Google Play and App Store
Garden Defense goes to the stores
Most people find phone games by opening Google Play or the App Store and searching. That's where Garden Defense and Sprig need to be.
Getting there takes three things: developer accounts, a real app made from our web game, and a store listing.
Developer accounts
- Google Play ConsoleUS$25, paid once.
- Apple Developer ProgramUS$99, paid every year.
- An adult signsJoining means accepting a legal agreement, proving who you are, and adding bank and tax details so the store can pay us. Contracts need someone of legal age, usually 18.
- A team jobA parent signs up for the company while you prepare the game, the listing and the screenshots. Company accounts also need a free business ID called a D-U-N-S number.
Bolt says: Company sign-ups take extra checks, so start early. Fees and rules can change, so check the latest when you sign up.
True story: Fortnite leaves the App Store
On iPhones, Apple's developer agreement required in-app purchases to go through Apple's own payment system, with a 30% commission. In August 2020, Epic Games switched on hidden code in a Fortnite update that let players pay Epic directly instead. The same day, Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store, and later ended Epic's developer account.
Epic sued. In 2021, a US court ruled that Apple must let apps tell players about other ways to pay, but also that Epic had broken its contract. An appeals court agreed in 2023.
A developer account is a contract. Break it, and the store can remove the game.
Source: US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit: Epic Games v. Apple opinion (24 April 2023), cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov
Quick check
Why does an adult hold the studio's Apple and Google developer accounts?
- Kids aren't allowed to make games
- The accounts are legal contracts with bank and tax details, and contracts need someone of legal age
- Adults get a cheaper sign-up fee
Show the answer
The accounts are legal contracts with bank and tax details, and contracts need someone of legal age
Anyone can make games. But the developer agreement is a contract, and the stores pay real money into a bank account, so an adult signs for the company while the whole team builds the game.
A wrapper turns web into app
Garden Defense is a web game, but the stores want real app files. A wrapper like CapacitorJS puts our web game inside an app shell.
Inside the shell, a built-in browser view called a WebView runs our same HTML and JavaScript. Plugins unlock phone features, like vibration (haptics) and ads.
Capacitor makes an Android project and an iPhone project from one codebase. We build them with Android Studio and Xcode, which only runs on a Mac.
Quick check
With a wrapper like CapacitorJS, we have to rewrite Garden Defense from scratch for each phone.
- True
- False
Show the answer
False
The wrapper reuses our web code. One codebase becomes both the Android app and the iPhone app, so a bug fixed once is fixed in both.
The store listing
- Icon and nameThe icon must look good when it's tiny. The name should be easy to search.
- Screenshots and videoShow real gameplay. Stores reject screenshots that don't match the game.
- DescriptionSay what the game is in the very first line.
- Privacy detailsA privacy policy link, plus a form about what data we collect, like saves and ads.
Bolt says: Stage 8 teaches how to make a store page that really sells.
Age ratings
Every store game gets an age rating, like "Everyone" or "4+". We fill in a questionnaire about what's in the game: violence, scary bits, ads, chat and purchases. The rating comes from our answers, so honesty matters. Wrong answers can get a game removed.
Google Play uses a system called IARC, and Apple has its own. Games for kids also follow extra family rules, especially about ads and data.
The store's share
- Stores keep 15% to 30%Fees change and differ by country, so check the latest rules when you sign up.
Small developers usually pay about 15% at the time of writing. Apple has a Small Business Program for developers earning under US$1 million a year, which we apply to join. Google's fees for the first US$1 million a year work out to about 15%. Since June 2026, Google charges a service fee plus a separate billing fee in some countries. Bigger sellers pay more, up to 30%.
The cut pays for payments, downloads and refunds. Ad money from AdMob is separate: the store takes no share of it.
Store fee math
If we sell a US$2.00 Sprig costume and the store keeps 15%, how much do we actually get? Ignore tax for now.
What should Remy answer?
- US$0.30
- US$1.70
- US$2.00
Show the answer
US$1.70
15% of US$2.00 is 30 cents, so the store keeps US$0.30 and we receive US$1.70. US$0.30 is the store's part, not ours.
Next: a real release file
Accounts, listing, rating and pricing are planned. But nothing can be uploaded until our web code becomes a release build: a finished, numbered app file, signed with the studio's secret key.
After that come the gatekeepers: real testers try the game, and both stores review it before it goes public.
Bolt says: Next lesson: building and signing app releases, including the one file we must never lose.
Fact-checked 11 October 2026
- Play Console Help: Service fees support.google.com
- Apple Developer: D-U-N-S Number developer.apple.com
- Capacitor CLI: cap sync capacitorjs.com
- Play Console Help: Add preview assets support.google.com
- US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit: Epic Games v. Apple opinion (24 April 2023) cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov