Your First Flutter App: Polishing the App

In the last episode, we published our app to the Google Play store. Now it’s time to publish the app to the iOS App Store. This requires that you have a paid iOS developer account. At the time of publication, the paid developer account costs around one hundred dollars and you must renew it every single year. You just have to think of it as the cost of doing business.

The demo will walk you through the process of publishing an app. If you have a professional subscription, you can learn about the process in depth in our video course, Publishing to the iOS App Store. The course is about fifty minutes. Needless to say, this demo will be somewhat abbreviated.

Okay to get started, I’m going to assume you already have a paid developer account. If you need to set one up, see the link in the author notes. The first thing we need to do is create a new app identifier. Open up developer.apple.com and click the account button. Select the Certificates, Identifiers, and Profiles button.

razeware.com.flutter.ios.bullseye.2021

Next select Identifiers. Click the plus sign to create a new app id. Choose the App IDs option. Then register an App. After which, fill out the information about your app id. Make sure that the bundle id matches the bundle id you created in Xcode.

After this is done, give it a description. This is for internal use only. You don’t need to add capabilities. Click continue and then click register.

Now you have to create a new app in app store connect. Return back to the account and select the App Store Connect option. Once in App Store Connect, click the My Apps button.

Click the Plus Sign to create a new app. Now fill out the app information. In my case, I’m using a name that has already been taken so I give it a different name. Then click create.

At this point you have your app screen. Fill out the app information. Once done, save. Then switch to pricing and availability. Set the game to be free. Then save.

Select the App Privacy option. We need to tell Apple about any data we are collecting. Click the Get Started button and fill out the form. After which, we need to provide a privacy url. When done, click the publish tab.

Return back to the Prepare for Submission form. hMake sure to include screenshots. Once you add the screenshots, add some additional store meta data. Finally, add some review information.

Now it’s time to build a version of your app for the app store. Switch back to Xcode and select the Runner target. From there, we need to build the app for distribution. From the device dropdown, select the Any iOS Device. The select the Product, and then select Archive.

It’ll take a moment for it to build. Once built, the organizer will popup. Click the Distribute App button. Select the App Store Connect option. In the next window, choose Upload. Make sure both options are selected. Then choose Automatically Manage Signing.

Then click next. After which, Xcode will create the final app. Click the Upload button to send it to the App Store. Once you get the green checkmark, you have the file uploaded.

Once you have it uploaded, switch back to App Store Connect. It will take several minutes for Apple to process the build. Refresh the page. In the build section, click the Select a build before you can submit your app blue button.

Now comes Export Compliance. Since we aren’t using any cryptography - including HTTPS, click No. Select your build from the prepare for Submission. Click the Submit for Review button. You’ll be prompted with a few more questions. Once answerer, click the submit button. Click Save and then click Submit for Review.

In my case, I have a couple of errors. I need to provide additional screenshots for tablets and a support URL. I make sure to add them. Once added, I click Submit for Review again and it is put in the review queue.

At which point, you wait back until you hear from the App Store. Sometimes, you’ll be notified about an issue that you’ll need to address. If it passes, you’ll be informed that the project is Ready for Sale which means you can release it to the general public.