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Getting on the App Store

How to get your Lovable app on the App Store

By Huruy Kidanemariam, who shipped Beles and EBT Finder to the App Store. Updated .

The short answer

Lovable builds a web app, not an iPhone app. To get on the App Store you put your app inside a native iOS shell, add the things Apple expects from a real app, and submit it from an Apple Developer account. Most rejections come from skipping that middle step.

What you need before you start

An Apple Developer account ($99 a year). If you enroll as a company, Apple asks for a D-U-N-S number, which can take days to weeks, so start that first.

A privacy policy link, a support link, an app icon, and a demo login the reviewer can use. Screenshots come later, from the finished app.

The steps, in order

  1. Enroll in the Apple Developer Program. If you're enrolling as a company, request the D-U-N-S number first.
  2. Put your app in a native iOS shell, built from the code you already have.
  3. Add what makes it feel like an app: a tab bar, an offline screen, and touches like notifications.
  4. Add Sign in with Apple if you offer Google or other social login, and a Delete account option if people can sign up.
  5. Test it on a real iPhone through TestFlight, Apple's beta app.
  6. Fill in the listing: description, screenshots from the real app, privacy answers, and a demo login for the reviewer.
  7. Submit, then answer the reviewer if they come back with questions.

Three ways to do it

Use a wrapper service. Tools like Median turn your web address into an app quickly, for a yearly fee. It's the fastest start, but on the self-serve plans, making it feel like a real app and getting it through review are mostly up to you.

Do it yourself with Capacitor. Free and flexible, if you're comfortable in Xcode and with native settings, certificates and builds.

Have someone do it. You pay a fixed price and someone else handles the build, the listing and the back-and-forth with Apple. That's the service I run; other studios offer it too.

What Apple's reviewer checks

Whether it feels like an app or a website in a frame (more on that). Whether they can sign in and use it (more). Whether people can delete their account (more), whether social login comes with a private option (more), and how you charge for things (more).

Can I keep building in Lovable?

Yes. Your Lovable project stays the source. What changes is shipping: if the app loads your live site, many content changes show up right away; if the app carries its own copy of your code, each change needs a new build. Anything native, like a new permission, always goes back through review.

What I ran into

I built Beles, a dating app, in Lovable. The first iOS build went up on September 10, 2026 and it was live in 175 countries on September 20. The surprises weren't the code: sign-in broke inside the app but not on the web, and because people post content, Apple's rules called for reporting and blocking, so I built those before submitting.

Questions

Can Lovable publish to the App Store by itself?
Not as of October 2026. Lovable builds web apps. Getting onto the App Store means wrapping that app in a native shell and submitting it through your own Apple Developer account. Built with Bolt or Replit instead? Here's what's different.
Do I need a Mac?
Someone needs one to build the iOS app, or you can use a cloud build service. If someone builds it for you, you don't.
Do I have to rebuild my app?
No. The iPhone app is built from the code you already have, and your backend stays where it is.
How long does it take?
Usually one to two weeks. Most of that is waiting on your Apple account and on review, which usually takes a day or two.