How do I transfer ownership of an Apple Developer account?

If you’ve incorporated your business, then Apple will require you to register as a Corporation to have your app published on the App Store. If you submit your app under an Individual account in your name, it will be rejected.

Table of Contents Show

Convert your registration
About the Author
José Adorno
How do I transfer account holder role in Apple Developer?
How do I change my Apple Developer email?
Can a company have two Apple Developer accounts?
How do I change my Apple Developer name?

You must enroll as an organization if your company is a registered company such as Corporation (Corp., Inc.), Limited Liability Company (LLC, LC, Ltd. Co.), or a legal entity (GmbH, AG, KG, oHg, etc.).

If you are a sole proprietorship you must register as an Individual. Apple does not accept DBAs, fictitious businesses, trade names, or branches for enrollment as a company/organization

Benefits of an Organization account:

You can invite developers to access your account
You can choose the name that will be displayed on the stores as the Developer of the app – this will match your company name e.g. Business Inc.
Apple will know you’re authorized to act for the company and will not challenge your use of your own brand name and content

Convert your registration

To change your account to a Corporate account, submit a request to Apple Developer Program Support.

Navigate to the Contact Us form on Apple Developer’s Program pages.
Log in with the Apple ID and Password
Select your Region.
Choose Account Updates and Renewals as your Subject.
Enter a message with text along these lines
“I’d like to convert my account from Individual to Organization. This will be our only Organization account.
Here are the information regarding the company:
- CEO/Director Name: First and Last Name.
- Company Name: Your Company Name, including Ltd or Inc.
- Account Type: Organization.
- D-U-N-S Number: your Company’s DUNS number.
- Address: Your Company’s Legal Address.
- Phone Number: Your mobile phone or another phone number where you can be reached

Apple will call to verify your enrollment. They’ll then send you an email with a link to a form for you to fill out more info about your Company.

Organizations enrolling in the Apple Developer Program will need:

Legal Entity Status
Your business must be recognized as a legal entity (e.g., a corporation, limited partnership, limited liability company) to enter into the legal terms and obligations of Apple Developer Program. The legal entity name will appear as the developers for apps you distribute on the App Store. Example: Seller: ABC Company, Inc.
A D-U-N-S Number
You must have a D-U-N-S Number so that Apple can verify your organization’s identity and legal entity status. Learn more about what is a DUNS number and how you can get one for your company.
Legal Binding Authority
You must have the legal authority to bind your organization to legal agreements. You must be the organization’s owner/founder, executive team member, senior project lead, or have legal authority granted to you by a senior employee.
A WebsiteYour Company needs a public website and your domain name should be owned by the company.

Apple has made an important update on the Apple Developer Program. Starting today, the company lets apps that use iCloud to be transferred to another developer. Here’s how it works.

According to Apple, you already could transfer an app when you’ve sold it to another developer or you would want to move it to another App Store Connect account or organization. You can also transfer the ownership of an app to another developer without removing it from the App Store.

The company said:

The app retains its reviews and ratings during and after the transfer, and users continue to have access to future updates. Additionally, when an app is transferred, it maintains its Bundle ID — it’s not possible to update the Bundle ID after a build has been uploaded for the app.

The news here is that it’s easier for developers to transfer the ownership of apps that use iCloud. Apple said that if your app uses any of the following, it will be transferred to the transfer recipient after they accept the app transfer:

iCloud to store user data;
iCloud containers;
KVS identifiers are associated with the app.

The company said:

If multiple apps on your account share a CloudKit container, the transfer of one app will disable the other apps’ ability to read or store data using the transferred CloudKit container. Additionally, the transferor will no longer have access to user data for the transferred app via the iCloud dashboard. Any app updates will disable the app’s ability to read or store data using the transferred CloudKit container.

If your app uses iCloud Key-Value Storage (KVS), the full KVS value will be embedded in any new provisioning profiles you create for the transferred app. Update your entitlements plist with the full KVS value in your provisioning profile.

Apple published this information from the Apple Developer page, and you can learn more about it here.

It’s important to note that early this year, Apple started letting developers from the Small Business Program transfer their apps. A few months later, now the company is expanding this feature for those apps that use iCloud.

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About the Author

José Adorno

@joseadorno

Brazilian tech Journalist. Author at 9to5Mac. Previously at tv globo, the main TV broadcaster in Latin America.

Got tips, feedback, or questions?

How do I transfer account holder role in Apple Developer?

Transfer Apple Account Holder to Another User.

In your developer account, click Membership..

Scroll down to Settings, and click Change Account Holder..

In the dialog that appears, choose a new Account Holder, then click Continue. ... .

Read the Account Holder Transferor Agreement, select the checkbox, then click I Agree..

How do I change my Apple Developer email?

To update the Apple ID and/or email address associated with your developer account, sign in to the Apple ID website and modify your information. To update your address, contact information, or organization name, please contact us.

Can a company have two Apple Developer accounts?

You can have multiple Apple IDs and multiple developer accounts if you work for multiple organizations. Or you can use one Apple ID for everything, or one for your personal apps and one for your professional apps.

How do I change my Apple Developer name?

The easiest way to change your developer name is to contact Apple Developer support. If there is a typo or inaccuracy in your developer name they should be willing to change it. We suggest to contact Apple support who should respond within 24 hours.