GuideApp Developer Disappeared? What to Do in the First 48 Hours

If your app developer has disappeared, in the first 48 hours gather proof the app is yours, check you can get into every account registered to you, find when the Apple membership and the domain renew, and copy out the data you can already reach. Don't start by deleting or resetting anything. Then sort the remaining accounts by who can move them, because anything in the developer's own name usually needs the developer, or that vendor's support team, to move.

For the exact steps for your app's services (App Store, Google Play, Firebase, Supabase, Stripe, GitHub, Lovable, Bolt, Vercel, Netlify and the domain), pick them in the free app handover checklist and choose "they've stopped replying". It runs in your browser.

The first 48 hours

1. Gather proof the app is yours

When a developer has stopped replying, the vendors' support teams are your route in, and they ask for proof that the app and the business are yours. Put these in one folder:

• the contract or statement of work, and any message where the developer agreed to build the app for you;
• the invoices you paid;
• your company documents;
• the app's store listing pages and the website.

The contract also answers a question you will be asked later: who owns the code.

2. Check you can get into the accounts in your name

For each account registered to you (often the Apple and Google developer accounts, Firebase or Supabase, Stripe and the domain registrar), sign in and check:

• that the recovery email and phone number are yours;
• which card it bills, and which email gets its renewal notices.

If the sign-in codes go to the developer's phone or email, you can't sign in without them. Ask that vendor's support team to help you change it, with proof the account is yours, such as billing receipts.

What not to do yet: don't delete users, API keys or service accounts, don't cancel any plan, and don't change shared passwords. The live app may still depend on them, and you may need the developer to move other accounts. Change a password only where you are the only person who uses that login.

3. Find the two renewal dates that can take the app down

• The Apple Developer membership. If the membership the app is published from expires, Apple makes its apps and in-app purchases unavailable in every storefront; copies already on people's phones stay installed (Apple). Find the renewal date now, so a silent developer can't let the app disappear from the App Store.
• The domain. ICANN Lookup shows a domain's public registration data, sometimes including the expiry date. Make sure the renewal doesn't depend on the developer's card. If the domain sits in the developer's own registrar account, ask the registrar what proof they need to help you take control.

4. Copy out everything you can already open

Export the database, the user list and stored files from any account you can sign in to, and save the store listing text and screenshots, before anything is switched off or stops being paid for.

Then: who can move each account

Anything already registered to you is yours to manage. Anything in the developer's own account is different: most vendors only let the current owner start a transfer. This is what each one says, and the route when the developer never replies.

A republished app starts with no reviews or ratings, and users have to install the new listing, so try the developer once more in writing before you take that route. Send one message that lists each account and what you need them to do, and keep a copy: support teams may ask what you tried. The handover checklist writes that message for you.

If the Firebase project is the one in their name, How to transfer a Firebase project to a new owner covers the parts people miss: the billing account, the Analytics property and the push notification key.

After ownership moves to you

Once each account is yours: remove the old developer's access, then rotate every API key, service account key and password they could have seen. Do it in that order, so nothing the live app needs is switched off before its replacement is in place.

Getting the app working again

You don't have to recover every account before a new developer starts. A review of the code and accounts you can already reach tells you what is missing and what is broken.

If the app was built with Lovable, Bolt or another AI builder, the AI-Built App Rescue is a fixed-price way to get it working and into accounts you own. If one part has stopped working, such as a login, a payment or a build, the App Fix Ticket finds and fixes it. If you need someone to take over the app for good, the Monthly Dev Subscription covers ongoing work. Not sure which fits? Send me a short description of what you have and what you can still get into, and I'll tell you where I'd start.