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    Guide · Capacitor · Lovable

    Capacitor to App Store & Play Store — 2026 playbook

    Nathan Claiborne
    Capacitor (and Lovable, which generates Capacitor projects) is the fastest way for web developers to ship a mobile app. But "open Xcode and figure it out" isn't a plan. Here's the actual end-to-end path.

    Step 1 — Lock down your native config

    • Set appId in capacitor.config.ts to your reverse-DNS bundle identifier (e.g. com.acme.invoices). This becomes immutable on both stores.
    • Pick an appName — this is the launch-screen name, not the Store listing title.
    • Run npx cap sync after every web build to refresh native projects.
    • Add app icons and a splash screen with @capacitor/assets.

    Step 2 — Sort out signing once

    • Android: generate a keystore — see the Android keystore guide.
    • iOS: enroll in Apple Developer, create a Distribution cert and App Store provisioning profile — read the iOS code signing walkthrough.
    • Store both sets of credentials somewhere you trust (a password manager + Corenna's encrypted vault).

    Step 3 — Build signed artifacts from GitHub

    Push your project to GitHub, connect it to Corenna, and trigger one Android and one iOS build. Or roll your own workflow following our guide to building a signed .aab and guide to building a signed .ipa.

    Step 4 — Store listings (the boring part that gates launch)

    • Screenshots: 6.5" and 5.5" iPhone for App Store; phone + tablet for Play. Use @capacitor-community/screenshots or hand-build.
    • Privacy: App Store privacy questionnaire + a hosted Privacy Policy URL. Play needs a Data Safety form.
    • Age rating: IARC questionnaire on Play, App Store age-rating form.
    • Content rights: confirm you own everything in screenshots and the app itself.

    Step 5 — Submit and survive review

    • Play: most apps get auto-approved within 1–3 days; new accounts need 20 closed-testers for 14 days before production.
    • App Store: 1–3 day review. Common rejections — broken sign-in test account, missing IAP for digital goods, "minimum viable" complaints. Always include reviewer credentials.

    Step 6 — Set up CD for future updates

    Once the first release is live, every update is a couple of taps: push to main, click Build in Corenna (it raises versionCode / CFBundleVersion for you), then send the .aab straight to your Google Play track and take the .ipa to App Store Connect. The hard part is done.

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