Indie iOS Game Launch Checklist (from Windows)

Launching on iOS as a solo developer is less about code than about paperwork. Here's the complete list, in the order you'll actually need each item.

Phase 1 — Accounts and identifiers

• Apple Developer Program membership — $99/year. Enrolment can take from minutes to a couple of days, so do it first.
• Bundle identifier — reverse-DNS, e.g. com.yourstudio.yourgame. Set it in Unity's Player Settings and register it in your Apple account. Never ship Unity's default.
• App record in App Store Connect — created under Apps → +. Uploads have nowhere to land without it.
• App Store Connect API key — a .p8 with the App Manager role, so tooling can upload for you. Download it immediately; Apple only offers it once.

Phase 2 — Signing

• iOS distribution certificate (plus its private key — keep the .p12 safe).
• App Store provisioning profile matching your bundle ID.
• Confirm the profile is ACTIVE, not INVALID — changing App ID capabilities silently invalidates profiles.

See Unity iOS code signing explained if any of that is unfamiliar.

Phase 3 — Build requirements Apple enforces

• App icon 1024×1024, fully opaque — transparency or an alpha channel triggers rejection ITMS-91111. This one catches almost everyone once.
• Current SDK — Apple periodically raises the minimum SDK; builds made with an older Xcode get rejected at upload.
• Unique, increasing build number — each upload needs a CFBundleVersion higher than the last for that version, or you get error 90189.
• Encryption compliance answer — most games answer "no" / standard encryption only, but the build stays unusable until you answer it.

Phase 4 — TestFlight beta testing

Never submit for review without testing on a real device first. Once your signed build is uploaded:

• Internal testers (up to 100 people on your team) can install almost immediately after processing.
• External groups (up to 10,000) need a brief Apple beta review before invites go out.
• Testers install via the free TestFlight app. Builds expire after 90 days.

Test on the oldest device you claim to support, not just the newest — performance and memory issues surface there first.

Phase 5 — Store listing

• Screenshots for the required device sizes (6.7" iPhone and 12.9" iPad at minimum).
• Name, subtitle, description, keywords — the keyword field is invisible to users but drives App Store search.
• Privacy policy URL — mandatory for every app, even offline ones.
• App Privacy answers — declare what data you and your SDKs collect. Ad SDKs collect identifiers; declare them honestly.
• Age rating and category.

Phase 6 — Submission

Attach the TestFlight build to your version and submit. Review typically takes 24–48 hours. Common rejection causes for indie games: broken links in the listing, missing privacy policy, placeholder content, crashes on the reviewer's device, and Guideline 4.3 (spam) if your game looks like a reskin of an existing title.

Doing all this from Windows

Every phase above except the build/sign/upload step happens in a browser and is OS-independent. That one step — compiling the Xcode project, code-signing, and uploading — is the only thing that needs macOS, and cloud build services or tools like MacFree run it for you. A Windows PC is enough to complete this entire checklist.

Frequently asked questions