Selling an app, splitting off a business, or consolidating your apps under one company account all mean the same headache: moving an app between Apple Developer accounts without tanking its App Store ranking or locking out current users.
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The good news is Apple built an official transfer tool into App Store Connect for exactly this. Done correctly, the app keeps its App Store URL, ratings, and reviews, and stays available for download the whole time. This guide walks through the eligibility rules, the step-by-step process on both sides, and the things that commonly break after a transfer so you can fix them before anyone notices.
Quick Answer
In App Store Connect, the current Account Holder opens the app’s App Information page and selects Transfer App, then enters the Apple Account email and Team ID of the receiving account’s Account Holder. The receiving Account Holder accepts the request under Business > Agreements > App Transfers within 60 days. Apple completes the move in up to two business days, and the app’s ratings, reviews, App Store URL, and App ID carry over automatically with no listing downtime.
Before You Start: Eligibility and Roles
Only the Account Holder (sometimes called the Legal/Team Agent role) on each account can initiate or accept a transfer — admins and other roles can’t do it. Both the sending and receiving Apple Developer Program memberships need to be active and in good standing, with the latest Apple Developer Program License Agreement accepted on both sides.
The app itself has to qualify too. It must have at least one version already released on the App Store and can’t be in pre-order. It also can’t be sitting in an active review state such as Waiting for Review, In Review, Accepted, or Pending Developer/Apple Release — finish or cancel that review first. Any in-app purchases need to be in an Approved, Ready to Submit, Rejected, or Developer Removed from Sale state, and their product IDs can’t already exist in the destination account. A few app types are excluded outright: Apple Arcade titles, and Mac apps that use a sandboxed Application Group Container shared with other apps on the same account.
TestFlight is also part of the eligibility checklist, and Apple is strict about it: beta testing has to be turned off for every beta version of the app before you even request the transfer. That means removing every tester under TestFlight > All Testers, removing (or letting expire) all builds, and clearing out the fields under Test Information for each localization. None of this happens automatically as part of the move — if you leave testers, builds, or TestFlight info in place, App Store Connect will reject the transfer request outright until you clean it up yourself, and you’ll need to set beta testing back up from scratch under the new account afterward.
Before you request the transfer, grab the destination account’s Apple Account email and Team ID (found in App Store Connect under Membership details) — you’ll need both to start the request.
Step-by-Step: Initiating and Accepting the Transfer
On the sending account, sign in to App Store Connect, open the app, go to App Information, and choose Transfer App. You’ll confirm two-factor authentication, check off the eligibility criteria, enter the recipient Account Holder’s Apple Account email and Team ID, and agree to the transfer terms. Once submitted, the app’s status changes to Pending App Transfer — you lose the ability to edit the app, and any open App Review correspondence is closed. The request expires if unaccepted after 60 days, and either side can cancel it while it’s still waiting on the recipient.
On the receiving account, the Account Holder goes to Business > Agreements, Tax, and Banking, then App Transfers, and selects Review. They’ll need to supply fresh support URL, marketing URL, and privacy policy URL, plus App Review and App Store contact information, and decide which team members get access to the transferred app (everyone, or just Admin and Finance roles initially). After accepting the agreement, the app enters Processing App Transfer and typically finishes within two business days. If export compliance documentation is required, it’ll briefly sit in Waiting for Export Compliance instead.
Throughout this process the app stays live on the App Store — existing users keep receiving it and can still update once the new account submits a build, and all existing ratings and reviews stay attached to the listing.
What Breaks After a Transfer (and How to Fix It)
A successful transfer doesn’t mean every integration keeps working — plan to redo several things on the new account before your next release. You’ll need new provisioning profiles and a new distribution certificate tied to the recipient’s account, since the old signing identity doesn’t carry over. Push notification certificates stay valid only until they expire, so generate new APNs certs under the new account ahead of time. Apple Pay merchant IDs don’t carry over either — the recipient has to create a new one for future submissions, though existing certificates keep working until they expire.
Game Center cross-app features like matchmaking and groups don’t carry over and have to be reconfigured under the new Team ID. If the app shares an iCloud or CloudKit container with other apps, that container moves to the recipient along with the app — which cuts off any other apps still pointed at the old account, so coordinate that before you transfer. Sign in with Apple requires generating a transfer identifier for existing users so their credentials keep working, and Wallet passes need their identifiers reissued. If you sell subscriptions, exchange your shared secret before the transfer and generate a new one afterward so server-side receipt validation doesn’t silently fail. And because you had to manually turn off beta testing and strip out every tester and build just to qualify for the transfer in the first place, you’re rebuilding your TestFlight program from scratch — add builds and re-invite testers once the app lands in the new account.
Sales and analytics reporting splits at the transfer date — you’ll see historical data under the old account and new data accumulate separately under the new one.
Tips / Common Mistakes
Don’t submit a transfer request while a build is mid-review — cancel or wait for App Review to finish first, or the app won’t be eligible. Don’t assume Apple clears out TestFlight for you during the move — you have to manually turn off beta testing, remove every tester, remove or expire every build, and blank out the Test Information fields before you try to initiate the transfer, since leaving any of that in place is one of the most common reasons a request gets stuck. Line up the receiving account’s Team ID and Account Holder email in advance; a typo here just stalls the request until someone notices. If your app uses in-app purchases, double-check none of your product IDs already exist in the destination account, since duplicates block the transfer outright. Regenerate your push, Apple Pay, and subscription credentials as a batch right after acceptance rather than waiting for something to break in production. And warn your support and finance teams ahead of time — the receiving account must supply new contact and URL info during acceptance, so have that ready rather than scrambling mid-transfer.
Explore more: more app development guides.
Apple Developer account app transfer FAQs
Will my app’s ratings and reviews reset after the transfer?
No. Ratings, reviews, the App Store URL, and the App ID all stay attached to the app and carry over to the new account automatically.
Is the app removed from the App Store during the transfer?
No. The app remains available for download and existing users keep access throughout the process, which typically completes within two business days of acceptance.
Do I lose my TestFlight testers when I transfer the app?
You have to remove them yourself first, before Apple will even let you start the transfer — turning off beta testing and clearing out all testers, builds, and TestFlight info fields is a mandatory eligibility step, not something that happens automatically as part of the move. You’ll re-invite testers and upload new builds under the new account afterward.
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Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash.