Key takeaways
- Softr doesn't publish to the App Store on any plan; a native shell around your Softr app is something you add and maintain yourself.
- Choose the channel first: a public App Store listing, unlisted distribution via direct link or a custom app for one organization through Apple Business Manager.
- Wrap a custom domain, offer email sign-in inside the app (Google blocks its sign-in in WebViews) and plan account deletion and App Privacy answers.
- WebViewGold, built by our team, adds push, an offline screen, Face ID and scanners to a Softr app; appsubmitter.io handles signing, listing and review.
Our recommended solution
Turn your Softr app into a real iOS app with WebViewGold
WebViewGold wraps the Softr web app you already have in a native Xcode project and adds push notifications, a native offline screen, deep links, a QR scanner and more – the native value reviewers at the App Store look for. Built by our own team, and we submit WebViewGold apps all the time.
Can you convert a Softr app to an iOS app?
Yes – but not inside Softr. To convert a Softr app to an iOS app, you wrap the published Softr site in a native shell such as WebViewGold, add native features that make it more than a website and publish it from your own Apple developer account. Softr itself has no App Store export on any plan.
The vendor is explicit about this. Softr's FAQ says: "Mobile publishing is not supported in Softr. Softr builds are PWAs (progressive web apps) and cannot be published to the iOS App Store or Google Play. This applies across all plans." A Softr team member added in 2025 that Softr "is meant for internal business applications so this is not a focus of ours".
Doing it yourself means:
- You are the developer of record. Listing, privacy answers, review messages and user support are yours.
- Softr won't troubleshoot the wrapper, so you re-test the app when Softr changes sign-in or blocks.
- Apple's rules apply in full – minimum functionality, login services, account deletion.
If that sounds like more than your team needs, Softr's PWA may be the honest answer – compare below.
What Softr hands you – and what iOS needs on top
| Softr trait | What it means for an iOS app |
|---|---|
| Hosted web app, no code export | The app loads your live Softr site. Even custom Vibe Coding blocks (React components) run on Softr's hosting. |
Free *.softr.app subdomain; one custom domain on paid plans | Wrap a custom domain: it carries your brand into review, and universal links can never work on Softr's own subdomain. |
| Data in Softr Databases, Airtable, Google Sheets, Supabase, Xano, SQL and more | Records update in the app without a new build; App Privacy answers must cover what those sources store. |
| Sign-in by email and password, email code, Google, SSO or admin magic link | Email sign-in works in a WebView; Google Sign-in doesn't; emailed links open Safari. |
| PWA with browser push and no offline mode | Native push and an offline screen are what a wrapper has to add. |
| Stripe Checkout, Stripe Customer Portal, PayPal | Fine for services and physical goods; digital content sold to consumers needs In-App Purchase. |
| "Made with Softr" badge | Turn it off (Pro plan and up) – a website badge inside an app looks unfinished. |
Want your Softr app in the App Store without the trial and error?
Book a free consultation call: we check your web app, tell you which native features it needs and what to fix before review. Or hand it off – our App Specialists set up signing and CI/CD, prepare the store listing and submit the app for you.
Softr to App Store: four routes compared
| Route | What users get | Effort | Good fit when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Softr PWA | Home Screen icon, splash color, browser push; no App Store listing | A few settings on a paid Softr plan | Users are colleagues who follow an install guide | No offline mode; on iPhone, web push only works for Home Screen web apps (iOS 16.4 and later) |
| WebViewGold | A native iOS app around your Softr site with switchable native modules | Low to medium; one-time purchase, Xcode or Cloud Builder | Clients or field staff expect an App Store app | Needs native value and a sign-in reviewers can use |
| Capacitor or a hand-built Swift wrapper | Whatever you build | High – you write and maintain native code | You have iOS developers in-house | Push, offline handling and deep links are all your job |
| Native rebuild on your data | A SwiftUI app reading the same Airtable, Supabase or Xano data | Highest – a second product | The portal has become your core product | Two front ends to keep in sync |
A fair warning about the first row: if your users are twenty employees with a bookmark, a native app adds cost without adding much. A wrapped app earns its keep when clients expect to find you in the App Store, or when push, scanning or offline handling solve real problems.
Public App Store, unlisted link or custom app?
Decide where the app will live before you build anything – it changes what App Review expects to see.
| Channel | Who can get the app | Fits a Softr app that… |
|---|---|---|
| Public App Store | Anyone, through search | has open sign-up or a public part that works without an invitation |
| Unlisted distribution | Anyone with the direct link; not shown in search, charts or categories | serves partners, franchisees or staff on their own devices |
| Custom app | Specific organizations via Apple Business Manager (Apple Business) or Apple School Manager, delivered by MDM or redemption codes | is built for one client organization, often on managed iPhones |
All three go through App Review. For unlisted distribution, you submit as usual, say in the review notes that the app is meant for unlisted distribution and then file Apple's request; unlisted apps "are available to anyone who has access to the link", so your Softr login stays essential. Custom distribution must be chosen in App Store Connect before approval.
Why this matters for Softr: an invite-only portal on the public store shows a reviewer a login wall and little else. One WeWeb developer reported approval only after opening sign-up to everyone, concluding that the App Store "MUST be public facing" – one maker's experience, not an Apple rule. appsubmitter.io includes MDM consulting for custom-app rollouts.
Prepare your Softr app before you wrap it
- Move to a custom domain such as
portal.yourcompany.com. Softr's paid plans include one; the Free plan has none. - Remove the badge and decide about the PWA. If every mobile user gets the native app, switch the PWA's install button off. If you keep both, hide the button in app sessions: WebViewGold's custom user agent tells your pages they run inside the app, provided you can add a little custom code on the Softr side.
- Check every page at phone width: wide tables, multi-column layouts, sticky headers and the top safe area.
- Sort your links. Your own pages stay in the app; help center articles, PDFs and third-party sites are better opened outside it.
- Plan uploads. Softr forms accept files up to 128 MB, so the app needs camera and photo library purpose strings.
- Publish a privacy policy and support page on the same domain, plus a page where signed-in users can delete their account.
The shortcut from Softr to the App Store
WebViewGold: your Softr app, native on iOS
Instead of building native features from scratch, start from WebViewGold. You get ready-made Xcode and Android Studio projects for your website, with native modules you switch on in the configuration:
- Push notificationsOneSignal or Firebase, for real, personal events
- Native offline screenNo browser error pages when the connection drops
- Native splash screenApp-like start instead of a loading web page
- Deep linksLinks open the right screen inside the app
- QR & barcode scannerDevice features the website alone can't offer
- In-app purchasesNative purchase flows where the store requires them
No tool guarantees an approval: Apple still judges what your app offers. Use the native features in your main user journey – our App Specialists review your WebViewGold app before it goes to the App Store.
Step by step: from Softr URL to Xcode project with WebViewGold
WebViewGold is the website-to-app product built by our own team. Its rule of thumb – "If your project runs in the Safari or Chrome browser, WebViewGold can convert it" – covers Softr apps, and the iOS version is a ready-made Swift project in Xcode that you own after a one-time purchase.
- Get the project – Regular license, or Extended if you plan to sell in-app purchases. No Mac? The separately sold Cloud Builder configures, builds and uploads in the browser.
- Point it at Softr by entering your custom domain as the start URL in
Config.swift. - Turn on push through OneSignal or Firebase, triggered by the automation that already reacts when a record changes in your data source.
- Enable the offline screen, since Softr pages need a connection.
- Add Face ID or Touch ID for returning clients.
- Pick device features that match the portal: QR and barcode scanning for inventory or check-ins, the VisionKit document scanner for uploads, the file downloader and AirPrint for invoices and reports.
- Add universal links only if your domain can serve the
apple-app-site-associationfile; otherwise emailed links keep opening Safari. - Write purpose strings in
Info.plist:NSCameraUsageDescription,NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescriptionand, with biometrics,NSFaceIDUsageDescription. - Test on a real iPhone through TestFlight, signed in once per user group.
Sign-in, payments and account deletion: the Softr review hurdles
Sign-in
Google has blocked its OAuth sign-in in embedded WebViews since September 30, 2021, and its policy forbids routing sign-in through "an embedded user-agent under the developer's control" – changing the user agent is no way around it. That leaves three routes, in this order:
- Native sign-in code –
ASWebAuthenticationSessionor Google's Sign-In SDK for iOS in the Xcode project. That suits apps whose own backend issues the session; with Softr's hosted sign-in, the result reaches your app code, not the WebView holding Softr's session. - Email sign-in in the app – password or emailed code, both built into Softr, with Google kept for browser users or switched off. If the app only uses Softr's own accounts, Guideline 4.8 doesn't call for Sign in with Apple (which Softr doesn't offer). The practical choice for most portals.
- Handing Google to the system browser – WebViewGold can open a URL externally, which satisfies Google. But Apple says linking out to the default browser to sign in "provides a poor user experience and isn't appropriate" (Apple's account deletion guidance), and the session would land in Safari anyway.
Invitation emails and magic links open in the default browser too, so ask invited users to sign in inside the app with their email.
Payments
Guideline 3.1.3(e) requires payment methods other than In-App Purchase for physical goods and services "consumed outside of the app", so Stripe Checkout for consulting hours or deliveries is fine. If organizations buy the portal for their employees, 3.1.3(c) lets those users access what was purchased outside the app. Digital content or subscriptions sold to consumers need In-App Purchase – WebViewGold supports StoreKit with the Extended license.
Account deletion and privacy
Guideline 5.1.1(v) is short: "If your app supports account creation, you must also offer account deletion within the app." In Softr, that's usually a page with a confirmation step and a workflow or automation that removes the user and their records – see 5.1.1(v) for WebView apps. Your App Privacy details must cover what your Softr forms and data sources collect.
Submitting the Softr app and the rejections to plan for
In App Store Connect you need a description that matches what the app does, screenshots of app screens without browser bars, a privacy policy URL, App Privacy answers and one demo login per user group under App Review Information. Note which pages each group sees – a portal that shows the reviewer half its pages is a classic route into a Developer Code of Conduct dispute.
| Guideline | How Softr apps typically trigger it | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| 4.2 Minimum Functionality | The app is the portal in a frame, nothing more | 4.2 for WebView apps |
| 2.1 Information Needed | Invite-only access, emailed codes, empty demo accounts | 2.1 guide |
| 4.8 Login Services | Google Sign-in as a primary login | 4.8 for WebView apps |
| 5.6 Developer Code of Conduct | User groups hide pages; changes published during review | Softr and Guideline 5.6 |
| 4.2.6 Template apps | An agency submits client portals under its own account | 4.2.6 for WebView apps |
appsubmitter.io takes the Apple side off your plate: signing and a CI/CD pipeline in your own developer account, the listing and App Privacy answers, an AI-powered pre-submission check reviewed by an App Specialist, the review notes and all communication with App Review. Code changes aren't included but are quoted upfront, and your app doesn't need to be finished when you book. Book the iOS package or talk it through in a free consultation call. Going to Google Play too? Read how to convert Softr to an Android app.
Checklist before you submit
- You picked the channel: public App Store, unlisted distribution or a custom app via Apple Business Manager.
- The app loads a custom domain, not the free softr.app subdomain.
- The "Made with Softr" badge is off and the PWA install button doesn't appear in the app.
- Every page works at phone width, including tables, forms and the top safe area.
- Users sign in inside the app with email and password or an emailed code; Google Sign-in isn't offered in the app.
- Push, an offline screen and at least one device feature serve the portal's main tasks, with purpose strings in Info.plist.
- Users who can sign up can delete their account inside the app, and digital content sold to consumers uses In-App Purchase.
- App Review Information has one working demo login per user group and notes on what each group sees.
Frequently asked questions
Can I convert a Softr app to an iOS app and put it on the App Store?
Do I need a Mac to turn my Softr app into an iOS app?
What does it cost to get a Softr app into the App Store?
How long does App Store review take for a wrapped Softr app?
Do I have to resubmit when I change my Softr app?
Is Softr's PWA enough instead of an App Store app?
Recommended solution
From Softr to the App Store: WebViewGold + appsubmitter.io
- 1 Build with WebViewGold Turn your website into native iOS and Android projects.
- 2 Add native value Push, offline screen, deep links or scanning in your main flow.
- 3 We submit it Our App Specialists submit and talk to the review team.
WebViewGold is made by our team (jocapps GmbH). It is a tool, not a guarantee – approval decisions are made by Apple and Google.
Sources and further reading
- Softr Docs – FAQ: mobile publishing is not supported
- Softr Community – Convert PWA into native app (staff answer, February 2025)
- Softr Docs – How to create a mobile app (PWA) from a Softr app
- Softr Docs – User authentication
- Apple – App Store Review Guidelines (updated June 8, 2026)
- Apple – Unlisted app distribution
- Apple – Custom apps for business
- WeWeb Community – App Store approval after opening sign-up (2024–2025 thread)
Store policies and third-party products change regularly – always check the current versions. This article is independent advice and not affiliated with or endorsed by Apple, Google or any other company or product mentioned; all trademarks belong to their owners. WebViewGold and appsubmitter.io are made by our team at jocapps GmbH.