How to Launch an App on the App Store and Google Play

Launching a mobile app has two parts that web founders often underestimate. The stores' own process runs on their schedule, not yours. And the store listing decides whether people who find the app actually install it. Get both right and launch day is mostly about bringing people to a listing that already works.

This guide covers both stores side by side: the accounts, testing and review, every listing field with its limit, the images, and a launch plan for the first weeks. Field limits and image sizes below match our free checkers, so you can test each one as you go.

Step 1: accounts, early

• Apple: join the Apple Developer Program, which has an annual fee. Enroll as an organization if you have a company, so the company name shows as the seller. Organization enrollment needs a D-U-N-S number, which can take a while to get, so start early.
• Google: create a Google Play developer account, which has a one-time registration fee. Google verifies your identity, and organization accounts need extra details.
• Google Play testing rule for new personal accounts. At the time of writing, a new personal developer account must run a closed test before it can publish to production. The test needs at least 12 testers who stay opted in for 14 days in a row. Check the current rule in Play Console, and build those two weeks into your plan.
• Payments and tax forms. Both stores need banking and tax details before you can sell anything. Fill them in before launch week, not during it.

Step 2: beta test with real people

Store reviewers check that the app works and follows the rules. They do not tell you whether people understand it. A beta does.

• iOS: TestFlight. Invite up to 100 internal testers from your team, and up to 10,000 external testers by email or a public link. The first external build goes through a short beta review.
• Android: testing tracks. Use internal testing for your team, then closed testing for invited users (which also covers the new-account rule above), and open testing if you want anyone to join.
• Recruit from your waitlist or community, not just friends. You want people who have the problem.
• Ask specific questions: what did you expect the first screen to do, where did you get stuck, would you pay for this.

Step 3: pass review the first time

Apple often reviews submissions within a day or two. Google Play review for a new app can take several days, sometimes longer. Either can reject, and a rejection adds another round. Most rejections come from the same list:

• Crashes and broken flows. Test on real devices, on a slow network, from a fresh install.
• A login wall with no way in. If the app needs an account, give reviewers a working demo account in the review notes.
• No account deletion. Both stores require apps that let people create an account to also let them delete it.
• Incomplete privacy disclosures. Apple's App Privacy details and Google Play's Data safety section must match what the app and its SDKs actually collect. Check your analytics and ad SDKs too.
• A missing privacy policy. Both stores require one. The privacy policy generator is a starting point to adapt.
• Payment rules. Digital goods sold inside the app generally have to use the store's billing system. The exceptions vary by country and change often, so read the current rules for your markets.
• Metadata that breaks policy. Prices, "best", "#1", emoji in titles, or other brands' names in your listing.
• A thin app. Apple in particular rejects apps that are just a website in a wrapper with nothing app-like added.

Step 4: the App Store listing, field by field

On the App Store, the name, subtitle and keyword field are what Apple uses for search. The description is not used for search ranking, so it only has to persuade people already on the page. Our glossary entry on app store optimization explains the difference between the two stores.

Field	Limit	Searched?	Check with
App name	30 characters	Yes	App Store name checker
Subtitle	30 characters	Yes	App Store subtitle checker
Keywords	100 characters, comma separated, hidden	Yes	App Store keywords checker
Promotional text	170 characters	No	App Store promotional text checker
Description	4,000 characters	No	App Store description checker

• Name: a short brand plus the main keyword people search for, such as "Tally: Habit Tracker".
• Subtitle: the main benefit, in searchable words, without repeating words from the name. Apple counts each word once across name, subtitle and keywords.
• Keywords: commas with no spaces, singular forms, no words already in the name or subtitle, and not the word "app".
• Promotional text: what is timely, such as the launch offer or a new feature. You can change it at any time without submitting a new version.
• Description: the strongest reason to download in the first sentence, because only the first lines show before "more".

Step 5: the Google Play listing, field by field

Google Play reads all three text fields for search, including the full description. That changes how you write it.

Field	Limit	Check with
Title	30 characters	Google Play title checker
Short description	80 characters	Google Play short description checker
Full description	4,000 characters	Google Play full description checker

• Title: brand first, then the main keyword. No emoji, no all-caps words that are not your brand, no "best", "#1" or "free".
• Short description: one complete sentence with the benefit and the main keyword. No calls to action like "download now".
• Full description: use the words people search for naturally, a few times, in real sentences. Repeated keyword lists and unattributed testimonials break Google Play's metadata policy and can get the listing removed.

Step 6: icons, screenshots and graphics

Asset	Size	Check with
App Store icon	1024 x 1024, PNG, no transparency, square corners	App Store icon size checker
App Store screenshots	iPhone 6.9 inch: 1320 x 2868 or 1290 x 2796. iPhone 6.5 inch: 1284 x 2778 or 1242 x 2688. iPad 13 inch: 2064 x 2752 or 2048 x 2732.	App Store screenshot size checker
Google Play icon	512 x 512, 32-bit PNG, up to 1 MB	Google Play icon size checker
Google Play feature graphic	1024 x 500, JPEG or 24-bit PNG, no transparency	Google Play feature graphic size checker
Google Play screenshots	320 to 3840 pixels per side, long side at most twice the short side. 1080 x 1920 is a safe choice.	Google Play screenshot size checker

• Upload full squares for icons. Both stores apply their own corner masks. Keep the main shape away from the edges.
• The first screenshots decide most installs. On the App Store the first ones show in search results. Give each one benefit in large text over the real app screen, not a list of features.
• Tell a short story across the set: the main job, then the two or three features that make it better than the alternative, then trust (privacy, sync, support).
• Keep the feature graphic simple. Logo and a short line near the center, because it can be cropped or covered by a play button if you add a video.
• Consider a short preview video. App Store app previews can be up to 30 seconds. Show the app itself, starting with the main result.

Step 7: choose the launch mechanics

• Pre-orders (App Store) and pre-registration (Google Play) let people sign up before release and get the app automatically when it goes live. Use them to collect demand from your launch posts before the release date.
• Manual release. On both stores you can have an approved build wait until you release it. Do this, so review timing never decides your launch date.
• Staged rollouts for updates. The App Store's phased release and Google Play's staged rollout let an update reach users gradually, so a bug in version 1.0.1 does not hit everyone at once.
• Featuring. Apple lets developers submit featuring nominations from App Store Connect, and both stores' editorial teams look for apps that are well made and use the platform well. It is not something to count on, but it costs nothing to try.

Step 8: launch outside the stores

Store search favors apps that already have installs, ratings and retention, so a new app needs outside traffic first. Launch posts should link to a page on your own site with both store badges, which works for iPhone and Android visitors and earns links your site can rank with.

• Product Hunt suits consumer and productivity apps with a strong visual demo. See the Product Hunt launch checklist.
• Communities where your users already talk about the problem, written for each one.
• Your waitlist and beta testers. They are the most likely to install on day one and leave the first reviews.
• Short videos of the app in use, on the networks your users spend time on.
• Directories and launch sites that fit your category, from the launch platform database.

Tag every link to your own page with the UTM builder. For links that go straight to a store, App Store Connect and Play Console have their own campaign tracking, so you can see which launch post brought installs.

Step 9: the first weeks after

• Ask for ratings at a good moment, after a clear success, using the stores' built-in prompts. On iOS the system limits how often the prompt appears, so do not waste it on day one.
• Reply to every review in both consoles. Replies are public, and a fixed complaint with a reply reads well to the next visitor.
• Watch retention, not installs. Day 1 and day 7 retention tell you if the app works for people. A launch spike with poor retention makes later store ranking harder.
• Update the promotional text and screenshots as you learn which benefit people mention in reviews.
• Test listing changes. App Store product page optimization and Google Play store listing experiments let you test icons, screenshots and text on real traffic.

Where Aback Launch fits

Aback Launch is a weekly launch platform, and apps launch there alongside web products. Launches go live every Friday at 00:00 UTC and stay up all week, and every product keeps a permanent page that links to your site. The link becomes dofollow once you add our badge.

FAQ

How long does App Store and Google Play review take?

Apple often reviews within a day or two. Google Play can take several days for a new app, sometimes longer. Plan for at least one rejection, and use manual release so review timing does not set your launch date.

What is the App Store app name character limit?

30 characters. The subtitle is also 30, the keyword field 100, the promotional text 170 and the description 4,000.

What is the Google Play title character limit?

30 characters. The short description is 80 and the full description 4,000. Google Play uses all three for search.

What size should App Store screenshots be?

For iPhone, 1290 x 2796 or 1320 x 2868 (6.9 inch), or 1242 x 2688 or 1284 x 2778 (6.5 inch). For iPad, 2048 x 2732 or 2064 x 2752 (13 inch). Apple scales them for smaller devices.

Should I launch on both stores at once?

If the app is ready on both, yes: launch posts reach iPhone and Android users alike. If one platform is far behind, launch the ready one and collect sign-ups for the other through pre-registration or pre-orders.