# Shipping Android and iOS solo (iOS: coming soon)

> I built the Track My Academy Android and iOS apps myself. Android is live. iOS is coming soon. Here is what stands between any solo developer and the two app stores, and why Android first makes sense for an Indian product.

- Author: Rahul Dhileep Kumar (https://www.rahuldk.in/)
- Published: 2026-10-18
- Reading time: 6 min read
- Tags: dev tools, founder, product
- Canonical: https://www.rahuldk.in/blog/shipping-android-and-ios-solo

![A smartphone showing the word android next to a small green Android robot figure, on a dark background](https://www.rahuldk.in/posts/shipping-android-and-ios-solo/cover.webp)

I built the Track My Academy mobile apps myself.
Both of them. Android and iOS.

The Android app is live in production.
The iOS app is coming soon.

That second line is the honest one.
It's also the one every solo founder ends up writing at some point.

So this post isn't a victory lap.
It's a look at what actually stands between one person and two app stores.
Fees, rules, testers, reviewers.
And why, for a product like ours, I think Android first is the sensible order.

![A smartphone showing the word android next to a small green Android robot figure](https://www.rahuldk.in/posts/shipping-android-and-ios-solo/cover.webp)

*Photo: [Denny Müller](https://unsplash.com/@redaquamedia) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/green-frog-iphone-case-beside-black-samsung-android-smartphone-HfWA-Axq6Ek)*

## Building it is the part you expect

[Track My Academy](https://www.trackmyacademy.com) started as a web app, and the web app is live.
Real academies run on it.
The first version came together with AI tools, mostly vibe coding, in about three months.
That story, and the agency build that came before it, is in [the app that arrived from 2006](https://www.rahuldk.in/blog/the-app-that-arrived-from-2006).

The stack behind it is React, FastAPI, MongoDB, Supabase, Firebase and a few friends.

Here's the thing nobody tells you when you're writing code at night.
Writing the app is the part you can control.
Getting it into a store is a different job, with somebody else's rules.

## The two doors: Play Console and App Store Connect

Each platform has one front door.
On Android it's the Play Console.
On iOS it's App Store Connect, which needs a paid Apple Developer Program membership.

The price of entry is the first difference.

| | Google Play | Apple App Store |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Account cost | [US$25, one time](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/6112435) | [$99 a year](https://developer.apple.com/programs/) |
| Identity checks | [Government ID and a card in your legal name may be asked for](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/6112435) | [Legal name for individuals; a D-U-N-S Number for organisations](https://developer.apple.com/programs/enroll/) |
| Beta testing | Closed testing tracks | [TestFlight, up to 10,000 external testers](https://developer.apple.com/programs/) |

For a bootstrapped team, one fee is a rounding error and the other is a yearly subscription.
Neither is the real obstacle.
But it does tell you something about how each store thinks.

Apple's organisation route has its own homework.
[Apple's enrolment page](https://developer.apple.com/programs/enroll/) says an organisation must be a legal entity that can sign contracts, needs a D-U-N-S Number, and needs a public, working website on its own domain.
The organisation's name then shows as the seller name on the App Store.
None of that is hard.
All of it takes time you didn't plan for.

## Google's 12 testers and 14 days

Android is not a free pass either.

If you open a personal Play developer account today, you can't just upload and publish.
[Google's rules](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/14151465) for personal accounts created after 13 November 2023 say at least 12 testers must be opted in to a closed test when you apply for production access.
And they must have stayed opted in for the preceding 14 days, continuously.

For a big company, 12 testers is a Slack message.
For a solo developer, it's a favour you ask of friends, family and anyone who owes you one.
Then you wait two weeks and hope nobody uninstalls.

My opinion: it's annoying, and it's also fair.
Two weeks with real people on real phones finds bugs you won't find alone.

## Apple's reviewers read the guidelines so you have to

On iOS the gate is a human review.
[Apple says](https://developer.apple.com/distribute/app-review/) it typically reviews at least 50% of submissions in under 24 hours and 90% in under 48 hours.
That's quick.
Passing is the slower bit.

The same page says that, on average, over 40% of unresolved issues relate to guideline 2.1, App Completeness.
The [App Store Review Guidelines](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/) put it plainly: submissions "should be final versions with all necessary metadata and fully functional URLs included".
Placeholder text and temporary content have to go.

There's also a line I like for its honesty.
If your app has a login, include demo account details "(and turn on your back-end service!)".
Someone clearly learned that the hard way.

A product like ours is almost entirely behind a login.
It's role-based, so different people see different things.
So a reviewer needs a working account and enough data to see the app do its job.

Then there's guideline 4.2, Minimum Functionality.
Your app "should include features, content, and UI that elevate it beyond a repackaged website."
If you already have a good web app, this is the trap.
Wrapping it and shipping it is the fastest route, and the one most likely to bounce.

[Apple's list of common problems](https://developer.apple.com/distribute/app-review/) also includes broken links, a missing privacy policy, inaccurate screenshots and unclear data-access prompts.
Boring things.
The boring things are always the ones that get you.

## Why Android first, for us

Here's where I'll be opinionated.

In India, Android isn't the bigger platform.
It's nearly the only one.
[StatCounter's figures for September 2026](https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/india) put Android at 93.89% of mobile OS share in India and iOS at 6.05%.

[Track My Academy](https://www.trackmyacademy.com) is for sports academies.
Attendance, fees, player reports, messages to parents.
The coach who started all this ran everything from his phone.
His story is in [how a coach's complaint turned into a company](https://www.rahuldk.in/blog/a-coach-complained-so-i-started-a-company).

If you're building for that person in India, the odds say their phone runs Android.
So for an Indian sports-academy product, I think Android first is simply the order the market hands you.
Add a one-time fee and a review flow you can test yourself, and the choice makes itself.

That doesn't make iOS optional.
Some parents and owners will be on iPhones.
And the web app covers anyone in between while the iOS app is still on its way.

## What I'd tell another solo dev

- **Budget for the store, not just the code.** Fees, verification, screenshots, privacy policy, demo accounts.
- **Line up your testers early.** On Play, 14 days only starts once they're in.
- **Read guidelines 2.1 and 4.2 before you build, not after.** It's cheaper to design for them.
- **Ship where your users are first.** For us, that's Android.
- **Say "coming soon" out loud.** It's fine. It beats pretending.

The iOS app is coming soon.
When it's out, you'll hear about it here.
Probably with too many exclamation marks.

## FAQ

### Is the Track My Academy iOS app out?

Not yet. The Android app and the web app are live. The iOS app is coming soon.

### Do new Google Play developers need testers before going live?

Personal accounts created after 13 November 2023 need at least 12 testers opted in to a closed test for 14 days in a row before applying for production access.

### How much does it cost to publish on both stores?

Google Play charges a US$25 one-time fee. The Apple Developer Program costs $99 a year.

## Sources

- [Apple Developer Program](https://developer.apple.com/programs/)
- [Apple: Enrolment requirements](https://developer.apple.com/programs/enroll/)
- [Apple: App Store Review Guidelines](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/)
- [Apple: App Review](https://developer.apple.com/distribute/app-review/)
- [Google Play Console Help: Testing requirements for new personal developer accounts](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/14151465)
- [Google Play Console Help: Registering a developer account](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/6112435)
- [StatCounter: Mobile operating system market share, India](https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/india)

## What next

How the product got built in the first place: [the app that arrived from 2006](https://www.rahuldk.in/blog/the-app-that-arrived-from-2006).
And what happens after you ship: [we blamed our code, it was SSL](https://www.rahuldk.in/blog/the-night-i-broke-production).

Running an academy? [Track My Academy](https://www.trackmyacademy.com) handles attendance, fees, player reports and parent messages.

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Written by Rahul Dhileep Kumar, product engineer and founder (Track My Academy, TrackMy Tech). More posts: https://www.rahuldk.in/blog