What happens between the prototype and the App Store.

Process · 6 min read

You've just seen your prototype. You tapped through it on your phone. It looked real. It felt real. And now you're thinking, "Great, so when's it on the App Store?" The answer is: not yet. Not for a while. Because between where you are now and a live app, there's an entire phase that most first-time founders don't know exists.

The prototype is not the product. It's the plan for the product. What happens next is finding someone to build it, agreeing on what gets built, and then going through the actual development process. That middle phase is where timelines, budgets, and expectations need to be realistic. Here's what it actually looks like.

Step one: finding and selecting a developer

This takes longer than people expect. Two to four weeks is typical. You need to find developers who have experience with your tech stack, your platform, and ideally your industry. Then you need to brief them, share the designs, and get quotes. I recommend getting at least two to three quotes so you can compare approaches and pricing.

A good prototype and thorough developer documentation makes this process much smoother. When a developer can tap through the prototype and read the handoff notes, they can give you a more accurate quote in less time. Without those artefacts, they're guessing. And guessing leads to quotes that are either too low (and blow out later) or too high (because they're pricing in risk).

Step two: the development build

Development for a well-scoped MVP typically takes two to four months. During that time, the developer is building the backend, the frontend, connecting APIs, setting up the database, and wiring everything together. You'll have regular check-ins, usually weekly or fortnightly, where you can see progress, ask questions, and flag anything that doesn't look right.

This is where the relationship with your developer matters. Good communication during the build prevents problems from compounding. If something looks off in week two, it's a quick fix. If nobody catches it until week ten, it's a rebuild. Stay involved. Review the builds. Give feedback promptly.

Expect questions. No matter how thorough the designs are, the developer will encounter edge cases and technical decisions that need your input. What happens when a user hasn't completed their profile? What's the maximum number of items in a list? What happens when the server is slow? These aren't failures of the design. They're the natural conversation between design and code.

Step three: testing and refinement

Before the app goes live, it needs testing. Real testing. On real devices. With real data. The developer will run their own tests, but you should also test it yourself and ideally get a few trusted people to use it and give feedback. This phase typically takes two to four weeks.

Bugs will be found. That's normal. Some will be obvious. Some will only appear on specific devices or in specific conditions. The testing phase is where you catch these before your users do. Rushing through this step is one of the most common mistakes first-time founders make. A buggy launch creates bad reviews that are hard to recover from.

Step four: App Store submission

Submitting to the App Store and Google Play isn't instant. Apple's review process typically takes one to three days, sometimes longer. Google is usually faster but can still take a day or two. And if your app is rejected for any reason, a policy violation, a missing privacy disclosure, an unclear feature, you fix it and resubmit. That cycle can add a week.

You also need to prepare your store listing: screenshots, a description, keywords, a privacy policy, and potentially a preview video. These aren't afterthoughts. They're your app's first impression. Getting them right before submission saves you from updating them under pressure after launch.

From prototype to App Store, expect four to six months for a well-managed project. That sounds like a lot after the momentum of the design phase. But each step has a purpose. Skip any of them and you'll pay for it later in rework, bad reviews, or a product that doesn't meet the standard your users deserve.

Sources
App Store Review Guidelines (Apple) - Requirements and timelines for submitting apps to the App Store.
App Review Process (Google Play) - How Google reviews and approves apps for publication.

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