Build
Notes for independent iOS developers. Everything here comes from shipping our own apps — the App Store Connect API behaviour that is not in the docs, what Apple actually pays and when, and the decisions we had to reason through ourselves. No general advice, no recycled listicles.
Guideline 4.3 and the trap of building a second app you already have
App Review's spam and duplicate rules apply to your own portfolio too. How we nearly shipped an app that would have competed with our own, and the test we use now.
What shipping 44 apps in three months actually taught us
Velocity is a real advantage, but not the one people assume. What a high release cadence genuinely buys a small studio — and the problem it cannot solve.
App Store optimisation: what you actually control
Which App Store fields are indexed for search, which are decoration, and where the developer-side data comes from — including an API limitation that catches people out.
Four App Store Connect API gotchas that cost us a day each
Undocumented behaviour in the Sales and Trends API: a 406 that only a gzip header fixes, a sort parameter that returns 400, and the product type identifiers that quietly inflate your download numbers.
What Apple actually pays you, and when
Proceeds versus price, the Small Business Program rate you can verify from your own numbers, the minimum threshold that holds your money, and why your first payment takes longer than you expect.
Building first-party analytics to avoid the tracking prompt
Why a third-party analytics SDK can trigger App Tracking Transparency, what counts as tracking under Apple's definition, and the shape of a first-party alternative you own end to end.