Apple opens App Store submissions for OS 27

On 2026-09-09 Apple published a developer news post which states that apps and games can be submitted as of that date for iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, tvOS 27, visionOS 27, and watchOS 27, taking advantage of what the post calls the latest Apple technologies and innovations, naming Apple Intelligence, the Foundation Models framework, design updates, and new App Store features. The same post sets a dated minimum: starting April 2027, apps and games uploaded to App Store Connect need to meet SDK requirements it then lists per platform (Apple Developer news, 2026-09-09).

What the post states

The toolchain, the macOS architecture change, the dated SDK floor, and the App Store Connect metadata work are taken in turn below, in the wording Apple itself uses for each.

The toolchain to submit with

Apple instructs developers to download the Xcode 27 Release Candidate, to build apps and games using the latest SDKs, to test with TestFlight, and to submit for review to the App Store (Apple Developer news, 2026-09-09).

Apple’s own SDKs and system requirements table carries a row for Xcode 27. For Xcode 27 the table gives the supported macOS versions as macOS Tahoe 26.6 or later, and lists its SDKs as iOS 27, tvOS 27, watchOS 27, visionOS 27, macOS 27, and DriverKit 27. The deployment targets on the same row are iOS 15 to 27, iPadOS 15 to 27, tvOS 15 to 27, watchOS 9 to 27, visionOS 1 to 27, macOS 12 to 27, and DriverKit 21 to 27, with device support and simulator support both given as iOS 17 or later, tvOS 17 or later, watchOS 10 or later, and visionOS 1 or later (Apple, SDKs and system requirements).

The same table carries rows for Xcode 27.1 beta and Xcode 27.2 beta 2. Both beta rows give the supported macOS versions as macOS Tahoe 26.6 or later and the same deployment-target ranges as Xcode 27, while the Xcode 27.2 beta 2 row lists its SDKs as iOS 27.2, tvOS 27.2, watchOS 27.2, visionOS 27.2, macOS 27.2, and DriverKit 27.2. The Swift entry on all three rows gives the compiler as Swift 6.4 and the language modes as Swift 6, Swift 5, Swift 4.2, and Swift 4 (Apple, SDKs and system requirements).

The macOS 27 architecture change

Under a heading telling developers to optimize their app for macOS 27, the post states that macOS 26 is the final release supporting Intel Mac computers and Rosetta, and that macOS 27 will be Apple silicon only. It then gives the mechanical step: to limit an app to Macs with Apple silicon, set the Xcode build architecture to arm64 only, then rebuild and resubmit. The post adds that removing support for Intel-based apps lets a developer further simplify development and optimize the app for Apple silicon (Apple Developer news, 2026-09-09).

The April 2027 SDK floor

The post states minimum requirements for apps and games uploaded to App Store Connect starting April 2027. It states that iOS and iPadOS apps must be built with the iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 SDK or later, that tvOS apps must be built with the tvOS 27 SDK or later, that visionOS apps must be built with the visionOS 27 SDK or later, and that watchOS apps must be built with the watchOS 27 SDK or later (Apple Developer news, 2026-09-09).

Apple keeps a separate page of upcoming and past requirements, which carries its own dated SDK entries. Under “SDK minimum requirements” it states that since April 28, 2026, apps uploaded to App Store Connect must be built with Xcode 26 or later using an SDK for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26, or watchOS 26. The same page carries a separate entry under “iOS and iPadOS minimum system requirements” stating that since September 9, 2026, iOS and iPadOS apps uploaded to App Store Connect must target iOS 13 or later (Apple, upcoming requirements).

That page carries an earlier dated entry as well. Under a heading of “Xcode 15” it states that since April 29, 2024, apps uploaded to App Store Connect must be built with Xcode 15 for iOS 17, iPadOS 17, tvOS 17, or watchOS 10 (Apple, upcoming requirements).

The App Store Connect work that comes with it

The post also asks for work in App Store Connect. Under a heading telling developers to answer age rating questions, it states that new Time Allowances give parents more flexible ways to manage the time their kids spend in apps across categories, including Entertainment, Games, and Social Media, and that an app or game which includes social media capabilities will need to indicate them in App Store Connect (Apple Developer news, 2026-09-09).

Under a heading telling developers to prepare their App Store assets, the post points at new product page headers and search result assets on the App Store, and at design guidance and templates for product page headers, search results, screenshots, app previews, and In-App Events. It states that before publishing, a developer can use the new product page preview tool in App Store Connect to see exactly how the page will look on the App Store, and marks that tool as coming soon (Apple Developer news, 2026-09-09).

Apple’s requirements page carries dated age rating entries of its own. Under “Age Rating Updates” it states that since January 31, 2026, ratings for all apps and games on the App Store have been automatically updated to align with a new age rating system, and will be reflected on Apple devices running a minimum of iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26, and watchOS 26. It also states that responses to the updated age rating questions were to be provided for each app by January 31, 2026, to avoid an interruption when submitting app updates in App Store Connect (Apple, upcoming requirements).

Why it matters for PWA developers

MDN documents an app store as a distribution route for a Progressive Web App. It states that users expect to find apps in the app store for their platform, naming the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, and that if an app meets the installability prerequisites it can be packaged and distributed through app stores, with the process specific to each app store (MDN, Making PWAs installable).

The post states its dated floor in terms of uploads. It applies to apps and games uploaded to App Store Connect, and its toolchain instruction is to download the Xcode 27 Release Candidate and build using the latest SDKs (Apple Developer news, 2026-09-09).

MDN also documents installation from the web, and sets out its own prerequisites for it. MDN states that for a web app to be promoted for installation by a supporting browser it must include a web app manifest, a JSON file that tells the browser how the PWA should appear and behave on the device, and that the manifest is included using a link element in the app’s HTML, with every page referencing it that way when the PWA has more than one page. MDN further states that for a PWA to be installable it must be served using the https protocol, or from a local development environment using localhost or 127.0.0.1, with or without a port number, and notes that this is a more stringent requirement than secure context, which considers resources loaded from file:// URLs to be secure (MDN, Making PWAs installable).

Apple states the dates for the store route on its own requirements page. That page records the Xcode 26 and OS 26 SDK floor as having taken effect on April 28, 2026, and the iOS 13 target minimum for iOS and iPadOS apps uploaded to App Store Connect as having taken effect on September 9, 2026 (Apple, upcoming requirements).

The 2026-09-09 post states that starting April 2027, iOS and iPadOS apps must be built with the iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 SDK or later, tvOS apps with the tvOS 27 SDK or later, visionOS apps with the visionOS 27 SDK or later, and watchOS apps with the watchOS 27 SDK or later (Apple Developer news, 2026-09-09).

Related entries on this site

• Installation: the post governs one of the two ways an app reaches a device, and this page is where OpenPWA documents installability criteria and install prompts, which is the other way.
• Trusted Web Activity: the post is about submitting apps to a store, and this page is where OpenPWA documents the Trusted Web Activity route for packaging a PWA.
• WebAPK availability: MDN describes Chrome on Android devices with Google Mobile Services installing a PWA as a WebAPK, and this page is where OpenPWA tracks where that install route is available.

Open and unverified

• Whether a macOS 27 SDK minimum applies on the April 2027 schedule, and on what terms, is not confirmed.
• Whether the Xcode 27 Release Candidate named in the post and the Xcode 27 row on Apple’s SDKs and system requirements table refer to the same build is not confirmed.
• Whether any of the post’s requirements apply differently to a web app packaged for the App Store than to any other submission is not confirmed.
• When the new product page preview tool in App Store Connect becomes available is not confirmed.
• Whether the end of Intel Mac and Rosetta support in macOS 27 changes anything for a web app running in a browser on those machines is not confirmed.
• Whether the installability prerequisites MDN documents for the web interact in any way with the submission dates Apple publishes is not confirmed.
• Whether Apple’s requirements page will carry the April 2027 SDK floor, and whether its terms there would match the submission post, is not confirmed.

Sources

• App Store submissions now open for the latest OS releases (developer.apple.com)
• Upcoming requirements (developer.apple.com)
• SDKs and system requirements (developer.apple.com)
• Making PWAs installable (developer.mozilla.org)