Publishing a React Native App on the Apple App Store

The path to the Apple App Store is a bit more expensive and formal than Google Play, but manageable with the same toolchain (EAS Build).

Apple Developer Program

Register at developer.apple.com. Cost: 99 US dollars per year (as an individual or company; a free non-profit/education tier exists for qualifying organizations, but not for private hobby developers). Without this paid account, neither TestFlight nor a store release is possible – unlike Google, a free Apple ID isn't enough here (see the "Testing on Real Devices" chapter).

Building the app: EAS Build for iOS

eas build --platform ios --profile production

EAS Build can even automatically handle creating the necessary certificates and provisioning profiles in your Apple Developer account on request – a step that's often the most frustrating part for beginners going the manual route through Xcode.

Listing in App Store Connect

Create a new "App" entry at appstoreconnect.apple.com (app name, bundle ID, primary language)
Screenshots for different device sizes (at least one iPhone size required, iPad optional if supported)
App description, keywords, support URL, privacy policy URL
"App Privacy" questionnaire: what data is collected and what it's used for (e.g. "purchase history" if orders are fetched via the Magento connection)
Age rating questionnaire

TestFlight: testing without store review

TestFlight is Apple's official way to distribute a build to testers WITHOUT waiting for the full app review:

Tester type	Details
Internal testers	up to 100 people (must be members of your developer team), available immediately after a brief automatic check
External testers	up to 10,000 people (only an email address needed), requires a one-time short "Beta App Review" (usually under 24 hours)

For a family/learning project like our product catalog, "internal testers" is entirely enough – you and your son could both sign up as internal testers in the same developer team and install new builds essentially immediately after upload.

The actual app review

For a full store release, a human Apple reviewer checks the app against the "App Store Review Guidelines". Usually takes 24–48 hours; can take longer if rejected (common reasons: incomplete metadata, crashes, missing functionality, apps that are too "web-view-like" without real added value over the website). On rejection you receive a specific reason and can resubmit.

Apple cost overview

Item	Cost
Apple Developer Program	$99 / year
EAS Build (free tier)	$0 (limited builds/month)
TestFlight distribution	$0 (included in the Developer Program fee)
For paid apps/in-app purchases	15–30% commission on revenue (tiered by annual revenue)

Achtung: The $99 subscription must be renewed ANNUALLY, or the app gets removed from the store once it lapses (though it usually keeps working for users who already installed it, it just stops receiving updates) – unlike Google Play's one-time $25 fee.