WebView apps for the stores
A WebView app is your published web app wrapped in a native shell and submitted to the App Store and Google Play. It is the same Cadrant project as your PWA — the difference is that this one gets a store listing.
Pick this route when people need to find and install your app from the App Store rather than from a link.
Prerequisites to publish: an Expo account (free), an Apple Developer account ($99/year) for the App Store and a Google Play developer account ($25 one-off) for Google Play.
How it works
- Cadrant generates a minimal Expo shell whose only screen is a native WebView pointing at your published URL.
- The iOS and Android builds run on your Expo account, and Expo submits them to your App Store Connect account and your Google Play Console.
- Users install it from the store like any other app.
What changes compared to the PWA
- Discoverable: your app has a store listing, an icon and a name people can search for.
- Reviewed: Apple reviews the binary before it goes live and for each new build; Google reviews production releases on Play.
- Content still updates instantly: the shell loads your live URL, so publishing your app updates what users see without submitting a new build.
- You need an Apple Developer account and a Google Play developer account, like any store submission.
Publish
Both flows are identical to a native app's — the builds run on your Expo account, then Expo submits the iOS binary to your App Store Connect account and the Android app bundle to your Play Console. Step by step, per platform — iOS: Publish to App Store Connect. Android: Publish to Google Play.
Recommended workflow
Publish the web app
Put the app online at a slug or a custom domain — that URL is what the shell will load.Connect your Expo account
Create a free Expo account and paste an access token into Integrations. The free plan covers 15 iOS and 15 Android builds a month, and the builds run on your account.Publish: the build runs on your Expo account
Cadrant guides the store setup — Apple sign-in and certificate on iOS, app creation and service-account invite on Google Play — launches the build on your Expo account, then Expo submits it to App Store Connect or to your Play Console.Test on a real device
On iOS, install that exact binary through TestFlight. On Android, roll the draft release out to internal testers from Play Console. This is where you check the app as your users will get it — not as a preview.Publish on the stores
Finish the listings in App Store Connect and Play Console — screenshots, description, privacy — then submit the version for Apple review and roll out the Android release from Internal testing.
Related
- PWA mobile apps — what the app is before it gets wrapped.
- Publish to App Store Connect — Apple Developer flow, build and upload.
- Publish to Google Play — Play Console setup, upload key and Internal testing rollout.