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Google Play and Apple review your app and its store listing before it goes live. Most rejections come from a missing form, a reviewer who cannot sign in, or payments the store does not allow. Check the list for your store before you submit.

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What does Google Play need before the first release?

Complete each item in the Play Console. Google does not publish your app until every one is done. Hercules does not fill in the Play store listing today. Prepare these images: No privacy policy yet? Ask Hercules:
Add a privacy policy page

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Do I need 12 testers before my app goes live on Google Play?

Only if your Google Play developer account is a personal account created after November 13, 2023. Google then requires a closed test before you can publish to production. Organization accounts skip this step.
1

Create a Closed Test

In the Play Console, open Testing → Closed testing, create a track, and add the release Hercules built. Promote it from internal testing, or upload the .aab file.
2

Invite at Least 12 Testers

Add your testers’ email addresses or a Google Group, then send them the opt-in link. Each tester accepts the invite from that link.
3

Wait 14 Days

At least 12 testers must stay opted in for 14 days in a row.
4

Apply for Production

Open the Dashboard in the Play Console, click Apply for production, and answer the questions about your test, your app, and its readiness. Google usually answers within 7 days. It may ask you to keep testing first.
Only a closed test counts. Internal testing, where Hercules uploads your builds, does not. See App testing requirements for new personal developer accounts.

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What does the App Store need before the first submission?

Fill in the store listing in Hercules (Fill in the listing or Edit listing on the iOS tab). Hercules sends it to App Store Connect with every submission.

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Which App Review guidelines do Hercules apps often miss?

Apple reviews every version against its App Review Guidelines. These are the ones to check first:

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How do I give reviewers a demo account?

If your app needs sign-in, reviewers at both stores sign in with only the account you give them. A reviewer cannot read a code sent to your email inbox or phone, so an app that only offers email code or social sign-in blocks them.
  1. Go to Users & Access → Auth Portal, turn on Email and password (or Username and password), and save
  2. Create the reviewer account. Sign up in your app with an email address you control and verify it. For a username account, open Users & Access → Users and click Create User
  3. Install your store build (TestFlight or Google Play internal testing) and sign in with the account, the way the reviewer will. Check that you get through every step, including the human check on the sign-in page, with only the username and password
  4. Enter the account:
    • App Store: in the store listing under App Review, turn on The reviewer needs an account to sign in, then fill in Demo account name and Demo account password
    • Google Play: in the Play Console, open Policy and programs → App content → Sign-in details
Keep the account and its password unchanged until review is done. If some features need a role or a paid plan, give the account that access and say so in Notes for the reviewer.

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How do I let people delete their account?

If people can create an account in your app, both stores require a way to delete it. Deactivating or hiding an account does not count.
  • App Store (Guideline 5.1.1(v)): people must be able to start deleting their account inside the app. If a web page finishes the process, link straight to it
  • Google Play: an in-app path to delete the account and its data (a link to a web page counts), and a web link where people can request deletion. Enter that link in the Data safety form
Hercules Auth has no Delete account button for your users today, and your app cannot delete a sign-in account by itself. Deleting only the person’s data is not enough: they could still sign in. So the in-app option deletes their data at once and sends you a request to delete their sign-in account. Ask Hercules to add it to your app:
Add account deletion
Then finish each request within the time the app promises: open Users & Access → Users, open the user’s menu, click Remove, then Remove user. This deletes their sign-in account and signs them out everywhere. The request is not done until you remove the user, so check for new requests often.

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Can I sell things in my store app?

Each store decides how you take payments inside its app: Hercules builds do not include StoreKit (Apple’s in-app purchase system) or Google Play Billing today. So today you cannot sell digital content or subscriptions inside your store app. You can:
  • Sell physical goods and real-world services with Hercules Commerce, in the store app and on the web
  • Sell digital items on your website only. Hide checkout in the store app and keep it on the web. The store app adds HerculesNative to its user agent (the text a browser sends to identify itself), so your app can tell where it runs. Ask Hercules:
Hide checkout in the store app
Each store also decides whether people can unlock, in the app, what they bought on your website:
  • Google Play allows a consumption-only app: people sign in and use what they bought elsewhere, as long as nothing can be bought in the app
  • Apple allows it only in the cases in Guideline 3.1.3, such as reader apps (magazines, books, music, video) and free companion apps for a paid web service
Some regions allow other payment systems or links to your website, such as the United States storefront on the App Store. Hercules does not set these up. Read the official rules:

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Can I show ads in my store app?

  • AdSense: Google allows AdSense ads inside an app only through the WebView API for Ads (part of the Google Mobile Ads SDK), Chrome Custom Tabs, or a Trusted Web Activity. Hercules builds show your app in a web view without that SDK, so AdSense ads are not allowed in your store app today. See AdSense in apps
  • AdMob: AdMob needs the Google Mobile Ads SDK, a native library. Hercules builds do not include it today
Keep AdSense on your website and hide it in the store app. Ask Hercules:
Hide ads in the store app
Then answer No under Ads in the Play Console, unless your app shows other ads.

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Additional FAQ

Apple rejects apps that an app generation service submits for its customers, unless the owner of the content submits them (Guideline 4.2.6). Hercules submits with your own Apple Developer and Google Play accounts, so you are the publisher on both stores.
  • Google Play: Google says review can take up to 7 days, or longer in exceptional cases. Applying for production after a closed test usually takes 7 days or less
  • App Store: usually 1 to 3 days
First submissions may take longer.
Hercules shows that App Review rejected the version. Apple’s full reason is in App Store Connect. Fix what it names in Hercules, in App Store Connect, or in your app, then submit again.