When to trigger a build
A build compiles your current configuration into iOS (.ipa) and Android (.aab) binaries. You need to trigger a build when:
- This is your first build
- You changed the font family, app name, app icon, or splash screen
- You changed the Shopify store URL
- You made any change marked Rebuild required in the builder
Most configuration changes — colors, block layouts, block content — take effect without a rebuild. The builder shows a Rebuild required banner whenever your unsaved or saved changes include a rebuild-triggering setting.
What happens during a build
When you click Build my app (or Rebuild):
- Appolar packages your current saved configuration and submits a build job to EAS Build.
- EAS Build clones the Appolar app codebase, injects your configuration (Shopify URL, credentials, colors, font, layouts), and compiles the Expo project.
- The iOS build runs on macOS workers, which is required for Xcode. The Android build runs in parallel on Linux workers.
- Once both binaries are ready, Appolar downloads them from EAS and holds them in the Builds tab, ready for submission.
Note. Your Shopify store token and Apple/Google credentials are injected at build time and baked into the binary. They are never exposed in the build logs.
Build time estimates
iOS and Android builds run in parallel. The overall build time is determined by whichever platform takes longer, which is almost always iOS.
| Platform | Typical first build | Subsequent builds |
|---|---|---|
| iOS | 12–18 minutes | 10–15 minutes |
| Android | 8–12 minutes | 7–10 minutes |
| Both (parallel) | 12–18 minutes total | 10–15 minutes total |
You can close the builder tab after triggering. Appolar will email you when both binaries are ready.
Monitoring build status
The Builds tab in the Appolar workspace shows the status of every build: Queued, Building (iOS), Building (Android), Ready, Submitted, or Failed. Click any build row to see build logs, timestamps, and the binary size. Build logs are retained for 30 days.
If a build fails
Build failures are rare but do happen. The most common causes are:
- Invalid or expired Apple/Google credentials (most common)
- A configuration value that fails validation, such as a malformed bundle ID
- An EAS Build service outage (check status.expo.dev)
When a build fails, the builder shows a Failed badge and a View logs link. The logs will contain the error that caused the failure. If the cause is credential-related, you will see an authentication error near the end of the log. Refresh your credentials in Builder > Publishing and trigger a new build.
Note.Failed builds do not count toward your plan's build limit. Only successful builds are counted.