app store
App Store vs Google Play in 2026: Publishing Side by Side
Fees, commission, review times, testing gates, signing, screenshots, privacy forms and build rules for the App Store and Google Play, compared for 2026.
By Kyle Hurst ·
If you’re shipping one app to both stores, most of the work is the same: an account, a signed build, a listing, privacy answers, and a review. The details are where they differ. Apple charges $99 a year and reviews most submissions within 24 to 48 hours, with no mandatory beta. Google charges $25 once, but new personal accounts must run a 12-tester, 14-day closed test before they can publish, and reviews can take up to seven days. Both stores take 15% of the first $1M for small developers who qualify, though Google now splits that into a 10% service fee plus a 5% billing fee in the US, UK, EEA, Australia and Japan.
This post puts the two side by side and keeps each section short. Each topic has its own detailed post, linked below, and both stores have a step-by-step tracker: our App Store submission checklist and Google Play publishing checklist. Tick steps off as you go; your progress stays in your browser.
The comparison table
| App Store (Apple) | Google Play | |
|---|---|---|
| Developer account | $99 per year (local currency where available) | US$25, one time |
| Standard commission | 30%; 15% for qualifying subscriptions | Varies by region (see below) |
| Small developer rate | 15% via the Small Business Program (up to $1M proceeds) | 15% on the first $1M; in US/UK/EEA/AU/JP it’s 10% + 5% billing fee |
| Review time | 50% within 24 hours, 90% within 48 hours | Up to 7 days, longer in exceptional cases |
| Testing gate | None required. TestFlight is optional | Personal accounts created after Nov 13, 2023: 12 testers, 14 days |
| Signing | Certificates and provisioning profiles; Xcode can manage them | Play App Signing: Google holds the app signing key, you hold an upload key |
| Upload format | Build uploaded from Xcode (or Transporter / altool) | Android App Bundle (.aab) for apps created after August 2021 |
| Required screenshots | iPhone 6.3” class (1179 × 2556 or 1206 × 2622); iPad 13” if you support iPad | At least 2, up to 8 per device type; long side no more than 2× the short side |
| Other required art | 1024 × 1024 icon in the build | 512 × 512 icon and a 1024 × 500 feature graphic |
| Privacy disclosure | App Privacy answers (“privacy labels”) | Data safety form |
| Account deletion | In-app deletion if users can create accounts | In-app deletion plus a web URL in Play Console |
| Build floor | Xcode 26 and the iOS 26 SDK (since April 28, 2026) | targetSdk 36 (since August 31, 2026); 16 KB page support for native code |
The rest of this post walks through each row.
Developer account cost
Apple’s Developer Program is a $99 annual membership; Apple’s what’s included page says it’s “99 USD per membership year, or in local currency where available.”
Google charges a US$25 one-time registration fee. It isn’t refunded if your account information turns out to be invalid, so use your real legal name and ID.
Both stores let organizations enroll, and both ask organizations for a free D-U-N-S Number (Apple exempts government entities). On Google Play, the account type you pick also decides whether the testing gate below applies.
Commission and service fees
Apple. The standard commission on digital goods and services is 30%, or 15% for qualifying subscriptions. For auto-renewable subscriptions, Apple’s subscriptions page says you get 70% in a subscriber’s first year and 85% after one year of paid service. The App Store Small Business Program cuts the rate to 15% on paid apps and in-app purchases if you (plus any associated accounts) earned no more than $1M in proceeds the previous calendar year, or are new to the store. You have to enroll; it isn’t automatic. If you pass $1M during the year, the standard rate applies to future sales.
Google. Google’s service fees page now has two structures:
- Australia, EEA, Japan, UK and US. A new structure rolled out June 30, 2026 (EEA, UK, US) and September 30, 2026 (Australia, Japan). On the first $1M of annual earnings, the fee is 10% plus a 5% billing fee. The billing fee applies when the purchase goes through Google Play Billing (or is the initial purchase of a paid app). Above $1M, rates depend on whether the user installed before or after the rollout date: auto-renewing subscriptions are 10% + 5%, other transactions are 20% + 5% for new installs and 25% + 5% for existing installs, with lower rates for apps in Google’s Play Games Level Up or Apps Experience programs.
- Everywhere else, for now. Developers enrolled in the 15% tier pay 15% on the first $1M each year and 30% above it. Auto-renewing subscriptions are 15% regardless of revenue.
Linking out. Apple’s App Review Guidelines (3.1.1(a) and 3.1.3) now let apps on the United States storefront include buttons and links to other ways to pay. Other storefronts still need an entitlement where Apple offers one. Google’s US/UK/EEA table also lists a rate “for external web links.” Both are moving targets, so read the current page before you design pricing around a link-out. Our App Store rejection guide covers the 3.1.1 rejection side.
Review process and timing
Apple’s App Review page says App Review “typically” reviews at least 50% of submissions in less than 24 hours and 90% in less than 48 hours. Apple also says over 40% of unresolved issues fall under guideline 2.1 (App Completeness): crashes, placeholder content, missing demo logins. Our rejection guide covers the guidelines that bounce most first submissions.
Google doesn’t give a typical time. Its publishing page says some developer accounts get more thorough reviews, with “review times of up to seven days or longer in exceptional cases.” On Google Play even the first internal and closed test releases go through review, so build that time into your launch plan.
Testing gates: TestFlight vs 12 testers for 14 days
This is the biggest practical difference for a new developer.
Apple has no mandatory beta. You can submit your first build to App Review the day you upload it. TestFlight is optional: up to 100 internal testers from your App Store Connect team with no review, and up to 10,000 external testers by email or public link after a TestFlight App Review of the first build. Builds expire after 90 days.
Google gates production for new personal accounts. Google’s testing requirements page says personal accounts created after November 13, 2023 must run a closed test with at least 12 testers opted in continuously for 14 days, then apply for production access. Internal testers don’t count, and the clock effectively starts when your 12th tester opts in. If you’re new to Play, start recruiting before the code is done. The full playbook is in our 12 testers, 14 days guide.
Signing
Apple signs with certificates and provisioning profiles tied to your developer team. With cloud-managed certificates, Apple’s account help says Xcode 13 or later will cloud sign apps for distribution through the Organizer when no local signing certificate is found. That means a solo developer using automatic signing rarely touches a certificate file.
Google uses Play App Signing. New apps are enrolled automatically with Google-generated keys: Google holds the app signing key that users’ devices verify, and you sign each upload with your own upload key (RSA, 2048 bits or more). If you lose the upload key, Google can reset it. Google recommends keeping the two keys different. The SHA-1 and lost-keystore details are in our upload key vs app signing key post.
Required screenshots and store art
Apple requires at least one screenshot for iPhone with Dynamic Island (medium display), the 6.1 to 6.3 inch class: 1179 × 2556 or 1206 × 2622. If your app runs on iPad, you also need iPad 13-inch screenshots. Upload 1 to 10 per size, with no alpha channel, and App Store Connect scales them down to smaller devices. The table also has a large-display (6.9 inch) row, so most developers ship both. All sizes are in our App Store screenshot sizes guide. On iOS 27, there’s also optional header and search results art.
Google requires at least two screenshots across device types, up to 8 per device type, as JPEG or 24-bit PNG between 320 and 3,840 px, with the long side no more than twice the short side. That last rule is why raw captures from modern 20:9 phones get rejected; see the 2:1 rule post. Google also requires a 1024 × 500 feature graphic and a 512 × 512 icon. Every asset is in our Play listing graphics guide.
You can make both sets in the browser with our App Store Screenshots and Google Play Screenshot Generator tools, plus the Play feature graphic generator.
Privacy disclosures
Both stores make you describe your data handling, including what your third-party SDKs collect.
- Apple: the App Privacy questionnaire in App Store Connect, shown as privacy labels on your product page. Apple says it’s required to submit new apps and app updates.
- Google: the Data safety form in Play Console. All developers with an app on Google Play must complete it, including apps that are only on closed, open, or production testing tracks.
The two forms use different definitions, especially for “tracking” and “shared,” so one set of answers doesn’t copy straight across. Our privacy labels vs Data safety comparison maps them question by question. Both stores also want a privacy policy URL, which our app privacy policy generator can write. It also gives you a cheat sheet for both forms.
Account deletion
If users can create an account, both stores require you to let them delete it, not just deactivate it.
- Apple guideline 5.1.1(v): “If your app supports account creation, you must also offer account deletion within the app.”
- Google requires an option to start deletion from inside the app and outside it, with a web link entered in Play Console, so people can request deletion without reinstalling.
So Android needs one extra piece: a public deletion page. Subscriptions, Sign in with Apple token revocation, and what reviewers check are covered in our account deletion guide.
Build requirements
Apple. Apple’s upcoming requirements page says that since April 28, 2026, uploads must be built with Xcode 26 or later using the iOS 26 SDK (or the matching iPadOS, tvOS, visionOS or watchOS 26 SDK). Since September 9, 2026, iOS and iPadOS apps must also target iOS 13 or later.
Google. Since August 31, 2026, new apps and updates must target Android 16 (API level 36) (Wear OS and Android Automotive OS apps need API 35). Google offered an extension to November 1, 2026. Separately, apps targeting Android 15 or higher must support 16 KB memory pages on 64-bit devices; Google says updates without that support can’t be released starting February 1, 2027. Pure Java/Kotlin apps already comply; native code usually needs a newer Android Gradle Plugin and NDK. Our target API 36 and 16 KB guide shows how to check a build and fix it.
Both stores raise these floors every year, Apple in spring around its SDK cycle and Google in late summer with targetSdk. Put a reminder in your calendar.
What to do first if you’re launching on both
- Open the Google Play account first. The 14-day closed test is the longest wait in either process, and Apple has nothing like it.
- Write one privacy policy and audit your SDKs once. Then answer both privacy forms from the same audit.
- Build account deletion with a web page from the start. Google needs the URL, and Apple accepts a web flow that you link to directly from the app.
- Design screenshots once, export twice. Apple wants exact device sizes; Google wants shapes within 2:1. A composed canvas handles both.
- Leave buffer for review. A day or two for Apple is typical; budget a week for Google, more for a first release.
Then work through each store’s list step by step: the App Store submission checklist and the Google Play publishing checklist cover every step above, with links to the official pages.