From prototype to production: the mobile launch checklist
The gap between a working prototype and a shippable app is full of unglamorous, easy-to-forget work — auth on real devices, account deletion, store disclosures, analytics. Here is the complete pre-launch checklist for mobile, with the order that saves you a week.
mobile launchapp storegoogle playchecklistshippingproduction
A prototype that demos well and a build that survives App Review are separated by a surprising amount of unglamorous work. None of it is hard on its own; all of it is easy to forget; and discovering it the week you planned to ship is how launches slip. This post is the complete pre-launch checklist for a mobile app — and, just as important, the order that keeps you from redoing things.
Consider it the capstone to this series: each item links to the deep-dive if you want the details.
Phase 1: Identity and accounts (do this first)
Authentication touches everything downstream, and it is the most common source of last-minute rejections, so start here.
Google and Apple sign-in working on real devices. Not the simulator — physical iOS and Android, with release signing. This is where the SHA-1 and redirect bugs surface.
Sign in with Apple offered with equal prominence if you offer Google — the 4.8 requirement — and the first-authorization name/email captured.
Sessions that persist and refresh. Tokens in the secure store, rotation working, no phantom logouts. See session management.
In-app account deletion that really deletes — plus a public web URL for Google's requirement.
Phase 2: The first session
Define your activation moment and make the path to it short. Review the first-session leaks in onboarding that survives churn.
Defer permissions until they unlock something; do not gate the door with prompts.
Handle the empty state, the offline state, and the error state. Prototypes only show the happy path.
Phase 3: Privacy and compliance
Privacy policy published and linked.
Play Data safety and Apple privacy labels filled in and matching what you actually collect. Collecting less makes this trivial — see the GDPR checklist.
App Tracking Transparency handled honestly — best avoided entirely by not tracking across apps.
User rights covered: deletion, data export, profile editing.
Phase 4: Measurement
Activation and sign-in completion events instrumented, so you learn from your first real cohort. Keep it to a handful of events — the plan in privacy-first mobile analytics.
Crash reporting wired up so production problems are visible.
Platform split tracked — you will want it the first time something breaks on only one OS.
Phase 5: Store readiness
Screenshots, description, keywords for both stores.
A reviewer test account if anything is behind sign-in — and instructions, so review is not blocked at your login screen.
Release signing and versioning correct; Play App Signing fingerprints registered wherever OAuth needs them.
Support contact and a way to report problems.
Phase 6: B2B and teams (if it applies)
If teams adopt your app, decide before launch how customers manage their own people. Role-based access — letting a trusted admin invite and remove users within their own boundary — is far easier to ship when it is part of auth from the start. See role-based access in your app.
How Kembo shortens the list
A striking number of these items live in one box: identity. Kembo is built to clear that box so your launch checklist gets dramatically shorter.
Google and Apple sign-in that works across Expo, Flutter, Capacitor, and Web — OAuth and signing handled for you.
Secure, rotating sessions and built-in account deletion, covering two store gates at once.
Role-based user management for team apps, with admins assigned from the dashboard.
Optional privacy-first analytics so your Data safety form stays short and your first cohort is measurable.
Ship with confidence
The distance from prototype to production is a checklist, not a mystery. Get identity solid on real devices, make the first session short, handle privacy and deletion honestly, measure the few things that matter, and prepare the stores carefully — in that order. Do that and launch day is a formality instead of a fire drill.
Knock out the biggest phase in an afternoon: create a free Kembo project and get production-grade sign-in, sessions, deletion, roles, and analytics across every platform — so your launch checklist is mostly already done.