Publish an App on Google Play and the App Store from Afghanistan

To publish an app on Google Play from Afghanistan, you need a Google Play developer account, a signed Android App Bundle, a privacy policy, a completed store listing and policy forms, and, for new personal accounts, a closed test with real testers before production access. The App Store adds an annual Apple Developer Program membership, a build made with Xcode and a stricter human review. For Afghan businesses the hard parts are usually account registration, paying fees and identity verification, not the technical steps.

Key Takeaways

• Google Play charges a one-time registration fee; the Apple Developer Program is an annual membership.
• Register in the name of whoever owns the app, and keep the login yourself rather than leaving it with a developer.
• New personal Google Play accounts must complete closed testing before going live; organisation accounts need documents such as a D-U-N-S number.
• Both stores require a privacy policy, accurate data disclosures and in-app account deletion if users can sign up.
• Free apps, and apps selling physical goods or real-world services, are far simpler to publish than apps selling digital content.

Personal or Organisation Account: Which Should You Choose?

Choose an organisation account if the app represents a business, because it shows your company as the publisher and avoids some requirements placed on new personal accounts. Organisation accounts on both stores generally need a registered legal entity and a D-U-N-S number, a free business identifier issued by Dun & Bradstreet, along with a website and verifiable contact details.

A personal account is quicker to open and suits individual developers or early experiments, but your own name appears as the developer, and Google applies extra testing rules to new personal accounts.

Whichever you choose, the account should belong to the app's owner. A common problem is a freelancer publishing a client's app under the freelancer's account; moving it later is possible but slow, and until then the business does not control its own app.

What Are the Challenges for Publishers in Afghanistan?

The main challenges are paying the fees, passing identity verification and, for paid apps, receiving payouts. Fees are paid by international card, which many people inside Afghanistan do not have. Verification may require official ID and documents whose name and address exactly match the account. Google and Apple set which countries are supported for developer registration and for merchant payouts, and those lists can change, so check the current versions before you begin.

Approaches Afghan businesses use:

• Start with a free app. Apps that sell physical goods or real-world services, such as deliveries, bookings or in-person courses, can generally take payment outside the store's billing system, so no store merchant account is needed.
• Businesses run by Afghans abroad that have a registered company in Europe, North America or Australia can open the organisation account there, as long as every detail is genuine.
• Never borrow someone else's identity or account. Stores close accounts for misrepresentation, and you can lose the app and its reviews.

How Do You Publish on Google Play Step by Step?

Publishing on Google Play follows a fixed sequence in the Play Console:

1. Create the developer account, pay the one-time fee (25 US dollars at the time of writing) and complete identity verification.
2. Create the app in the Play Console: name, default language, and free or paid.
3. Build a signed Android App Bundle that targets the API level Google currently requires, and use Play App Signing.
4. Prepare the store listing: title, short and full description, icon, feature graphic and screenshots. Add Dari and Pashto translations if you target users in Afghanistan.
5. Complete the policy sections: privacy policy link, Data safety form, content rating questionnaire, target audience and ads declaration.
6. Run internal testing, then closed testing. New personal accounts must run a closed test with a minimum number of testers for a set period, at the time of writing 12 testers for 14 continuous days, before applying for production access.
7. Submit for review and release to production, ideally as a staged rollout to a percentage of users first.

How Do You Publish on the Apple App Store?

App Store publishing goes through App Store Connect and requires an Apple Developer Program membership, which costs 99 US dollars a year at the time of writing and must be renewed. The app must be built with Xcode on a Mac, or by a cloud build service, which is common for React Native and Flutter projects.

The usual steps:

1. Enrol in the Apple Developer Program as an individual or an organisation.
2. Create the app record in App Store Connect and set the bundle ID, price and availability.
3. Upload a build and test it with TestFlight.
4. Complete the App Privacy details, age rating, description and screenshots for the required device sizes.
5. Provide a demo account for reviewers if the app needs a login.
6. Submit for App Review.

Apple's reviewers test apps by hand against the App Review Guidelines. Common rejection reasons include crashes, broken links, placeholder content, a missing demo login, apps that are only a wrapped website with little added value, and incomplete privacy information.

Which Store Policies Catch First-Time Publishers?

Several policy requirements catch first-time publishers on both stores:

• Privacy policy: it must be on a public web page and match what the app really collects.
• Account deletion: if users can create an account, they must be able to start deleting it from inside the app.
• Permissions: ask for location, camera or contacts only when needed, and explain why.
• Payments: digital content usually has to use the store's billing; physical goods and real-world services usually do not.
• User content and AI: apps with chat, posts or generative AI need reporting and moderation tools.
• Accurate listings: screenshots and descriptions must reflect the real app.

Security problems can also lead to removal, and users lose trust quickly when data leaks. Our guide to mobile app security best practices covers the basics to check before submission.

What Happens After Your App Is Live?

After launch, the work shifts to visibility, ratings and updates. Improve your listing with relevant keywords and clear screenshots, as explained in our app store optimization guide. Reply to reviews, watch crash reports in the Play Console and App Store Connect, and ship updates regularly. Google raises the required target API level every year, and apps that fall behind can stop being offered to users on newer Android versions.

If you are still deciding what the first release should contain, our guide to MVP app development helps you keep version one small enough to reach the stores quickly.

Work With Sheen

Sheen's mobile team guides Afghan businesses and diaspora founders through the whole process: account setup, builds, store listings in English, Dari and Pashto, policy forms and responses to reviewers. See our mobile app development service or contact us at info@sheen.af or +93 784 966 018.