Developer services
App Store Release Help
Practical release help for solo developers and very small Apple-platform teams. You built the app; we help you get it cleanly through the last mile — the archive, App Store Connect, and the submission itself.
Who this is for
Individuals and teams small enough that nobody’s job title is “release manager.” The app works — but the release keeps slipping on things that have nothing to do with whether the app is good. The failure modes are remarkably consistent:
- Archive or build settings that don’t match what App Store Connect expects
- App Store Connect release state stuck between builds, versions, or agreements
- Metadata and screenshots that don’t meet requirements or don’t match the app
- Privacy declarations that disagree with the app’s actual behavior or the public policy page
- Missing or unreachable privacy policy and support URLs
- Subscriptions or in-app purchases created but never attached to the submission
- TestFlight builds that never made it to the right testers — or the right build
- Reviewer notes that leave the reviewer guessing (demo accounts, hardware, context)
- Release settings that ship the app at the wrong time, or to the wrong storefronts
What is included
Release Readiness Audit
The required foundation
- Evidence-backed review of your available build/archive/project and the current App Store Connect release state
- A mismatch and blocker report — what will stop or slow the submission, and why
- A prioritized fix plan, ordered by what actually blocks release
- Reviewer-note recommendations (demo accounts, context, hardware notes)
- One re-check of corrected materials for the same release scope, requested within 14 calendar days
Founding pilot pricing: starts at $249 for one Apple-platform app and one release version
App Store Submission Support
Optional done-with-you add-on
- Hands-on help preparing metadata, screenshots layout requirements, and privacy answers
- IAP/subscription attachment, TestFlight and build selection, reviewer notes
- Assembling the App Store Connect submission package, after or alongside the audit
- Role-based App Store Connect collaboration when appropriate — never password sharing
- You retain account control; legal, tax, banking, and contractual attestations are completed by you personally
Quoted after the audit, based on release complexity
Pricing, payment & timing
- The founding pilot price starts at $249 and covers one Apple-platform app and one release version. It includes the evidence-backed audit, the blocker and fix report, reviewer-note recommendations, and one re-check of corrected materials for the same release scope, requested within 14 calendar days.
- App Store Submission Support is optional and priced separately — it is never bundled into the audit price.
- Typical delivery is 3–5 business days after scope, payment, and required materials are complete. Timing is confirmed in your written quote.
- Payment is due only after you accept the written scope and quote, and before work begins. There is no blind online checkout — you always know exactly what you are buying first.
- Cancellation: if you cancel before work begins, you receive a full refund. After work begins, any refund is limited to unperformed work as described in the accepted quote; completed work and non-recoverable costs are not refundable.
- Extra apps, additional release versions, expedited work, material code fixes, redesign, screenshot production, localization, legal advice, and ongoing marketing are separate scopes — quoted separately when wanted, never silently included.
Final project-specific terms are in the accepted written quote and scope. See our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for how professional-services engagements and client materials are handled.
How it works
1. Request help
Email us the app name, its public App Store or TestFlight status if it has one, your target date, and a short description of the blocker. No credentials — ever.
2. Scope & access check
We confirm what we can review, what access (if any) is genuinely needed, and quote the audit. If role-based App Store Connect access is appropriate, it is least-privilege and removable by you at any time.
3. Audit & working session
We review the release materials, deliver the mismatch and blocker report with a prioritized fix plan, and — with Submission Support — work through the fixes with you hands-on.
4. Handoff & re-check
You submit from your own account. The audit includes one re-check of corrected materials for the same release scope, requested within 14 calendar days, so you go in with a clean list.
Trust & boundaries
- No guarantee of Apple approval or review timing, and no promises of installs — Apple makes the final decisions.
- No legal advice. We flag where you may want a lawyer; we are not one.
- No Apple ID password sharing, ever. Least-privilege, role-based access only when it is genuinely needed — and you can revoke it at any time.
- Purchasing this service never buys, improves, accelerates, or guarantees coverage in Small Apps Worth Knowing — see the editorial policy.
Frequently asked questions
What access do you need?
Often none for the audit — public listings, your build/archive output, and screenshots of App Store Connect states go a long way. When direct access genuinely helps, it is role-based App Store Connect collaboration at the least privilege that works. We never ask for your Apple ID password, and you can revoke access at any time.
Can NovoBuild press Submit for me?
The submission is yours. We prepare the package with you and can walk through the final screens together, but you retain account control, and any legal, tax, banking, or contractual attestations are completed by you personally.
Do you guarantee Apple will approve my app?
No — nobody honestly can. Apple makes the final decision on approval and review timing. What we do is remove the avoidable reasons for rejection before the reviewer ever sees them.
Do you handle in-app purchases and subscriptions?
Yes, within submission scope: verifying products are configured, priced, attached to the correct submission, and described consistently. Designing your pricing model or writing StoreKit code is separate scope.
Will you fix my code?
The audit identifies what needs to change, including build and configuration issues. Small configuration corrections can fall within a working session; material code fixes, redesign, screenshot production, and localization are separate, clearly-quoted scopes — never silently included, never silently billed.
Does buying this help my app get featured in Small Apps Worth Knowing?
No. Purchasing any NovoBuild service — including this one — never buys, improves, accelerates, or guarantees editorial consideration, selection, placement, or coverage. The editorial and commercial sides of NovoBuild are separate by policy.
Ready to get unstuck?
Email us your app name, its public App Store or TestFlight status if it has one, your target date, and a short description of the blocker. Please don’t include passwords or any Apple account credentials — we will never ask for them.