// cursor & claude code rescue
Cursor built your app.
I get it into the App Store.
You shipped 80% of an iOS or React Native app without an engineering team — that's real. But signing, StoreKit, App Review, and Google Play's policy maze aren't code problems, and no AI tool does them. I do, daily.
— 5+ apps live on the App Store
— Rejections argued and won
— Report in 72 hours
— You own everything
// the last 20%
Why your Cursor-built app
can't ship — yet.
Seven walls between “it runs on my Mac” and “it's in the stores.” None of them are your fault, and none of them are solved by another prompt.
Code signing & provisioning
Certificates, provisioning profiles, entitlements, capabilities — none of it is code, so Cursor can’t do it. It lives in the Apple Developer portal and Xcode’s signing settings, and one mismatch means the app won’t install on a single real iPhone. This is the wall most AI-built iOS apps die at, usually with an error message that explains nothing.
Works in the simulator, crashes on a real device
The simulator forgives what devices don’t: missing permission strings (camera, photos, location) that crash the app the instant a feature is touched, force-unwrapped values that were never nil in test data, and memory habits an iPhone won’t tolerate. If you’ve only ever run your app in the simulator, you haven’t run your app yet.
App Review rejections
Apple rejects for things no AI warns you about: guideline 4.2 “minimum functionality”, missing privacy manifests and data-collection labels, no account-deletion option when you have sign-up, crashes during review. Every rejection costs days, and the response has to argue Apple’s own rules back at them. I’ve won these arguments before — repeatedly.
StoreKit & in-app purchases
AI can write the purchase screen, but subscriptions actually live in App Store Connect: product configuration, server notifications, receipt validation, sandbox testing, and the restore-purchases flow Apple requires. Until all of it works, you can’t charge anyone a cent.
API keys baked into the app
Keys hardcoded into the binary can be pulled out of a shipped IPA in minutes — your OpenAI key, your database, your payment secrets. Fixing it properly means moving secrets server-side, which is exactly the kind of restructuring AI assistants avoid suggesting.
A backend that was never meant for strangers
Cursor-built iOS apps usually lean on Supabase or Firebase, and inherit the classic vibe-coded holes: missing row-level security (strangers can read your users’ data), auth that never checks who owns what, webhooks that trust anyone. The app is only as shippable as the backend behind it.
React Native? Google Play has its own wall
One codebase, two finish lines. Google Play Console wants things Cursor never mentioned: a release keystore that must never be lost, an AAB (not the APK you’ve been testing), the data safety form filled out truthfully, current target API level requirements met, and — for new personal accounts — a closed test with real testers before production is even unlocked. I handle Play Console submission end to end, same as the App Store.
// the way out
$399 tells you exactly
where you stand.
Rescue Audit — $399
I read the codebase, run it on real devices, and check everything above. In 72 hours you get a plain-English report, a prioritized fix list, and a fixed quote for the rest. Credited if we continue within 30 days.
Fix Sprint — $1,999
One focused week clearing the blockers: security holes closed, broken flows fixed, device crashes gone. Your repo, your accounts — you watch it happen.
Rescue & Ship — from $4,999
The whole finish line: fixes, polish, signing, StoreKit, submission, and App Review — plus Google Play Console if it’s React Native — including arguing rejections until it’s live. You get store links, not a handoff document.
// questions
My app was built with Cursor / Claude Code — do you need me to explain the code?
No. Send repo access and two sentences on where you’re stuck. AI-generated Swift and React Native codebases follow recognizable patterns; reading them quickly is the job.
Do I need an Apple Developer account already?
You’ll need one to ship ($99/year, paid to Apple directly) — but not to start. If you don’t have it yet, setting it up correctly is part of Rescue & Ship, and everything is created under your name, not mine.
Can you just handle the App Store part if the app itself works?
Yes — that’s a common shape for Rescue & Ship. The audit will confirm the app really is ready (device testing usually finds surprises), then I take signing, submission, and review from there.
It’s React Native — can you get it on Google Play too?
Yes. If Cursor built you a React Native or Expo app, one Rescue & Ship covers both stores: App Store signing and review on the Apple side, and Play Console setup, keystore signing, the data safety form, and Google’s closed-testing requirements on the Android side. Same codebase, both store links.
// ship it
The App Store is closer
than it feels.
Send repo access today. In 72 hours you'll know every wall between your app and launch — and the fixed price to clear them all.