WEBSITE → IPHONE APP
Convert your website to an iOS app — and get it through Apple's review
Updated October 21, 2026
How a website becomes an iPhone app
The app is a native iOS shell built with Capacitor. It opens your live website in the system web view (WKWebView, the engine behind Safari) and adds the parts a website cannot have on its own: its own icon on the home screen, a launch screen, full screen with no browser bar, and — if you set them up — a native header with a tab bar or a side menu. Your product itself stays on the web, which is the point: you keep one codebase, and what you publish on your site appears in the app straight away.
A few details make the difference between "a website in a frame" and an app people keep. Sign-in that leaves the app breaks the session, so our builds keep it inside: a secure sheet for Google (after a one-time setup shown in your project), iOS's own sheet for Apple. iOS zooms into any form field whose text is smaller than 16 px and, inside an app, users cannot pinch back out — our builds block that zoom. And every request from the app carries the marker SaasToStoreApp in its user agent, so your site can hide what makes no sense inside the app: a "download our app" banner, a web-only login button, a link to your web checkout.
What Apple turned down — real cases from our builds
These are rejections and blocks we met on customers' submissions in 2026, anonymised. Each one taught us something we now handle in every build, or tell you before you submit.
One rejection we cannot fix for you: Apple applies extra rules to apps in regulated fields, such as health or finance. The FAQ below explains what they ask.
Apple's rules that catch wrapped websites
None of these depends on how the app was built. They depend on what your website does once it is on an iPhone — so they are worth checking before your first submission.
From website to App Store — step by step
Check your website (free)
Paste your URL into the free checker. Any site served over HTTPS can become an iOS app; the checker tells you what is missing before you build — icon, name, HTTPS.
Set your app's identity and navigation
Choose the app name, the bundle ID (permanent — for example com.yourdomain.app) and the icon. Then set up the native header and, if your site has one URL per section, a tab bar or side menu: it is the single change that helps most with guideline 4.2.
Launch the iOS build
We compile and sign the iPhone app on our macOS build machines. It usually takes 10 to 20 minutes. The build number goes up on its own, so Apple never refuses an upload as a duplicate.
Test it with TestFlight
Send the build to TestFlight from your dashboard and install it on your own iPhone. Check the flows a reviewer will use: sign-up, sign-in, the main feature, account deletion.
Complete the listing and submit
Add your screenshots, description, privacy policy URL and privacy answers, write a demo login in the review notes, then submit the build for review. Apple usually answers within a day or two.
What you get with every iOS build
- Signed iPhone app (.ipa), compiled with a current Xcode — no Mac needed on your side
- Every iOS icon size generated from one image, flattened as Apple requires
- Launch screen from your brand color and icon
- Native header, with a tab bar or side menu if you set one up
- Sign-in with Google and Apple that stays inside the app
- No zoom trap on small form fields
- The SaasToStoreApp marker, so your site can adapt itself inside the app
- TestFlight and App Store submission from your dashboard
- Optional AI-written App Store description from your website content
iOS and Android from the same URL
SHIP (€39, one-time) covers one app on every platform: the signed .ipa for the App Store, the signed .aab for Google Play, Windows, macOS and Linux installers, and an Android TV app — the first build plus three updates per platform, for 12 months. The two stores do not judge the same things: Google Play mostly checks that the app works, Apple also asks whether it is an app. Preparing for Apple's review first usually makes the Android submission straightforward.
Works with the way you built your site
Lovable
Your lovable.app URL → App Store and Google Play
Bubble
Your live Bubble app → signed iOS app
Webflow
Your published Webflow site → iPhone app
WordPress
Your WordPress site, as it is → iOS app
Framer
Your Framer publish URL → signed iOS app
Softr
Your Softr app → App Store
Any HTTPS URL works — no platform restriction.
Also convert to Android and desktop
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a Mac or Xcode to convert my website to an iOS app?+
No. The iPhone app is compiled and signed on our macOS build machines with a current Xcode, and you receive the finished .ipa. You never install Xcode or open a terminal.
Do I need an Apple Developer account to publish on the App Store?+
Yes. Apple requires an Apple Developer Program membership (99 USD/year) to publish any app, and your iOS build is signed with that account, so the app belongs to you, not to us. The app's record is created once in App Store Connect, the same way an app is created once in the Google Play Console. Apps in regulated fields such as health or finance must be published from an organization account rather than an individual one: Apple refuses them otherwise (guideline 5.1.1(ix)).
Will Apple accept a website converted to an app?+
Apple judges each app on its own, and nobody can promise approval. What we see on real submissions: an app that opens full screen on the website with no native navigation gets the 'too close to your website' rejection (guideline 4.2); an app that opens on the product, with a native tab bar or side menu and a signed-in experience, has a real chance. The tables above list the rules that catch wrapped websites most often.
How long does Apple's App Store review take?+
Apple answers most submissions within a day or two. A first submission is usually looked at more closely than later updates, and a rejection comes with the guideline number, so you know what to change.
Can I update the app without a new App Store submission?+
Yes, for your content. The app loads your live website, so whatever you publish on the site appears in the app straight away. A new build and a new submission are only needed when the app itself changes: its name, icon, navigation or native settings.
Does sign-in with Google or Apple work inside the iOS app?+
In iOS builds made from 20 October 2026 on, Google sign-in opens in a secure sheet without leaving the app and comes back on its own, after a one-time setup shown in your project. Sign in with Apple uses iOS's own sheet. If your login keeps its state in server cookies (Auth.js / NextAuth, for example), test it on an iPhone before you submit. If you offer Google sign-in, Apple also requires Sign in with Apple or an equivalent (guideline 4.8).
Is the app for iPhone only, or iPad too?+
iPhone only. That is a deliberate default: an iPhone-only app does not need iPad screenshots, which is one less thing Apple can block your submission on. iPad users can still install iPhone apps from the App Store.
Will my Lovable, Bubble or Webflow app work on iOS?+
Yes. The iOS app loads your live Lovable, Bubble or Webflow URL, so your authentication, database and design behave as they do in the browser. Payments are the exception to check: digital goods sold inside the iPhone app must go through Apple's in-app purchase.
Can I publish the same app on Google Play too?+
Yes. SHIP (€39, one-time) covers one app on every platform: the same URL builds the signed .ipa for the App Store, the signed .aab for Google Play, desktop installers and an Android TV app.
Ready to ship?
Paste your URL. We build the iPhone app. You submit it to Apple.
Build my iOS app