Getting Started

This document is intended to help you understand the concepts and tools involved in building an app, especially if you’re coming from a non-technical background. While you can dive right into Draftbit and start building immediately, this guide covers important concepts and preparation steps that will make your app development journey much smoother and more successful.

Go at your own pace

You don’t need to complete everything in this guide before you start building—think of it as your reference for understanding what goes into creating a complete app. The more preparation you do upfront, the more successful you’ll be, but feel free to skip ahead to creating your first app or jump straight into Draftbit and refer back to these sections as needed.

Define your app concept

Before you touch any development tools, you need absolute clarity about what you’re building and why. This isn’t just about having a “good idea”—it’s about understanding your app’s purpose, audience, and scope in enough detail that you can make informed decisions throughout the building process.

Define the problem

Start by articulating the specific problem your app solves in concrete terms. Avoid vague statements like “people need better organization.” Instead, dig deeper: “Freelance graphic designers struggle to track project deadlines, client communications, and invoice statuses across multiple platforms, leading to missed deadlines and delayed payments.” This level of specificity helps you understand exactly what features your app needs to include.

Next, explain how your app makes this problem disappear or become manageable. Your solution should be simple enough to explain to someone unfamiliar with the problem in under 30 seconds. If you can’t do this clearly, your concept likely needs more refinement before you start building.

Identify your target users

Understanding who will use your app is crucial for making design and feature decisions. Create detailed profiles of your ideal users, including their technical comfort level, the devices they typically use, their daily routines, and their pain points. For example, if you’re building a budgeting app for college students, consider that they likely use smartphones primarily, have limited income, may not have credit cards, and probably check social media multiple times per day.

This user research will guide everything from your app’s visual design to its navigation structure. An app for senior citizens will have very different design requirements than one for teenage gamers, and understanding these differences upfront prevents costly redesigns later.

Map out essential user flows

Think through the complete journey your users will take in your app, from first opening it to achieving their primary goal. Break this down into specific screens and actions. For a meal planning app, this might include: signing up with email, setting dietary preferences, browsing recipe recommendations, adding meals to a weekly calendar, generating a grocery list, and sharing recipes with family members.

Document these flows in simple language, focusing on what the user sees and does at each step. This exercise naturally reveals what screens you’ll need to build and helps you prioritize features for your initial release. It also helps you spot potential usability issues before you start building.

Plan your feature scope

One of the biggest mistakes new app builders make is trying to include every possible feature in their first version. Instead, identify the 3-5 core features that must work perfectly for your app to solve its primary problem. Everything else can wait for future updates.

Use the “MoSCoW” method to categorize features: Must have (core functionality), Should have (important but not critical), Could have (nice additions), and Won’t have (explicitly out of scope for version 1). This framework helps you resist feature creep and ship faster.

Choose your platforms

Deciding whether to launch on iOS, Android, web, or all three affects your development timeline, costs, and user acquisition strategy. Each platform has distinct characteristics that may favor your specific app type and audience.

Web apps (Progressive Web Apps or PWAs) are often the best starting point for new developers because they don’t require app store approval, can be updated instantly, work across all devices, and don’t require users to download anything. They’re perfect for testing your concept and gathering user feedback quickly.

iOS apps reach users who typically have higher spending power and engagement rates, but require a $99/year Apple Developer Program membership and must pass App Store review. Android apps reach a larger global audience and have more lenient review processes, but require managing more device variations and screen sizes.

Consider your target audience’s preferences, your budget for developer accounts, and your timeline for launch when making this decision. Many successful apps start with one platform and expand after proving their concept.

Use planning tools

Modern planning tools can help you organize your thoughts and create professional documentation for your app concept. Notion excels at creating comprehensive project wikis where you can document user research, feature requirements, and development progress in one searchable location. Airtable works well for tracking features, user feedback, and development tasks with its spreadsheet-database hybrid approach.

For visual brainstorming and user journey mapping, Miro provides infinite whiteboards where you can create mind maps, user flow diagrams, and collaborate with others in real-time. FigJam offers similar capabilities with tight integration to Figma for when you’re ready to create actual designs.

If you want to think through your business model, try the Lean Canvas framework, which helps you document your assumptions about customers, problems, solutions, and revenue streams on a single page. This exercise often reveals important considerations you hadn’t thought of.

For those using Draftbit’s AI features, check out our guides on Writing your initial prompt and Composing task prompts to get better results from AI assistance.

Set realistic milestones

One of the most common mistakes in app development is underestimating the time and effort required to create a polished, successful app. Setting realistic expectations and breaking your project into achievable milestones helps maintain momentum and reduces the risk of abandoning your project when it takes longer than expected.

Start with an MVP

Your MVP (Minimum Viable Product) should be the simplest version of your app that still solves the core problem for your target users. This isn’t about cutting corners or accepting poor quality—it’s about focusing intensely on the most essential features and polishing them to perfection.

Define your MVP by identifying the smallest set of features that would make a user say “this is useful” rather than “this might be useful someday.” For a fitness tracking app, the MVP might include manual workout logging and basic progress charts, while advanced features like social sharing, nutrition tracking, and workout recommendations can wait for later versions.

The biggest threat to finishing your app is scope creep—the gradual addition of features that seem important but aren’t essential to your core value proposition. Every time you think “it would be nice if the app also did X,” write it down in a “future features” list instead of adding it to your current development plan. Staying disciplined about your MVP boundaries is often the difference between shipping a successful app and getting stuck in endless development.

Building an MVP first offers several advantages: you can test your core assumptions with real users sooner, you’ll ship something rather than getting stuck in endless development, you can gather user feedback to guide future development, and you’ll learn valuable lessons about app development without over-investing in unproven features.

Plan development phases

Break your app development into distinct phases, each ending with something you can test and evaluate. This phased approach makes the project feel less overwhelming and provides natural checkpoints for gathering feedback and adjusting your direction.

Phase 1 might focus on core functionality without any advanced features. Phase 2 could add user accounts and data persistence. Phase 3 might introduce social features or integrations. Each phase should add meaningful value while building toward your complete vision.

Document what you’ll build in each phase and what you explicitly won’t build until later phases. This documentation helps you resist scope creep and communicate progress to stakeholders or team members.

Estimate development time

App development almost always takes longer than initial estimates, especially for first-time builders. Even with Draftbit’s visual development tools, you’ll need time for planning, building, testing, refining, and preparing for launch.

Factor in time for activities beyond just building screens: setting up your backend, creating content, testing on multiple devices, preparing app store assets, responding to user feedback, and iterating based on what you learn.

A simple app with basic CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) functionality might take 2-4 weeks to build in Draftbit, while a complex app with real-time features, payment processing, and social elements could take 2-3 months or more.

Define success metrics

Establish clear, measurable goals for your app’s success that go beyond just “lots of users.” Specific metrics might include user retention rates (what percentage of users return after their first week?), feature usage (are users actually using the main features you built?), or business metrics (revenue, support tickets, user satisfaction scores).

Choose metrics that align with your app’s purpose and your users’ success. A productivity app might measure daily active users and task completion rates, while a social app might focus on user engagement and content creation rates.

Set realistic targets based on industry benchmarks and your app’s scope. A 10% week-1 retention rate might be excellent for some app categories but poor for others. Research typical performance in your app’s category to set appropriate expectations.

Plan for feedback

Build feedback collection into your app from the beginning, whether through simple rating prompts, feedback forms, or analytics that show how users actually navigate your app. User behavior often differs significantly from what you expect during planning.

Plan regular review cycles where you evaluate your progress, user feedback, and key metrics to decide what to work on next. This might be weekly during active development or monthly once your app is launched.

Be prepared to pivot or make significant changes based on what you learn from real users. Some of the most successful apps look very different from their creators’ original visions because they adapted based on user feedback and behavior.

Create wireframes and designs

Visual planning might seem like an extra step, but even rough wireframes will save you hours of indecision and backtracking once you start building. You don’t need to be a designer or create pixel-perfect mockups—you just need clarity about your app’s structure and flow.

Start with wireframes

Begin by sketching the basic layout of each screen using simple boxes, lines, and placeholder text. Focus entirely on layout, navigation, and content hierarchy rather than colors, fonts, or visual details. These wireframes should answer questions like: Where does the navigation menu go? How do users get from the home screen to their profile? What information appears on each screen?

You can create wireframes with simple tools like pen and paper, Balsamiq (designed specifically for rough wireframes), or even basic shapes in Google Slides or PowerPoint. The goal is speed and clarity, not beauty.

Create one wireframe for each major screen in your user flows, then walk through them as if you’re a user trying to complete key tasks. This exercise often reveals missing screens, confusing navigation, or logical gaps in your user experience.

Choose design tools

When you’re ready to create higher-fidelity designs, choose tools that match your skills and collaboration needs. Figma has become the industry standard for digital design because it works in any web browser, makes collaboration effortless, includes a vast library of templates and UI kits, and offers powerful features like auto-layout and component systems. Its free tier is generous enough for most small projects.

Sketch remains popular among Mac users and offers excellent plugin ecosystem, but it’s desktop-only and doesn’t have built-in collaboration features. Adobe XD integrates well with other Adobe products and includes prototyping features, making it a good choice if you’re already in the Adobe ecosystem.

For beginners, Canva now includes basic app mockup templates that can help you visualize your app’s look and feel without learning complex design software. While not as powerful as dedicated design tools, it’s approachable for non-designers.

Create a design system

Before you start designing individual screens, establish the basic visual guidelines that will keep your app looking cohesive. This doesn’t need to be a formal brand guide—just clear decisions about colors, fonts, spacing, and button styles that you’ll use consistently throughout your app.

Choose a primary color that reflects your app’s personality and purpose, plus one or two accent colors for highlights and calls-to-action. Select neutral colors for text, backgrounds, and borders. Keep your palette simple—most successful apps use fewer than six colors total.

Pick fonts that are readable on mobile devices and match your app’s tone. Google Fonts offers hundreds of free options that work well in apps. Generally, choose one font for headings and either the same font or a complementary one for body text.

Define a spacing system using multiples of 4 or 8 pixels (like 8px, 16px, 24px, 32px) to create visual rhythm and consistency. This system will translate perfectly to Draftbit’s Nativewind styling, which uses similar spacing conventions.

Design for mobile first

Even if you’re planning to launch on web initially, design your screens for mobile devices first. Mobile constraints force you to prioritize content and create cleaner, more focused interfaces. You can always adapt these designs for larger screens later, but starting with desktop designs often leads to cluttered mobile experiences.

Consider how people actually use mobile devices: with their thumbs, often one-handed, frequently while distracted or in motion. Make buttons large enough to tap easily (at least 44 pixels), keep important content in the top two-thirds of the screen, and avoid relying on hover states or right-click interactions.

Test your wireframes and designs on actual devices when possible. Colors and sizes that look perfect on your laptop screen might be too small or hard to read on a phone in bright sunlight.

Understand app architecture

If you’re new to app development, understanding the different components that make up a complete app system will help you make better decisions and communicate more effectively with developers, designers, and service providers. Think of building an app like building a house—you need a solid foundation (backend), beautiful and functional rooms (frontend), and utilities that connect everything (APIs, databases, authentication).

Frontend (user interface)

The frontend is your app’s user interface—everything users see and interact with on their devices. In Draftbit, your frontend is built using React Native and Expo, which means you’re creating a truly native mobile app that can access device features like cameras, location services, and push notifications, while also being able to run on the web.

React Native works by translating your app’s interface into the native components of each platform. When you create a button in your Draftbit app, it becomes an actual iOS button on iPhones and an actual Android button on Android devices, ensuring your app feels natural and performant on every platform.

The frontend handles user interactions, displays data from your backend, manages navigation between screens, validates form inputs, and provides feedback to users. It’s also responsible for maintaining application state—remembering what the user was doing when they switch between screens or temporarily lose internet connection.

Backend (server and data)

The backend is the server-side system that powers your app’s functionality behind the scenes. It’s where your app’s data lives, where business logic gets processed, and where integrations with third-party services happen. Users never see the backend directly, but it’s essential for any app that stores data, has user accounts, or provides personalized experiences.

Your backend typically includes several components working together: a database to store information, authentication systems to manage user accounts and security, APIs that define how your frontend communicates with the backend, file storage for images and documents, and serverless functions for custom business logic.

Think of your backend as a restaurant’s kitchen: customers (your app users) never see it, but it’s where all the food (data) gets prepared and organized before being served. A well-designed backend can handle many customers simultaneously while keeping everything organized and secure.

Database storage

The database is your app’s long-term memory, storing everything from user profiles to content, settings, and transaction records. Choosing the right type of database depends on your app’s needs, but most modern apps use either SQL databases (like PostgreSQL) for structured data with complex relationships, or NoSQL databases (like MongoDB) for flexible, document-based storage.

For beginners, SQL databases are often easier to understand because they organize data in tables with clear relationships, much like spreadsheets. NoSQL databases offer more flexibility but can be harder to structure properly without experience.

When planning your database, think about what information your app needs to remember: user profiles, content they create, their preferences and settings, relationships between users, and any business data specific to your app’s purpose. Sketch out how these pieces of information relate to each other—this will help you structure your database efficiently.

APIs and communication

APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are the communication channels between your app’s frontend and backend. They define what requests your app can make (like “get user profile” or “save new post”) and what format the responses will take. Think of APIs as a menu in a restaurant—they tell you what you can order and how it will be served.

Most modern apps use REST APIs, which organize endpoints around resources (like users, posts, or orders) and use standard HTTP methods (GET to retrieve data, POST to create new data, PUT to update existing data, DELETE to remove data). GraphQL is an alternative that allows more flexible queries but has a steeper learning curve.

Good API design makes your app faster and more reliable by minimizing unnecessary data transfer and providing consistent, predictable responses. When working with external services like payment processors or email providers, you’ll integrate with their APIs to add functionality without building everything from scratch.

User authentication

Authentication systems handle user registration, login, password security, and session management. This is one of the most critical aspects of your app’s security, so it’s usually better to use established services rather than building your own from scratch.

Modern authentication systems support multiple login methods: traditional email and password, social logins (Google, Apple, Facebook), passwordless options (magic links sent via email), and two-factor authentication for enhanced security. Consider your users’ preferences and technical comfort when choosing which options to offer.

User roles and permissions determine what different types of users can see and do in your app. A basic app might just distinguish between regular users and administrators, while a complex platform might have dozens of different permission levels. Plan these roles early, as they affect how you design both your database and your user interface.

File storage

If your app allows users to upload photos, documents, or other files, you’ll need a system for storing and serving these files efficiently. This includes handling different file types and sizes, creating thumbnails for images, ensuring files are backed up and secure, and delivering them quickly to users around the world.

Modern file storage services like AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage, or Cloudinary handle the technical complexity of file management while providing features like automatic image optimization, content delivery networks (CDNs) for fast global access, and secure upload directly from your app.

Plan for how much storage you’ll need and what types of files your app will support. Consider file size limits, acceptable formats, and whether you need features like image editing or video processing.

Serverless functions

Serverless functions are small pieces of code that run in response to specific events, like when a user signs up, makes a purchase, or needs to send an email. They’re called “serverless” because you don’t need to manage servers—the cloud provider handles all the infrastructure automatically.

These functions are perfect for tasks that don’t fit neatly into your main app logic: sending welcome emails, processing payments, generating reports, integrating with third-party services, or running scheduled tasks like backup operations.

Popular serverless platforms include Vercel Functions, Netlify Functions, AWS Lambda, and Supabase Edge Functions. Many backend-as-a-service platforms include serverless functions as part of their offering.

Choose a backend platform

For most new app builders, using a Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform is much faster and more reliable than building a custom backend from scratch. These platforms provide databases, authentication, file storage, and serverless functions in one integrated package, letting you focus on your app’s unique features rather than infrastructure management.

Supabase is an excellent choice if you’re comfortable with SQL databases or want to learn them. Built on PostgreSQL, it provides a powerful database with built-in authentication, real-time subscriptions, file storage, and edge functions. Supabase’s dashboard makes it easy to design database tables, set up user authentication, and manage your app’s data through a web interface. Their Row Level Security (RLS) feature automatically protects user data based on rules you define, making your app secure by default. Supabase also offers generous free tiers and transparent pricing as you scale.

Xano takes a visual, no-code approach to backend development, making it ideal if you prefer designing systems graphically rather than writing code or SQL queries. Xano’s visual API builder lets you create complex business logic using flowcharts and drag-and-drop interfaces. It includes database design tools, authentication systems, and integrations with popular services like Stripe for payments. While more expensive than some alternatives, Xano can significantly speed up development for non-technical builders.

Other options include Firebase (Google’s platform with excellent real-time features) and AWS Amplify (powerful but complex). Choose based on your technical comfort level, budget, and specific feature requirements.

Know the tech stack

Understanding the technologies that power Draftbit apps helps you make better design and development decisions, troubleshoot issues more effectively, and extend your app’s capabilities when needed. Don’t worry—you don’t need to become an expert in these technologies, but knowing their strengths and purposes will make you a more effective app builder.

React Native

React Native is the foundation that makes Draftbit apps possible. Created by Facebook (now Meta) and used by companies like Instagram, Airbnb, and Shopify, React Native lets developers build truly native mobile apps using web technologies like JavaScript and React.

Unlike web apps that run in a browser or hybrid apps that wrap web content in a native container, React Native apps compile to actual native code. This means your Draftbit app will have the same performance, look, and feel as apps built with platform-specific tools like Swift for iOS or Kotlin for Android.

React Native’s “learn once, write anywhere” philosophy means you can build for iOS, Android, and web from a single codebase. This dramatically reduces development time and maintenance overhead compared to building separate native apps for each platform.

The React Native ecosystem includes thousands of community-built packages for adding functionality like maps, payment processing, social authentication, and device sensors. When you need to extend your Draftbit app beyond the built-in components, you can often find existing solutions rather than building from scratch.

Expo platform

Expo is a comprehensive toolset and runtime that sits on top of React Native, providing a standardized development environment and extensive set of pre-built components and APIs. Think of Expo as a curated collection of tools and libraries that eliminates much of the complexity typically involved in React Native development.

The Expo SDK includes a vast library of modules for accessing device features like cameras, sensors, file systems, and notifications. These modules are designed to work consistently across iOS, Android, and web platforms, so you don’t need to write platform-specific code or manage native dependencies yourself.

Expo also provides a standardized project structure and configuration system that simplifies the development workflow. Instead of dealing with complex native build configurations, you work within Expo’s managed environment where the toolchain handles platform-specific implementations automatically.

For Draftbit users, this means your apps benefit from Expo’s extensive ecosystem of tested, maintained components without requiring deep knowledge of native iOS or Android development. The result is faster development cycles and more reliable cross-platform functionality.

Nativewind styling

Nativewind brings the popular Tailwind CSS utility framework to React Native, providing a fast, consistent approach to styling your Draftbit apps. If you’ve used Tailwind CSS for web development, you’ll feel right at home with Nativewind’s class-based styling system.

Utility-first CSS means that instead of writing custom CSS for each component, you compose styles using small, single-purpose utility classes. For example, instead of creating a custom “button” style, you might use classes like bg-blue-500 text-white px-4 py-2 rounded-lg to create a blue button with white text, padding, and rounded corners.

This approach has several advantages for app development: it’s faster than writing custom styles, creates more consistent designs, makes it easier to maintain and update styles across your entire app, and provides excellent performance because unused styles are automatically removed from your final app bundle.

Nativewind’s classes are designed to be responsive and work well on different screen sizes. You can easily create layouts that adapt to phones, tablets, and desktop screens using responsive prefixes like sm:, md:, and lg:.

The utility system also makes it easy to implement dark mode, accessibility features, and platform-specific styling. Nativewind handles the differences between iOS, Android, and web platforms automatically, so your styles work consistently everywhere.

Integrated tooling

What makes Draftbit special isn’t just these individual technologies, but how they work together seamlessly. Draftbit’s visual builder generates clean React Native code styled with Nativewind utilities. The AI assistant understands these technologies and can help you implement complex features using best practices.

When you export your Draftbit project, you get a standard Expo React Native app that you can continue developing with any React Native tools and libraries. This means you’re never locked into Draftbit’s platform—you can always take your code and continue development elsewhere if needed.

This technology stack is battle-tested by thousands of production apps and backed by strong communities and extensive documentation. When you need help or want to learn more, you’ll find abundant resources, tutorials, and community support for each component.

Gather your assets

Having your content, images, and other assets prepared before you start building keeps you in a productive flow and helps you make realistic design decisions. Nothing slows down development like stopping to search for the right image or writing placeholder text that you forget to replace later.

Brand and visual assets

Your app’s visual identity starts with your app name, which should be memorable, easy to spell, and available as a domain name and social media handles. Check trademark databases to ensure you’re not infringing on existing brands, especially if you plan to commercialize your app.

Create or commission a professional app icon that works at various sizes, from large promotional images down to tiny notification icons. Your icon should be simple enough to recognize at 16x16 pixels but distinctive enough to stand out among thousands of other apps. Design your icon as a vector graphic first (in Illustrator, Figma, or Sketch) so you can export it at any size without quality loss.

Develop a simple color palette that reflects your app’s purpose and personality. Limit yourself to 2-3 primary colors plus neutral grays and whites. Test your colors for accessibility by ensuring sufficient contrast between text and backgrounds—tools like WebAIM’s Contrast Checker can help verify your combinations meet accessibility standards.

Choose fonts that match your app’s tone and are highly readable on mobile devices. Google Fonts provides hundreds of free, high-quality typefaces that work well in apps. Generally, select one font family for headings and either the same family or a complementary one for body text. Avoid using more than two font families in a single app.

Content and copywriting

Plan your app’s text content carefully, as clear, helpful copy can make the difference between user success and frustration. Start with user-facing content like onboarding instructions, button labels, form field labels, error messages, and empty state descriptions.

Write in your users’ language, avoiding technical jargon unless your audience expects it. Keep sentences short and actionable, especially for buttons and calls-to-action. Instead of generic labels like “Submit” or “OK,” use specific language like “Create Account” or “Save Changes” that clearly describes what will happen.

Error messages deserve special attention because they appear when users are already frustrated. Write helpful error messages that explain what went wrong and how to fix it. Instead of “Error 400: Bad Request,” write “Please enter a valid email address” or “Your password must be at least 8 characters long.”

Plan empty states—the screens users see before they’ve added any content. These moments are opportunities to educate users about your app’s benefits and guide them toward their first successful action. Include clear instructions and maybe a sample or template to get them started.

Images and media

Collect and optimize all images you’ll need in your app, including photos, illustrations, icons, and graphics. Optimize images for mobile devices by balancing file size with visual quality—large images slow down your app and consume users’ data allowances.

Use modern image formats like WebP when possible, which provide better compression than JPEG while maintaining quality. For simple graphics and icons, consider SVG format, which stays crisp at any size and has small file sizes.

Plan for different screen densities by preparing images at multiple resolutions. Mobile devices have varying pixel densities, so you’ll typically need images at 1x, 2x, and 3x resolutions to look sharp on all devices.

Include alt text descriptions for all images to make your app accessible to users with visual impairments. Alt text should describe the image’s content and purpose, not just its appearance.

API docs and test data

If your app connects to external services or your own backend, document all the API endpoints, authentication methods, and data formats you’ll be working with. This documentation becomes essential when setting up data connections in Draftbit.

Create test data that represents realistic scenarios your users will encounter. This includes user profiles with various combinations of information, sample content in different lengths and formats, and edge cases like users with very long names or empty profiles.

Set up test accounts for any third-party services you’ll integrate, such as payment processors, email services, or social media platforms. Having these accounts ready with test credentials saves time during development and lets you verify integrations work correctly.

Security and credentials

Plan how you’ll manage API keys, database credentials, and other sensitive information. Never hardcode these values directly in your app—use environment variables and secure credential management systems instead.

Create separate sets of credentials for development, testing, and production environments. This separation prevents accidentally affecting real users with test data and lets you experiment safely during development.

Document which credentials your app needs and where to find them. This documentation helps when you’re setting up deployments or when team members need access to the same services.

Legal and compliance

Draft your app’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, which are required by app stores and many third-party services. While you can start with templates from services like Termly or Privacy Policy Generator, customize them to accurately reflect your app’s data collection and usage practices.

If your app targets users in specific regions, research relevant data protection regulations like GDPR (Europe), CCPA (California), or other local privacy laws. These regulations affect how you collect, store, and process user data.

Consider your app’s content rating and target age group, as these affect app store approval and marketing restrictions. Apps targeting children have additional privacy and safety requirements that must be addressed during development.

Prepare for publishing

If you plan to distribute your app through Apple’s App Store or Google Play Store, you’ll need developer accounts and should understand the submission process before you start building. Getting these accounts set up early prevents delays when you’re ready to launch.

Apple Developer Program

Publishing iOS apps requires membership in the Apple Developer Program, which costs $99 per year for individuals or $299 per year for organizations. This membership allows you to test your app on real iOS devices, access beta versions of iOS for testing, and distribute your app through the App Store or TestFlight for beta testing.

Get started: Enroll in the Apple Developer Program to begin the registration process.

The enrollment process can take several days to complete, especially for organizations, which may need to provide business verification documents and D-U-N-S numbers. Apple requires that the legal entity name on your developer account matches your business registration exactly, so ensure your paperwork is in order before applying.

Once enrolled, you’ll need to create App IDs, provisioning profiles, and certificates for code signing. Draftbit’s publishing tools can help automate much of this process, but understanding the basics helps you troubleshoot issues when they arise.

Apple’s App Store has strict review guidelines covering content, functionality, design, and business models. Review the complete App Store Review Guidelines early to avoid rejection. Common rejection reasons include incomplete functionality, poor user interface design, inappropriate content, and apps that replicate existing Apple features without adding significant value.

Google Play Console

Publishing Android apps requires a Google Play Console account, which has a one-time registration fee of $25. This account lets you upload app bundles, manage store listings, track user reviews and analytics, and distribute your app to billions of Android devices worldwide.

Get started: Sign up for the Google Play Console and complete the registration process.

Google’s review process is generally faster and more lenient than Apple’s, but they still enforce policies around content, functionality, and user safety. Review the Google Play Policy Center to understand their requirements. Google Play Protect scans all apps for malware and policy violations, both during review and after publication.

One advantage of Android publishing is the ability to release apps to smaller groups of users first through internal testing, closed testing, or open testing tracks. This staged rollout approach lets you catch issues and gather feedback before making your app available to everyone.

Google Play Console also provides detailed analytics about your app’s performance, user engagement, crash reports, and revenue (if you’re selling your app or offering in-app purchases). These insights are valuable for improving your app over time.

Web deployment

Web apps (PWAs) don’t require app store approval and can be deployed immediately to any web hosting service. However, if you want your app to have a professional appearance and be easily discoverable, you should register a custom domain name.

Choose a domain that’s easy to remember, spell, and type on mobile devices. Avoid numbers, hyphens, and confusing spellings. Consider registering multiple extensions (.com, .app, .io) to protect your brand, though .com remains the most trusted and memorable for most users.

Popular domain registrars include Namecheap, Google Domains, and Cloudflare. Many also provide DNS management and SSL certificates, which you’ll need for a professional web app deployment.

For hosting, services like Vercel, Netlify, and Cloudflare Pages offer excellent performance, automatic SSL certificates, and seamless integration with code repositories for automatic deployments.

Prepare store assets

Both Apple and Google require specific assets for your app store listings: app icons in multiple sizes, screenshots for different device types, promotional graphics, and descriptive text. Preparing these assets before you submit saves time and reduces the chance of rejection.

App icons should be simple, recognizable at small sizes, and consistent with your brand identity. Apple requires icons without rounded corners or shadows (they add these automatically), while Google allows more decorative elements. Create your icon in vector format first, then export to the required pixel dimensions.

Screenshots should showcase your app’s key features and benefits clearly. Both stores allow you to add text overlays to explain functionality, which is especially helpful for complex apps. Take screenshots on the largest devices first (iPhone Pro Max, large Android phones), then crop or adapt for smaller sizes.

Write compelling app descriptions that clearly explain what your app does, who it’s for, and why users should download it. Use keywords that your target audience might search for, but avoid keyword stuffing, which both stores penalize. Focus on benefits rather than features—explain how your app improves users’ lives rather than just listing what it can do.

For more on publishing, see the Publishing overview.

Your next steps

With all this preparation in place, you’re ready to begin building your app with confidence. Start by setting up your backend in Supabase or Xano and gathering the API credentials you’ll need for your Draftbit project. This backend setup often takes longer than expected, so tackling it early prevents delays later.

Create your wireframes and gather your brand assets while your backend is being set up. Having these visual guides ready makes the building process much faster and helps you make consistent design decisions.

If you’re planning to publish on mobile app stores, begin the developer account enrollment process now. Both Apple and Google accounts can take several days to approve, and you don’t want publishing delays when your app is ready to launch.

Finally, open Draftbit and start building your first screen. Begin with the most important user flow in your app—usually the main functionality that solves your users’ primary problem. Build this flow completely before moving on to secondary features.

Remember that building a successful app is an iterative process. Your first version won’t be perfect, and that’s completely normal. Focus on creating something valuable for your users, ship it, gather feedback, and improve continuously. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s progress toward solving real problems for real people.

The preparation you’ve done following this guide puts you ahead of most first-time app builders. You have clarity about what you’re building, understand the technology involved, and have realistic expectations about the development process. Now it’s time to bring your app to life.