I shipped my first Mac app outside the App Store. Here's what I built and why.
After almost 9 years building and shipping in the Apple ecosystem, I just shipped my first Mac app.
But this time, I'm doing things differently.
The product
SwiftShip Previews. A native Mac app that takes iPhone or iPad screen recordings and exports them as App Store-compliant preview videos in 5 minutes.
It solves a specific pain I hit on every iOS launch: making the 30-second App Store preview video takes hours. iMovie won't export the right specs. FFmpeg works, but typing the same command every release gets old fast.
Why I'm distributing outside the App Store
This is the part that took the most thought.
For 9 years, every product I've shipped went through Apple's App Store. App Store fees (15-30%), review process, app rejections, the whole machine.
This time, I'm trying something new:
- Direct download from my landing page
- Lemon Squeezy handles checkout (5% fee instead of 15-30%)
- Sparkle for auto-updates (instead of App Store updates)
- Code signing + notarization for Gatekeeper trust
- One-time payment, no subscription
I want to learn if direct-to-customer distribution works for a niche tool like this or if discoverability via the App Store is irreplaceable.
Tech stack
- Native macOS app (SwiftUI + AVFoundation)
- Sparkle for auto-updates
- Lemon Squeezy for payments and license management
- Vercel for the landing page
Built solo with Claude code. No team. No funding.
https://swiftship.dev if you want to take a look.
For other makers here who've distributed Mac apps outside the App Store: what surprised you? What did you wish you knew before launching this way?
And for everyone else: what's your current setup for making App Store preview videos (or platform launch assets in general)?
This is a smart niche because you’re not trying to become a generic video editor. You’re solving one painful release-task for iOS makers: turning screen recordings into App Store-ready preview videos without iMovie, FFmpeg commands, or export-spec headaches.
The direct distribution angle also fits the product well. If the buyer is another Apple ecosystem builder, they’ll understand why a small native utility with one-time pricing feels cleaner than another subscription app.
One thing I’d watch is the name. SwiftShip Previews explains the current use case, but it may become narrow if you later expand into screenshots, launch assets, localization, or broader App Store release workflows. If this grows into a polished launch-ops tool for app makers, a cleaner platform-style name like Xevoa.com would age better than a feature-specific name tied only to previews.