Phase 6
After launch
Updates, monitoring, keeping the keys safe
Ongoing0/4 done
Shipping version 1.0 is the start of the maintenance cycle. This is the routine to follow for every release from now on.
| Change | Store release needed? |
|---|---|
| Content served from your API or database | No — it updates live |
| UI, styling, screens bundled in the app | Yes — the web build is bundled inside the package |
| New plugin or permission | Yes, plus updated data declarations |
| Store description, screenshots, promo text | No new build; edit the listing |
| App icon or splash | Yes |
| Bug fix in your React code | Yes |
# 1. Bump versions
# android/app/build.gradle -> versionCode +1, versionName
# Xcode target -> Version, Build +1
# 2. Build and sync
npm run build
npx cap sync
# 3. Android
cd android && ./gradlew clean bundleRelease && cd ..
# 4. iOS (Mac)
npx cap open ios # Product -> Archive -> Distribute
# 5. Upload to internal testing / TestFlight first
# 6. Verify on a real device
# 7. Promote to production with a staged rollout- Android vitals (Play Console): crash rate and ANR rate. Exceeding the bad-behaviour threshold hurts your store ranking.
- Xcode Organizer / App Store Connect: crashes, hangs, launch time.
- Add a crash reporter (Sentry, Firebase Crashlytics) — and declare it in both privacy forms.
- Reply to reviews. On Play, replies are public and visibly raise ratings.
- Watch the pre-launch report Play generates automatically; it runs your app on real devices and screenshots every screen.
| Asset | Where it lives | If lost |
|---|---|---|
| Android upload keystore + passwords | Password manager + offline backup | Recoverable only via Play App Signing key reset |
| Android signing key (no Play App Signing) | Your machine | Listing is permanently dead — new app required |
| Apple distribution certificate | Keychain; export as .p12 | Revoke and recreate — recoverable |
| App Store Connect API key | Password manager | Revoke and recreate |
| Play service account JSON | Password manager | Revoke and recreate |
Once you release more than monthly, move builds to CI. Fastlane plus GitHub Actions (macOS runner for iOS) or Codemagic can build, sign and upload to both stores from a git tag. Store the keystore as a base64 secret and the Apple key as an App Store Connect API key.