios><plist> - see tiapp.xml.

Write real strings. "Required by the app" is rejected. Say what the app does with it.

Encryption declaration. Apple asks whether your app uses encryption. Titanium encrypts your JavaScript on a production build, so the honest answer is not automatically "no" - see source code encryption. Most apps qualify for the exemption, and ITSAppUsesNonExemptEncryption in the plist stops it being asked on every upload.

A privacy manifest. Apple requires PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy for apps using certain APIs. It goes in platform/ios/ and is copied into the build verbatim.

Build with --deploy-type production, which dist-appstore implies. A development build leaves debugging on.

What review stops

In rough order of how often it happens: missing or lazy permission strings; a crash on launch on the reviewer's device; features behind a login with no demo account; and anything that looks like a web page in a wrapper.

Review is a person. A build that fails on their hardware and works on yours is usually a device family or an iOS version you never ran on.

Versions

version in tiapp.xml is the marketing version. App Store Connect will not accept the same build number twice for the same version, so bump version between uploads or you will be re-uploading over a rejected build.

Next

Google Play is the other half.