Free toolApp handover checklist
Switching app developers or agencies? Tick what your app uses and get the steps to move each account to you, in the right order, from Apple’s, Google’s, Stripe’s and the other vendors’ own help pages. You also get a message to send the outgoing developer.
Free, no sign-up. Vendor steps checked October 22, 2026.
How to switch app developers without losing your app
To switch app developers, or take over an app from a previous developer: get your own access first, then move ownership, then close the old access. Before anyone hears the contract is ending, list every account the app runs on and whose login owns it: the App Store and Google Play developer accounts, Firebase or Supabase, Stripe, the code repository and the domain. Get added as an admin on each. Then have the outgoing developer transfer what sits in their name, and finally remove their access and rotate keys. The order matters because a developer who leaves on bad terms can still hold the only copy of a signing key or the account your app is published from.
What does your app use?
Questions
- How do I switch app development companies mid-project?
- Get admin access to every account before you end the contract, then have the outgoing team transfer what is in their name: the App Store and Google Play apps, the Firebase or Supabase project, Stripe, the code repository and the domain. Remove their access and rotate keys last. Ask the new team to review the code before they quote, so the price reflects what is actually there.
- How do I take over an app from a previous developer?
- Find out which accounts the app is published and hosted from, and whose login owns each one. If they are your company’s accounts, ask to be made Account Holder or owner and remove the developer afterwards. If they are the developer’s own accounts, they have to transfer the app, the Firebase or Supabase project and the code to you. Get the Android upload key and the push notification key sorted, then rotate every API key they had.
- Who should own my App Store and Google Play accounts?
- Your company. When an app is published from the developer’s own account, moving it needs their cooperation: Apple’s App Transfer is started by their Account Holder, and Google Play’s app transfer is submitted from their account. Apps published from your own developer accounts, with the developer added as a user, can change teams by changing users.
- What if my developer stopped responding?
- Gather your contract, paid invoices and company documents, then go to each vendor’s support. Stripe runs an identity check when the owner has gone, and Google Play says an owner change can’t be self-served when the owner is unreachable, so you contact Play Console support. An Android upload key can be reset if the app uses Play App Signing. An app published from the developer’s own App Store or Play account can’t be transferred without them; if they never reply, our advice is to publish it again from your own account. Pick “No, they’ve stopped replying” and the checklist shows these routes and writes a formal notice instead of a friendly request.
- Can I get my Android app back if the developer has the signing key?
- If the app uses Play App Signing, Google holds the app signing key and the developer only has the upload key. A lost or withheld upload key can be replaced: create a new key, export its certificate as PEM and request an upload key reset in Play Console.
- What should I ask the outgoing developer for?
- Admin access or ownership on each account, the code with its full history, the push notification key, the Android upload keystore and passwords, the domain transfer code, and a short note on how to build and deploy the app. The tool writes the request for you from what you tick.
- Is anything I tick saved or sent?
- No. The checklist is built in your browser. For usage statistics, only the options you picked and the number of steps are recorded, never anything you type.
Every step links the vendor page it comes from. Pages checked October 22, 2026. This is not legal advice; for a contract dispute, ask a lawyer.
Need a new developer to take the app over?
If the app works and you need someone to keep it moving, the Monthly Dev Subscription takes one request at a time, from $1,495 a month. Requests come back as pull requests you merge, and you can pause or cancel anytime.
Built with Lovable, Bolt, Cursor or another AI builder? The $450 Launch Check reviews it first: every issue found, ranked, within 3 business days, with a fixed price for the Rescue Sprint.
Link to this checklist
Writing about hiring or replacing a developer? You’re welcome to link here. The checklist is free and needs no sign-up.
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