LetPod lets a child and a grandparent take turns recording a little podcast episode together. This log starts at the first packaged build; every step after it — submission, rejections, launch — gets added here as it happens, for anyone walking the same road.
2026 · 09 · 05📦 First archive · Validation succeeded
From project spec to a build that passes Apple's checks, inside a single day. Archive 1.0.20260905 (1) at 11:30 PM; five minutes later build (2) cleared Xcode's Validate App with App validation complete — packaging, signing, Info.plist, privacy manifest and icon all pass Apple's automated checks, so it is ready for upload and submission.
Version: 1.0.20260905 (2) (build 1 archived the same evening at 11:30 PM)
Validated: Sep 5, 2026, 11:35 PM
Status: ⏳ Not uploaded for review yet
1. What shipped that same day
The relay state machine, four task-card packs, 30-second turns with automatic playback, six mascot poses and the child-voice guidance, three canned sound effects, on-device mixing (trim / balance / mix), a 20-episode shelf with a 7-day recycle bin, and sharing plus the family shelf behind the parental gate — all wired together, with a full episode recorded end to end on the iPad simulator (a 33.4-second m4a).
2. The bug only a real run could find
Restoring the audio session after recording is background work; if playback jumps in first, it hangs — and the "have a listen" button stays greyed out forever. The fix: wait until the session has actually left record-and-play mode before starting playback, plus a playback watchdog based on the file's own duration. No unit test finds this; you have to record a whole episode.
3. What still stands between here and submission
Finalising the 20 Taiwanese words, on-device microphone-distance testing (Grandma half a metre away, the child shouting into it), App Store screenshots — and three real family recording sessions: only if the child asks to do it again on the second one is it worth submitting. The privacy policy and support pages are already live, since Apple's submission form requires both.
Xcode Archives — 1.0.20260905 (2) Validation succeeded (click to enlarge)
Next🚀 First submission
Once the Taiwanese content is final and the device and family sessions pass, the app version goes out in the same submission as the three tip-jar in-app purchases (a lesson this app family learned the hard way: IAPs don't ride along on their own). Submission, review outcome and launch date all get logged here.
Every step — submission, rejection, resubmission, launch — will be logged here as it happens.
