From Code to App Store: Publishing My First Children's Game

Animal Detective is an educational game I built for young children to discover and learn about animals from around the world. What started as a "simple" side project turned into a months-long adventure through React Native, COPPA compliance, and the many circles of App Store review hell.

I've broken this journey into three parts, covering everything from tech stack decisions to the moment I finally saw my app live.

Part 1

Building Animal Detective: Tech Stack and Development Challenges

The first part covers what Animal Detective is, the tech stack I chose (and sometimes regretted), the landscape orientation nightmare, version management across multiple files, and asset optimization for 500+ files.

React Native Expo TypeScript Asset Optimization

Part 2

COPPA Compliance: Parental Gates, Ads, and In-App Purchases

Everything you need to know about building compliant children's apps. Why parental gates are required, the three types I implemented, how to configure AdMob for families, and setting up in-app purchases that Apple won't reject.

COPPA Parental Gates AdMob In-App Purchases

Part 3

Publishing to the App Store: Archives, Analytics, and Final Submission

The final stretch: surviving Xcode archiving, setting up privacy-first analytics, understanding what your metrics mean, the complete submission checklist, lessons learned, and resources that saved my life.

Xcode App Store Connect Analytics Submission