Triggering a build
Most changes to your app go live without a build. When a build is necessary, Appolar handles the compilation and submission automatically. This page explains the difference and walks through the process.
Build vs OTA
Appolar delivers most changes over the air (OTA). When a customer opens the app, the engine fetches the latest config from Appolar's servers. No App Store or Play Store submission is needed for config-driven changes.
Changes that go out over OTA, with no build required:
- Brand color, font family, and border radius changes
- Block reordering on any screen
- Content updates: headlines, banners, featured collections
- New product data from Shopify (products sync at runtime)
- Push notification template edits
Changes that require a new build and store submission:
- First submission: your app is not yet on the stores
- New native permissions (camera access for AR try-on, location for store finder)
- Push notification certificate rotation
- Major Appolar engine version upgrades that include native library changes
If you are unsure whether your change requires a build, it almost certainly does not. Day-to-day merchant work is entirely OTA. Builds are events, not routine operations.
Pre-build checklist
Run through these before triggering. A build that fails due to a missing credential or incomplete metadata wastes 30-40 minutes of compile time.
Developer accounts connected
Apple and Android credentials are saved in Settings → App Accounts with a green checkmark on each.
App metadata filled in
App name, subtitle, description, and keywords are set in Settings → App Metadata. Empty fields block submission.
Screenshots ready
Auto-generated screenshots from the live preview are available, or you have uploaded custom ones for each required device size.
Privacy policy URL set
Both stores require a valid, publicly accessible privacy policy URL. Set it in Settings → App Metadata. Missing this is the most common first-submission rejection.
How to trigger
Once your checklist is clear, triggering the build takes a few clicks:
- In the Appolar admin sidebar, go to Engine.
- Click Build & Submit. A dialog appears asking which stores to target: iOS only, Android only, or both.
- Confirm your selection. The build pipeline starts immediately and the page switches to the live pipeline view.
Builds are queued globally across all Appolar merchants. During off-peak hours your build typically starts within a minute. During busy periods (Monday mornings, post-BFCM) the queue may add a few minutes.
Monitoring progress
The pipeline view streams each stage in real time. You do not need to keep the page open; Appolar also sends an email at each major milestone.
If any stage fails, the pipeline stops and shows the error inline. Common build failures and how to fix them are covered in the troubleshooting section.
Typical build times
From the moment you click Build & Submit to the moment both stores receive the binary:
| Stage | Typical duration |
|---|---|
| Queue wait | 1-5 minutes |
| iOS compile (Xcode Cloud) | 15-25 minutes |
| Android compile (Gradle) | 10-15 minutes |
| QA on real devices | 5 minutes |
| Store upload and processing | 5-10 minutes |
| Total (both stores) | Under an hour in most cases |
iOS and Android compile in parallel, so building both stores does not take twice as long as building one. After the build is submitted, each store runs its own review process before your app goes live to customers. Review times are covered in the next section.