Settings
FreeConnect accounts, manage storage, and adjust app-wide behavior.
What It Is
Settings is where you connect Kickstart to the services it can work with, manage local storage, and adjust app-wide preferences. Debug-only settings are not shown in normal builds, so this page covers the tabs you will see in the released app.
General
General contains everyday preferences and maintenance tools.
Notifications
Enable the daily sales report if you want a once-a-day summary of yesterday's App Store earnings. This needs App Store Connect credentials and a vendor number, because the data comes from your own sales reports.
TestFlight
Hide tester email addresses when you want feedback screens and exports to avoid showing personal email addresses while you review beta feedback.
Caches
Clear cached App Store Connect, Apple Ads, competitor, exchange-rate, and screenshot data when you want Kickstart to fetch fresh copies. You can also delete downloaded narration models; bundled voice previews stay inside the app.
Support
Start temporary diagnostic logging when support asks for more detail about a problem. Logs are private files on your Mac, run for ten minutes, and are only shared if you choose to send them.
What's New
Kickstart shows a What's New window after app updates so you can see what changed. You can reopen the same release notes from Help > What's New.
MCP
Advanced users can copy the bundled MCP helper configuration so AI assistants can work with Kickstart projects through the local helper.
Kickstart Pro
Kickstart Pro shows whether your subscription is active and which plan is currently recognized by the app. Upgrade and subscription-management entry points appear from locked Pro features and Apple's subscription UI.
App Store
The App Store tab stores App Store Connect API credentials, your vendor number for sales reports, and Apple Ads API credentials.
App Store Connect API
To connect Kickstart to App Store Connect, Apple gives you three pieces of information. Kickstart walks through them step-by-step so each value is added in the right place.
- P8 key file: This is the private key file Apple lets you download when you create an API key. Kickstart uses it to sign secure requests to Apple's API.
- Key ID: This is the short identifier for that specific key. It tells Apple which API key Kickstart is using.
- Issuer ID: This identifies your App Store Connect account or team. It tells Apple which account the key belongs to.
Why Kickstart Recommends an Admin Key
An Admin key can sound like a big permission, but Kickstart recommends it because the app covers a broad range of App Store Connect work. That role lets you use Kickstart to fetch and change information about your apps, access TestFlight feedback, download sales figures, read and respond to user reviews, create custom product pages, and more.
The key is not requested because Kickstart wants broad access for its own sake. It is requested because Apple splits everyday launch and growth work across many App Store Connect permissions, and a narrower key can make some screens appear broken even when your credentials are technically valid.
Your credentials are stored in Kickstart's encrypted credentials vault on your Mac and can sync through your iCloud account. They are used by Kickstart to talk directly to Apple's APIs; they are not sent to Kickstart's website or to us. If you ever feel unsure, you can revoke the key in App Store Connect and create a new one.
You can try a lower-permission key if your workflow is limited. Some features may not be able to read or write the data they need, and those requests may fail until the key has enough access.
Vendor Number
Add your vendor number if you want Kickstart to retrieve sales and financial reports. This powers sales summaries, revenue analysis, and daily sales notifications.
Apple Ads
Add Apple Ads credentials when you want Kickstart to inspect campaign performance and connect ad activity to App Store work such as custom product pages, localization, and revenue.
GitHub
The GitHub tab stores a Personal Access Token for publishing websites to GitHub Pages. Kickstart uses the token only for website publishing tasks, stores it securely, and lets you clear it when you no longer want GitHub publishing connected.
Practical Tips
- Set up App Store Connect first if you want reviews, TestFlight, analytics, sales, localizations, or App Store editing to work.
- Add the vendor number after the API key if revenue and daily sales reports matter to you.
- Only add Apple Ads and GitHub credentials when you use those parts of Kickstart.
- Clear caches when data looks stale, especially after making changes directly in App Store Connect.
- Use support logging only while reproducing a problem, then reveal the log and choose whether to share it.