nucleic/docs/APP_REVIEW_NOTES.md

App Store / TestFlight Review Notes

Nucleic (iOS) is a remote control for the Nucleic coding agent that runs on the user's Mac. In normal use the phone pairs to a Mac over the local network by scanning a QR code, then mirrors and drives the Mac's coding sessions. A reviewer has no such Mac, so the app ships a built-in, fully interactive demo mode that requires no Mac, no account, and no network host.

Paste the block below into App Store Connect ▸ your app ▸ (version) ▸ App Review Information ▸ Notes for every submission (beta and store). No demo account/credentials are needed — the app has no accounts.

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Paste-ready reviewer notes

No Mac or sign-in is required to review this app.

On the first screen, tap "Explore a demo — no Mac needed". This enters a demo populated with sample projects, chats, and to-dos, backed by a simulated agent so you can exercise every feature offline:

• Home — dashboard, activity, usage gauges, and provider status.
• Sessions — open a chat to see the live transcript. Type a message and send it; a simulated assistant replies with streamed text, a tool call, and a result.
• Approvals — open the chat marked "Awaiting approval" and tap Allow or Deny; the run advances accordingly.
• Start a chat — from Home, pick a project, type a task, and send; a new running session appears and completes.
• To-dos — capture, complete, dispatch, and delete items.
• Projects / Settings — browse projects and appearance/privacy settings.

To leave the demo, go to Settings ▸ Leave demo.

Normal (non-demo) use pairs the app to a Mac running the Nucleic desktop app by scanning a QR code over the local network; all traffic is end-to-end encrypted and peer-to-peer, with no account system.

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Notes for maintainers

• Demo mode is a normal, always-available feature (not a hidden reviewer-only path), per Apple's guidance against behavior that differs for reviewers. It doubles as onboarding.
• Implementation: RemoteStore.enterDemo() / exitDemo() toggle a persisted nucleic.demoMode flag; the seeded fixtures and the local agent simulator live in ios/NucleicRemote/NucleicRemote/Models/RemoteStore.swift (see the "Demo simulator" section). The dev/screenshot path via the NUCLEIC_DEMO=1 environment variable still works and forces demo on at launch.
• A "DEMO" banner (DemoBanner in Views/BuildBanner.swift) is shown while in demo mode so sample data is never mistaken for a live Mac connection.
• Relevant to Guideline 2.1 (App Completeness): this is what makes all features exercisable without a paired host.