Apple App Store vs Google Play: which should you launch on?

This is not a choice between competing products but between two stores where your app can live, both legitimate and both worth being on. Treating it as an either-or is a common early mistake - either missing the higher-spending Apple audience, or skipping the enormous Android install base - when the modern answer for a solo builder is to ship to both from one codebase.

The Apple App Store means a stricter, human-led review before you go live, an audience that historically spends more per user, and a reach of 2.5 billion active Apple devices with 850 million weekly App Store users. The trade-off is that Apple's review is more demanding - Guideline 4.3, privacy answers, and payment rules all get checked - so a first submission needs to be clean. Apple rewards apps that are polished and distinct.

Google Play means a faster path to publish and a larger raw install base - 2 billion-plus active Android devices - but new personal developer accounts have to clear a closed test first: 12 testers active for a continuous 14 days before the app can go to production. That requirement is the main early hurdle on Google, and it is time-based, so it pays to start it early. Google rewards builders who plan the closed test into their timeline instead of hitting it at the finish line.

The fee math

Both stores take a cut of in-app purchases, and for a new builder the numbers are effectively the same: the standard rate is 30 percent, but Apple's and Google's Small Business programs drop it to 15 percent for developers under the revenue threshold. That means you keep 85 percent of your revenue on either store when set up right. Enrolling in both Small Business programs is a simple step, and it makes the fee difference between the two stores a non-issue for most first apps.

The audience math

Apple's audience skews toward higher spending per user, which matters for a paid or subscription app - the same paywall often converts better on iOS. Google's audience is larger in raw numbers and reaches markets where Android dominates. For most apps, the two audiences are complementary, not competing: shipping to both means your paying users on iOS and your reach on Android add up rather than forcing a trade. The narrower your monetization, the more the Apple audience's spending matters; the broader your reach goal, the more Android's scale matters.

Review and testing

Apple front-loads the effort into a strict pre-launch review: a human checks your app against the guidelines, and a clean, distinct build with honest metadata passes fastest. Google front-loads it into the closed test: 12 testers running your app for 14 continuous days before production. Neither is a wall when planned for - Apple's review rewards a polished submission, and Google's test rewards starting early with a tester pool lined up. The club solves Google's hardest part by being your tester pool.

Build effort with one codebase

The reason you do not have to choose is Expo. A React Native app built with Expo compiles to both a native iOS app and a native Android app from one codebase, and EAS Build and Submit push to both stores from one pipeline - no Mac required. That collapses what used to be two separate builds into one, so the marginal cost of being on both stores is small. The old world where you picked a platform to save effort is largely gone for a solo builder using this stack.

Why most builders ship to both

The experienced answer is rarely one or the other. Most builders route their one Expo app to both stores: iOS for the higher-spending audience and Apple's reach, Android for the larger install base and faster publish. Building the judgment to sequence it well - start the Google closed test early, submit the clean build to Apple, enroll in both Small Business programs - is one of the clearest marks of a builder who has moved past guessing which store to pick.