What it is
Base44 (a Wix company) builds complete apps with built-in database, auth and hosting from a chat prompt. Business owners, operations people and non-technical founders who need a working tool more than a tech stack.
Start here
Base44 app → App StoreStep by step from the published Base44 URL to the App Store listing, with the Base44-specific checks.Base44 app → Google PlayThe Android walkthrough for Base44 apps, including the Play Console setup and the 12-tester rule.Base44: App Store + Google PlayBoth stores from one URL: differences, costs and the parallel plan.Base44 app rejected: fixesRejected? The triage for Base44 apps, the usual reasons and a reply template.
Native features for Base44 apps
Each feature page explains the native part (one setting or one URL call) and the web-app part for your Base44 stack, with a prompt to paste.
Push notificationsBrowser web push on iOS only works for home-screen web apps and most users never see it. As a native app built with WebViewGold, your Base44 app gets the real thing: system push notifications on iOS and Android, sent from your backend, from a dashboard, or scheduled by your own JavaScript.In-app purchasesYour Base44 app probably charges through Stripe integration. On the web that stays. Inside the iOS app, Apple requires In-App Purchase for digital goods (Guideline 3.1.1), and Google Play Billing applies on Android. WebViewGold handles both through RevenueCat with one URL call from your web app.Google login and Sign in with AppleBase44 apps typically use Base44 built-in authentication (email and password, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Apple login). Email and password login works unchanged inside a WebViewGold app. Google and other OAuth providers block embedded WebViews, and Apple adds a rule of its own. Here is how to make every login method work in the app without changing your auth code.Biometric loginA password field feels like a website. Face ID feels like an app. WebViewGold adds biometric authentication to your Base44 app in two flavors: a simple app lock switched on in the config, or a JavaScript API (
bioauth://) that returns the result to your web app so you can gate exactly the screens you want.QR code and barcode scannerBrowser-based QR scanning in a WebView is slow and permission-hungry. WebViewGold opens the native camera scanner from a link (qrcode:// or barcodescanner://) and hands the result straight back to your Base44 app: a URL is opened automatically, a barcode value lands in a JavaScript variable.GeolocationYour Base44 app already calls navigator.geolocation. Inside a WebViewGold app that call triggers the real system permission dialog, and the position comes from the device GPS instead of a browser approximation. No native code: you only write the purpose string and answer the store questionnaires.AdMob adsWeb ad networks pay little inside apps and often break in WebViews. WebViewGold integrates the native AdMob SDK: a banner below your Base44 app, interstitials after a number of interactions, and rewarded videos you trigger from JavaScript when the user wants extra credits or content.Offline modeReviewers switch on airplane mode. Users ride the subway. A Base44 app that shows a white page offline looks broken; a native offline screen with a retry button looks like an app. WebViewGold gives you three levels of offline support, and the right one depends on your stack (React front end generated by Base44 with Base44's own built-in database, authentication and integrations).Deep linksA user taps the magic link from Base44 built-in authentication (email and password, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Apple login) in their email and lands in Safari, logged in on the web but not in the app. Universal Links and App Links fix that: https links to your domain open the Base44 app directly. Here is the complete setup, plus custom scheme links for QR codes and other apps.Native share and hapticsTwo small things make a Base44 app feel native in the first minute: a real share sheet (AirDrop, Messages, WhatsApp, Mail) instead of a copied link, and a subtle vibration when something succeeds. WebViewGold exposes both as URL calls you can wire into existing buttons.File downloads and camera uploadsA plain WebView silently ignores a PDF download and shows a bare file picker. WebViewGold saves images to the camera roll (savethisimage://?url=…), downloads PDFs, audio, ePub and Office files, and opens the native camera or gallery for every <input type="file"> in your Base44 app.In-app ratingRatings decide whether a store listing converts. WebViewGold lets your Base44 app show the native rating dialog (rateapp://) exactly when a user is happy: after a completed order, a finished workout, a saved project. You decide the moment in your web app; the native part is one call.Custom CSS and JavaScriptThe website needs a cookie banner, a footer with 30 links and a "Download our app" badge. The app needs none of them. WebViewGold injects a custom.css and custom.js file into every page your Base44 app loads inside the app, so the website stays untouched and the app looks like an app.NFC tag readerSafari gives websites no NFC access at all, and Web NFC only exists in Chrome on Android. Wrapped with WebViewGold, your Base44 app starts a native NFC scan with one link and receives the tag content in a JavaScript function: on Android through the documented NFC API, on iPhone through the WebViewGold NFC plugin. Check-ins, equipment tags and tap-to-save contact cards become a few lines of code.Document scannerIf your Base44 app has a file upload, it can have a real document scanner. WebViewGold adds a Scan document entry to the native upload dialog: Apple VisionKit on iPhone and Google ML Kit on Android find the page edges, crop and enhance each page, and hand the result to your existing file input like any other upload.Printing and AirPrintThe print button that works in the browser usually goes quiet inside an app, because app WebViews do not handle window.print() the way Safari or Chrome do. WebViewGold gives your Base44 app a native alternative: printitem:// downloads a PDF or image from your server and opens the system print dialog, AirPrint on iPhone and the Android print service, with Save as PDF as an option.Clipboard copy and pasteCopy buttons that silently fail and paste fields that never fill are classic WebView annoyances. In a WebViewGold app, your Base44 app reads the device clipboard on demand with getclipboard:// (the content lands in the clipboarddata variable), and copying uses the standard web Clipboard API with a fallback. Here is the pattern, plus the privacy rules both platforms enforce.Contacts accessFind-your-friends screens, group invites and split-the-bill apps often want the address book. In a WebViewGold app, your Base44 app asks for permission with requestcontactpermission:// and receives names and phone numbers as JSON in the contacts variable after readcontacts://. The code takes minutes; how you use the data decides whether the app passes review.Video and audio playbackAn HTML5 video tag works inside the app, but long lessons feel cramped and playback usually stops when the user switches apps. With WebViewGold your Base44 app hands a stream URL to the native player with one link (startnativevideo://), so viewers get fullscreen and Picture-in-Picture on both platforms and AirPlay on iPhone. On iOS you can also keep HTML audio playing in the background for podcasts, radio and audio courses.Screenshot protectionPaid lessons, private chats, account balances, single-use coupons: some screens should not end up in a group chat. WebViewGold can block screenshots and screen recordings on Android and detect them on iOS, then call a JavaScript function in your Base44 app so you can react. The same toolkit also works the other way round: takescreenshot:// saves a screen to Photos on purpose, for tickets and receipts.HealthKit and Health ConnectFitness trackers, habit apps and coaching tools built with Base44 can show the user's real step count, heart rate or weight instead of asking them to type it in. WebViewGold reads and writes Apple Health (HealthKit) on iOS and Health Connect on Android with the same two URL schemes. The code is the easy part; the store rules for health data deserve most of your attention.Calendar eventsA booking that is not in the user's calendar is a no-show waiting to happen. On iOS, WebViewGold lets users add an event to the Calendar app from a plain link to an .ics file, so your Base44 app needs nothing more than a URL that returns the event. Android has no dedicated calendar API in WebViewGold; here is what works there instead.FlashlightReading a serial number in a dark storeroom, checking a meter in a basement, finding a seat at a concert: sometimes your Base44 app just needs light. WebViewGold switches the phone's torch on and off from two links, enableflashlight:// and disableflashlight://, on iOS and Android. It is a small feature that works best as a helper inside a bigger workflow.Share extensionA bookmarking tool, a recipe box or a moodboard is only useful if saving takes one tap. With WebViewGold your Base44 app appears in the iOS and Android share sheet, and whatever the user shares (a link, a piece of text, a photo) arrives in your web app as the JavaScript variable sharedData. Your code decides what happens next: prefill a form, save it to your backend, or open an editor.Widgets and shortcutsThe home screen is where an app proves it is more than a bookmark. On iOS, WebViewGold gives your Base44 app four ways to live there: an image widget your server keeps current, quick actions on a long press of the icon, Siri phrases that run your JavaScript, and alternate app icons. Android has no WebViewGold equivalent for widgets and quick actions, so this guide also covers the honest alternatives there.Apple Wallet passesIf your Base44 app sells event tickets, runs a loyalty program or hands out coupons, the pass belongs in Apple Wallet, on the lock screen when it matters. WebViewGold adds the missing link: replace https:// with addpkpass:// in your .pkpass URL and iOS shows the native Add to Apple Wallet sheet. You still create and sign the pass yourself, and on Android, Google Wallet works through its own web save link.Native storage and device IDUsers expect an app to remember them. Cookies and localStorage usually keep your Base44 app signed in, but they are web storage and go away with the cache. WebViewGold adds two small native helpers: a persistent value store (writevalue:// and readvalue://) for settings and session restore, and a device UUID (get-uuid://) for device-bound licenses, trusted devices and per-device settings on your server.Meta Audience Network adsIf your audience lives on Facebook and Instagram, Meta Audience Network can be an alternative to AdMob. WebViewGold integrates the native Audience Network SDK: timed or page-triggered interstitials on iOS, banners and interstitials on Android, configured in Config.swift and Config.java and steered from your Base44 app. Here is the setup, the privacy paperwork and where ad apps get rejected.Native tab bar and navigationA hamburger menu and a website header are the fastest way to make a Base44 app feel like a bookmark, and that is exactly what reviewers judge under Guideline 4.2. WebViewGold adds a native tab bar or sidebar on iOS and a Material bottom navigation or drawer on Android, each configured in one file, while your web app keeps doing the routing.Splash screen and loading indicatorA white screen for two seconds after launch is how a Base44 app collects a Guideline 2.1 note or a one-star review. The native app opens instantly; your web app needs a moment. WebViewGold covers that moment with a branded splash, a native loading indicator and pull-to-refresh, and a few lines in your web app make the hand-off invisible.Safe area and status barA Base44 app that looked perfect in the browser can lose its header under the Dynamic Island, its tab bar under the home indicator, or its clock to white-on-white in dark mode. WebViewGold keeps your page inside the safe area by default and colors the status bar natively or from JavaScript. Here is when to rely on that and when to go edge-to-edge with CSS.Force update and version checkYour Base44 web app updates with every publish, but the native shell around it only changes when users install a new store version. When a new feature depends on a newer shell, or old builds point at a URL you are retiring, you need to know who is behind. WebViewGold hands your web app the installed version; a few lines of code turn that into a gentle banner or a hard update screen.External links and URL handlingOn the web, a link to Stripe, Google login, WhatsApp or your help center just works. Inside an app every link needs a destination: the app itself, an in-app browser tab, Safari or Chrome, or another app such as Mail, Phone or WhatsApp. Get it wrong and users end up stranded on a third-party page with no back button, logged in in the wrong place, or paying in a browser while the app waits.Base44 at a glance
Stack
React front end generated by Base44 with Base44's own built-in database, authentication and integrations
Publishing and hosting
Click Publish in the Base44 editor. The app is hosted on a base44.app address and every later Publish updates the live version.
Authentication
Base44 built-in authentication (email and password, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Apple login)
Payments
Stripe integration
Builder badge
Made with Base44: Disable the Base44 branding in the app settings if your plan allows it, so no link to another platform sits inside your store app.
Example: from Base44 project to approved app
Say you built a client portal for a home cleaning business with Base44: customers see upcoming visits, approve quotes, pay invoices through Stripe and message the team. You publish it, connect portal.yourdomain.com and wrap it with WebViewGold, with a demo customer account that already has two visits and an open invoice for the reviewers. Because invoices pay for a real-world service, Stripe stays and Apple does not ask for In-App Purchase. Push notifications announce when the cleaner is on the way, and the native file upload lets customers send a photo of a problem spot straight from the camera. Both stores approve the app, and every Publish in Base44 updates it without a resubmission.
Your first week after launch
- Keep the demo account alive and unchanged: if a teammate deletes its records, the review of your next app update fails.
- Send a push the first time a real visit or order status changes, so customers learn that notifications are worth keeping on.
- Reply to the first store reviews in App Store Connect and the Play Console; for a service business, those replies are part of customer care.
- Ask happy clients for a rating with rateapp:// after they approve a quote or pay an invoice.
- Test your account deletion page once more and confirm it removes the user's Base44 records, because both stores can check it at any time.
Store-readiness prompt
Paste into Base44, review the changes, publish.
Prompt to paste into Base44
Prepare this app for publishing as a native iOS and Android app (it will run inside a native WebView wrapper): 1. Add a Privacy Policy page and a Terms page with placeholder text I can edit; link them from the footer and settings. 2. Add a "Delete my account" button in the user settings that removes the user's data and account after a confirmation dialog. 3. Make sure the whole app is responsive from 320px to tablet widths, without horizontal scrolling, and that buttons are at least 44px tall. 4. Remove any "Made with Base44" badge, external promotional links and "Download our app" banners. 5. Show a clear retry message when data fails to load instead of a blank screen. 6. Set the page title to the app name (max 30 characters) and add a meta description.
What you get with WebViewGold
A complete native app project, not a subscription. Everything below is included in the license and switched on with a setting.
- Native app project
- Push notifications
- Offline screen
- App icon & splash screen
- Share sheet & haptics
- Deep & universal links
- In-app purchases
- Free updates, white-label
Frequently asked questions
Does Base44 publish to the App Store or Google Play itself?
Since February 2026 it can: the Mobile app tab scans your app against the store guidelines and generates store files for a lightweight wrapper that shows your published app in a web view, which you upload with your own Apple and Google developer accounts (Builder plan or higher). Base44's documentation lists the limits: no Apple In-App Purchase or Google Play Billing, a bundle ID and package name that Base44 sets (com.base[app-id].app) and you cannot change, files signed by Base44, portrait only, no mobile ads and no full offline mode. For a login-first internal tool or a service app paid through Stripe that can be enough. WebViewGold is the better choice when you sell subscriptions or digital content, want AdMob, your own bundle ID and signing keys, an offline screen or native features such as biometric login, QR scanning and Universal Links.
Will the Base44 login work inside the app?
Email login works out of the box. For Google login enable WebViewGold's Social Login Helper, which opens the OAuth step in a browser window and returns to your app. If you also switch on Apple login in Base44 for Guideline 4.8, WebViewGold handles that flow automatically.
My Base44 app is behind a login. Is that a review problem?
No, as long as you provide a demo account in the App Review notes (App Store Connect) and in the Play Console app access section. Reviewers must be able to see the real content.
I already published with Base44's mobile option. Can I move the app to WebViewGold?
Usually yes, but plan it. Base44 sets the bundle ID and package name (com.base[app-id].app) and signs the files itself, so to update your existing listings with a WebViewGold build you keep that identifier and, on Google Play, request an upload key reset in the Play Console; otherwise the WebViewGold app becomes a new listing. If you are not live yet, decide before the first submission: with WebViewGold you choose an identifier under your own brand from day one and keep your signing keys. Your Base44 app stays as it is, since WebViewGold loads the same published URL.
Base44 can publish mobile apps itself now. Why would I use WebViewGold?
Base44's built-in option also wraps your published app in a web view, which is fine for many apps. According to Base44's documentation at the time of writing, it offers no In-App Purchase, no mobile ads, a fixed bundle ID and portrait-only layout, while WebViewGold gives you complete Xcode and Android Studio projects with your own bundle ID, RevenueCat IAP, AdMob, the Social Login Helper and many more native features. Check the current Base44 docs and pick what your app needs.
Can I keep Stripe for payments in my Base44 app?
For physical products and real-world services (bookings, invoices, deliveries), yes, on both platforms. For subscriptions, credits or unlockable digital content, Apple requires In-App Purchase and Google generally requires Play Billing, which WebViewGold connects through RevenueCat; the US storefronts now allow more external payment options, so check the current regional rules.
Three ways to get your app into the stores
Same result, different amount of work on your side. All three come with the approval guarantee and 24/7 human support.
Do it yourself
$109 per platform, one-time
The WebViewGold license: a finished Xcode or Android Studio project. Paste your URL, set name and icon, switch on features, build and submit. Free updates forever.
See plans on the main pageCloud Builder
$349 per license, one-time add-on
No Mac, no Xcode, no Android Studio: configure in the browser, we build both apps in the cloud and hand them to App Store Connect and the Play Console.
How the Cloud Builder works Try the free demoFull Service
$698 per platform $798
Send us your URL and icon. Our team configures, builds and delivers your app within 72 hours, white-label, with source projects. Both platforms for $1,158.
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