# Base44 Mobile Apps: App Store and Google Play, Explained

> Can Base44 build mobile apps? Yes, as a store-ready wrapper from the Builder plan, with your own Apple and Google accounts and no in-app digital sales.

_Source: https://professionalstoolkit.com/articles/base44-mobile-apps — The Professional's Toolkit · updated November 2026_

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Yes, with a condition that matters. Base44 builds web apps, and on the **Builder plan or higher** it can generate the IPA and AAB files you submit to the App Store and Google Play.[1] What reaches the stores is a lightweight native wrapper that runs your published web app inside a secure web view, not a fully native app. Builder costs $40 per month billed annually or $50 per month billed monthly. You also need your own developer accounts: Base44's guides put Apple's program at $99 per membership year and Google Play at a $25 one-time registration.[2] The store app cannot sell digital goods. If a phone browser is enough, every plan already gets you there, Free included.


**Builder** — The lowest Base44 plan that downloads App Store and Google Play files; the readiness scan runs on Free.



- **$50/mo** — Builder billed monthly ($40 per month billed annually), needed for store files
- **$99 + $25** — Apple per membership year and Google Play one-time, per Base44's guides
- **No IAP** — Store app cannot sell digital goods: no Apple or Google in-app purchases


## Two ways onto a phone, and which one you need

Every published Base44 app is responsive, so it already works in any mobile browser from a link, with no store involved. People can pin it to their home screen, and Base44 generates the PWA manifest for you from the app name, descriptions and icons set in the dashboard overview. Updates reach everyone at once, because nothing is installed. This route works on the Free plan with a base44.app address, and Base44's own guides describe a free web app or PWA going live at no cost. For an internal tool, a client portal or a booking page, that is often the whole job.

The store route serves different goals: a listing people find in the App Store or Google Play, an icon installed from that listing, and native push notifications, which reach only people who installed from a store.[3] Inside the wrapper, your app gets the same device features a mobile browser offers: the camera, photos and files, the microphone, and location while the app is in use. Your code has no supported way to tell whether it is running in the store app or in a browser. Both load the same published app.


> 💡 **Start with the free browser route:** Every published Base44 app works in mobile browsers and can be pinned to the home screen on any plan. Run the store-readiness scan, which works on Free, before paying for Builder.




> ⚠ **Keep the .p8 key file safe:** Apple lets you download each App Store Connect .p8 key file only once, and Base44 needs it to build the IPA file.

## What the store route costs before you submit anything

Downloading the store files is the paywall. The store-readiness scan runs on Free, but the IPA and AAB downloads need Builder, at $40 per month billed annually or $50 per month billed monthly.[4] Starter does not include them. Moving up from Starter adds $24 a month billed annually or $30 a month billed monthly. Builder also unlocks payments, backend functions and push notifications, so the store route usually lines up with features a mobile product wants anyway. On the yearly term, the Builder plan comes to $480 a year, charged once, by our arithmetic.

Choose the term by how long you will keep Builder. By our arithmetic, nine months of Builder billed monthly is $450, against $480 for a year billed annually, so monthly billing costs less only if you stop within 9 months. The yearly fee is charged up front, is non-refundable under Base44's Terms, and a yearly plan cannot later be switched to monthly. Credits come monthly on both terms and expire at each reset; they do not roll over, except for a one-cycle carryover when you upgrade from a monthly plan to a higher monthly plan. Each push notification draws about 1 integration credit; our [Base44 pricing guide](/articles/base44-pricing) explains how both credit types are spent.

The developer accounts sit outside Base44 entirely. You set them up, pay for them and manage the listings and submissions yourself; Base44 does not create or manage them. By our arithmetic, the two stores cost $124 in the first year and $99 a year after, on top of the plan. Apple's account can be Individual or Organization. Apple may ask for a legal business name and a D-U-N-S number, and activation can take up to 2 business days after payment. A new personal Google Play account must also run a closed test with at least 12 testers for at least 14 days before it can apply for production access. Budget those two weeks.

## From published app to store listing, step by step

Base44 lists the prerequisites before any file is generated: a published app on a stable URL, privacy policy and terms pages, an Apple Developer Program account with App Store Connect API keys, and a Google Play Console account. Apps that require sign-in also need a demo account for store reviewers, or Apple and Google usually reject them. With those ready, the work runs in this order:

1. **Run the store-readiness scan.** It checks the app against App Store or Google Play guidelines and returns a Readiness Score; a score of 100 is not required to submit.
2. **Settle the login rules.** An iOS app that offers Google login must also offer Sign in with Apple, so turn Apple login on and publish before review. On Android, Google login needs the Google Play signing fingerprints (SHA) added in Base44.
3. **Generate the iOS file.** The IPA is built with your App Store Connect Issuer ID, Key ID, Team ID and a .p8 API key. Apple lets you download each .p8 key file only once.
4. **Generate the Android file.** The Mobile app tab produces a Google Play-ready AAB. Base44 signs both files itself, so you need no keystore, .p12 certificate or provisioning profile; re-signing the AAB or using your own keystore makes Google Play block it.
5. **Test on real devices.** Android offers an APK for direct install. iPhone has no direct install file, so iOS testers go through TestFlight.
6. **Submit from your own accounts.** Approval belongs to Apple and Google. Base44 cannot guarantee it, and Customer Care does not check submission status, contact the stores or manage review feedback.

The listing identity is fixed. The bundle ID and Google Play package name are set as com.base[app-id].app and cannot be chosen or changed; a different ID means a new store listing. On iOS the app runs on both iPhone and iPad, cannot be limited to iPhone, and stays in portrait with no landscape setting. Each IPA generation also creates an iOS Distribution certificate, and the standard Apple Developer Program allows up to 3 active ones, so an error 409 appears once you reach that limit.


> ⚠ **The bundle ID cannot change:** Base44 fixes the bundle ID and package name as com.base[app-id].app; a different ID means a new store listing.


## Selling inside the store app: digital goods are off the table

Base44 apps do not support Apple In-App Purchase or Google Play Billing, and both stores require those systems for digital content. So the installed app cannot sell premium or subscription tiers, feature unlocks, courses, ebooks, videos, virtual currency, credits or extra AI generations. Third-party purchase tools such as the RevenueCat native SDK do not get around it: they need native layer access and can break the build. **This is the limit most likely to reshape a business plan**, especially for a subscription product or a game with paid levels.

What the store app can take payment for is physical goods, real-world services, services delivered outside the app, and donations, through any provider such as Base44 Payments or Stripe. Payments need Builder in any case. Base44's product pages put the Base44 Payments fee at 2.9% + $0.30 per US card sale (American Express and other methods or countries differ). Pointing buyers to your website is restricted too. Apple allows a link to buy on your website only on the US App Store, and Google Play does not allow such a link at all. If your revenue depends on digital sales, settle this before you pay for any developer account.

## Device features the wrapper leaves out

| Capability | In a Base44 store app |
|---|---|
| Camera, photos and files, microphone | Supported |
| Location | While the app is in use; no background location |
| Push notifications | Builder plan or higher; APNs key (iOS) and your own Firebase project (Android) |
| Face ID or fingerprint sign-in, passkeys | Not supported |
| Apple CarPlay, Android Auto | Not supported |
| AdMob or other ad networks, HealthKit | Not supported |
| Landscape on iOS | Not available; portrait only |

Push notifications take the most setup of anything in that grid. iOS needs an APNs auth key, and Android needs your own Firebase project, where the free Spark plan is enough. Messages go out through the SendPushNotification integration to one person per call, with a title of up to 100 characters and a message of up to 500. The catch sits in timing: people who already installed the app receive push only after you generate new files and submit an updated version. Set push up before the first release.

## Updates, and the developer route outside the wrapper

Most content and design changes made in Base44 reach the store app without a new version going to Apple or Google, because the wrapper loads the published web app. A store update is needed only when something built into the app changes: the name, icon, splash screen, push notifications or new device permissions. Each update needs new files, and Base44 raises the build number automatically. It also rescans the app every time and updates the permissions it requests. Since August 2026, Base44 says, iOS builds carry permission purpose strings in all 25 supported languages to head off App Store rejections.

Developers who want more control have two documented exits, and neither leaves Base44's backend. With Builder or higher, the code can be synced to GitHub or downloaded as a ZIP and wrapped with Capacitor, PWABuilder or Trusted Web Activities outside Base44. Native features such as push must then be set up separately, and the exported code still uses Base44 for data, logins and integrations. Wrapping the app in your own native shell also breaks Google and Apple login, which work only in the app built from Base44's files. The second exit is a React Native (Expo) app written against the Base44 backend through the JavaScript SDK. Base44 does not support self-hosting its backend, a point our [Base44 buyer's checklist](/articles/base44-buyers-checklist) weighs in full.


> 💡 **Turn on Apple login before review:** An iOS app that offers Google login must also offer Sign in with Apple. Turn Apple login on and publish it before you submit the app.



## FAQ

**Can I pay for my Base44 plan through the App Store or Google Play?**

Yes, but Apple sets its own App Store prices, which can differ from the website, and website discounts such as the academic discount do not apply there. Google Play sells only Starter, Builder and Pro, and such subscriptions are refunded and canceled through Apple or Google. A plan can be active on only one platform at a time.

**Do links to my app open in the installed store app?**

Yes, links to a published app open in the installed store app instead of the browser. On Android this also needs the Google Play signing fingerprint added in Base44.

**Can I build and edit my Base44 app from a phone?**

Base44 has its own iOS and Android builder apps, separate from the apps you ship. Edit mode, data permissions, code editing, APIs and templates are desktop only, and connecting a domain or managing app security is not available from a mobile browser.


## The bottom line

Base44 puts a web app on phones on every plan, and into the App Store and Google Play from Builder, as a wrapper around the published web app. That suits portals, internal tools, service businesses and shops selling physical goods. It is the wrong fit for an app that earns through digital subscriptions or unlocks inside the store version, or one that needs Face ID, background location, ads or HealthKit. Budget for Builder plus your own developer accounts, prepare a reviewer demo account, and configure push before the first submission.



## Sources

[1] Base44 docs: Submitting your app to app stores — https://docs.base44.com/documentation/building-your-app/uploading-to-app-stores (2026-11)
[2] How to publish an app on the web, App Store and Google Play — https://base44.com/guides/how-to-publish-an-app (2026-11)
[3] Base44 docs: Creating and using your app on mobile — https://docs.base44.com/Building-your-app/Mobile-experience (2026-11)
[4] Base44 plans and pricing — https://base44.com/pricing (2026-11)
[5] Base44 documentation — https://docs.base44.com/Account-and-billing/Credits
[6] Base44 Terms of Service — https://base44.com/about-us/legal/terms-of-service
[7] Base44 Privacy Policy — https://base44.com/about-us/legal/privacy-policy