How to publish your Shopify store's app under your own Apple developer account

Why it has to be your account

Every Shopify app builder publishes under the merchant's account, because Apple's App Review Guidelines require it:

“Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected unless they are submitted directly by the provider of the app's content. These services should not submit apps on behalf of their clients…”

App Review Guidelines, 4.2.6

In practice this means your company is the developer on the App Store listing, and you invite the builder's team into your account to do the work.

It has to be an Organization account

An Individual membership can't be used for this. Apple's roles page explains that people you invite to an individual account don't join your team:

“If you're enrolled as an individual and add users in App Store Connect, users receive access only to your content in App Store Connect and are not considered part of your team.”

Apple Developer, Roles

Without being on your team, the builder can't reach Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles, which it needs to sign your app. Apple says that area is "only available to Account Holders and members of an organization's team."

What Apple asks for

To enroll as an Organization, Apple's enrollment page lists these requirements:

• Legal binding authority: you must be able to sign legal agreements for the company.
• A legal entity. Apple says it doesn't accept "DBAs, fictitious businesses, trade names, or branches".
• A D-U-N-S number for the company.
• A work email address on your company's domain.
• A website that is publicly available and working.

The membership costs 99 USD per year. Apple may also ask for notarized documents. Apple doesn't publish how long it takes to verify an organization.

Step by step

1. Get a D-U-N-S numberIf your company doesn't have one, request it for free through Apple's lookup tool. Our D-U-N-S guide covers the timing.
2. Enroll as an OrganizationSign in with the Apple Account you want as the Account Holder and enroll the company. Pay the 99 USD annual fee.
3. Invite your app builder as AdminIn App Store Connect, open Users and Access, then People, and click the plus button. You need to be the Account Holder, an Admin or an App Manager. Invitations expire after 3 days.
4. Create an App Store Connect API keyThe Account Holder first requests API access. A team key can then be created by the Account Holder or an Admin. The private key can be downloaded only once, so send it to the builder through a secure channel.
5. Accept agreements when Apple updates themOnly the Account Holder can accept new or updated agreements. If one is left unaccepted, new builds can't be published until it is.