8. Store Listings, Privacy, and Age Ratings (a.k.a. The Boring but Mandatory Bit)
You've paid your dues, created your app IDs, and you're ready to go live. But before anyone can actually download your app, Apple and Google make you jump through one more hoop: the giant pile of forms about listings, privacy, and age ratings.
This is the most boring part of app development - but also one of the most critical. Screw it up, and you'll get rejected before you even hit "Submit."
The Store Listing: Your Marketing Tax
Your app listing is your storefront. Think of it like a landing page inside the App Store or Google Play. You'll need to provide:
App name & subtitle (make them catchy, SEO matters here).
Full description (explain the app, but sprinkle keywords).
Screenshots & preview videos (don't use lorem ipsum mockups, people can tell).
Promotional text (the one-liner that shows up in search).
Privacy policy URL (non-negotiable, more below).
Support URL (even if it just redirects to a help email).
App icon (if yours looks like clip art, redo it).
Apple makes you fill in everything upfront. Google lets you save and return later. Either way, you'll eventually need it all.
Privacy Policy: More Than Just a Checkbox
Both Apple and Google now require a live privacy policy URL.
And it's not enough to write "we don't track anything lol." You have to detail:
What data you collect (location, name, email, payment info, etc).
Why you collect it (e.g. location for showing nearby barbers, not for selling ads).
How you use it (auth, analytics, marketing, etc).
Whether it's linked to an identifiable user or anonymised.
Who you share it with (third parties, APIs, payment processors).
If your app touches user data at all - which it does, because all apps do - you need to spell this out in painful detail.
For CutCompass, that meant:
Location data → used to show barbers nearby. Not used for marketing. Not tied to user ID.
Contact info → used for login/authentication. Not sold, not shared.
Payment details → handled via Stripe, never stored locally.
If you don't explain every single piece of data, you'll get flagged in review.
Accessibility: The New Kid on the Block
Apple now asks you about accessibility too. Can your app be used with:
VoiceOver?
Larger text sizes?
Switch control or voice control?
If you've built support for these, highlight it - it's a big trust signal. If you haven't, you'll just need to admit it's not supported (and maybe put it on your roadmap).
Age Ratings: The Endless Questionnaire
The age-rating forms are now brutal. They want to know, in detail, exactly what your app could expose a user to.
Questions include:
Violence, nudity, gambling? (easy: "no").
Does your app allow user-generated content? (yes = more hoops).
Does your app track or share location? (yes, explain why).
Does your app identify users with that data? (better say "no" unless you absolutely have to).
Does your app use data for marketing/ads? (if yes, you'll need to explain ad networks and targeting).
Every single feature you include must be explained:
Location services → why do you need it? Navigation? Local features? Ads?
Notifications → what are they for? Reminders? Marketing blasts? Time-sensitive alerts?
User login data → is it just for authentication, or are you also profiling?
Answer incorrectly or vaguely, and congratulations - your app just got stamped with a 17+ rating.
And here's the kicker: Apple just updated these forms. Why? Most likely because governments (hello Australia 👋) are rolling out shiny new "online safety" laws that will make half the internet technically illegal by December 2025. So yeah, expect this to get even messier.
Survival Tips
Write a proper privacy policy - no excuses, even if it's just one page on your site.
Be honest about data use - reviewers can smell BS. If you're tracking location, own it.
Answer everything in context - "Yes, but only for X feature" is safer than a blanket yes/no.
Remember: users see this too - the more transparent you are, the more they'll trust you.
Rant Break: Compliance Theatre
Here's the irony: scammy crypto apps and shady "VPN boosters" seem to pass these reviews with ease, while real apps get bounced for tiny inconsistencies.
It's compliance theatre. The forms are less about safety and more about covering Apple/Google's legal backsides. And you, dear founder, get to do all the work for them.
Coming Up Next
Now that the paperwork is out of the way, it's time for the part that actually makes people cry: building and uploading your first binaries.
That means provisioning profiles, signing certificates, and everyone's least favorite package manager: CocoaPods.
Prepare your Mac. And maybe a stiff drink.