How long it really takes

Honest numbers, so you can plan around them.

The short version

A first app in the store takes 2 to 8 weeks, depending on how often you work on it and how big your app is.

• A small first app like Binder, working on it most days: about 2 weeks.
• The same app at a few hours a week: about 2 months.
• A first screen of your app on your own phone, once your tools are set up: about a day, often less.
• If you have never used a computer, add about a week for the basics in Parts 0 and 1.

Bigger apps take longer. Sign-in, payments, a website and a server each add days, not hours. A first app in about two weeks is realistic if you keep it small and work on it most days.

Where the time goes

Typing is the smallest part. Most of the time goes to:

• Learning to say what you want clearly enough that Claude gets it right.
• Trying every change on your phone, noticing what is wrong, and saying so.
• Reading. Each step is short, but there are many.
• Waiting on other people, which the next section is about.

Waits you do not control

Some waits are fixed by Apple and Google, not by you. Plan around them; do not let them worry you.

• Apple's review of your app: usually a day or two. Sometimes they say no the first time, and you fix and send again.
• A company (not individual) Apple developer account needs a free business number first: up to 5 business days to get the number, then up to 2 more business days before Apple can see it; longer if the details need fixing.
• Google Play makes a new personal developer account prove its app with testers first: a closed test with at least 12 testers who stay opted in for 14 days in a row, before Google lets a new personal developer account publish for real. So an Android app from a new personal account takes about three weeks from "ready" to "in the store" (the 14 days of testing, then Google's review), however fast you build.

Part 12 and Part 17 show when to start each of these, so the waiting overlaps with your building instead of adding to it.

A rough map

• Parts 0 and 1: about a week if computers are new to you. Much less if you know them.
• Part 2 (meet Claude): one afternoon.
• Part 3 (plan your app): a day or two, mostly thinking on paper.
• Part 4 (set up your tools): one or two sittings, with some large downloads.
• Part 5 (first screen): about a day, often less. This is the first "it works" moment.
• Part 6 and Part 7 (build it): most of the project. Days for a small app, weeks for a bigger one.
• Part 8 and Part 9 (accounts, a server, outside services): a few days, if your app needs them.

• Part 10 (prices, deals and shows): a week or more, depending on how many of its features you add. The scanning and payment steps are optional and take the longest.

• Part 11 (extras): optional. Pick only what your app needs; most extras take hours, not days.
• Part 12 (developer accounts and testers): a day of work, plus the waits above.
• Part 13, Part 14 and Part 15 (a website, your owner page, getting paid): a few days, if you want them.
• Part 16 (grow your app): a few days, spread around your launch.
• Part 17 (launch): a day or two, plus the store's review.
• Part 18 (after launch): for as long as the app lives.

Set your pace

Slower is fine. Nothing in this guide expires. The people who finish are the ones who show up often, not the ones who rush. Pick a time of day, do one step per sitting, and stop at Mark as done. A step done carefully beats three steps skimmed.