How to make a food delivery app for iOS
What a food delivery app needs
- A restaurant and menu browser with search
- A cart and checkout
- Real-world payment, Stripe, because food is a physical good
- Order status and, eventually, live courier tracking on a map
- Three roles: customer, restaurant, and courier
- A backend that handles orders in real time (Supabase)
The MVP slice is one restaurant or a small set, a menu, a cart, checkout, and order status without live courier tracking. Add couriers, dispatch, and live maps once the core ordering works.
Core screens and data
A food delivery app needs a restaurant browser, a menu screen, a cart, a checkout, an order tracking screen, and a courier view for delivery. Here is what each screen does and the data behind it.
| Screen | What it does | What it stores |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant list | Shows nearby restaurants with search and cuisine filters | Restaurants, hours, delivery zones |
| Menu | Lists dishes with prices, photos, and options | Menu items, modifiers, availability |
| Cart | Collects selected items and shows the running total | Cart contents, quantities, item prices |
| Checkout | Takes the delivery address and card payment | Orders, delivery address, Stripe payment reference |
| Order tracking | Updates status from received to ready to delivered | Order status, timestamps, restaurant reference |
| Courier view | Shows the assigned pickup and drop-off | Driver status, assigned orders, location |
| Account | Holds saved addresses and past orders | User profile, addresses, order history |
Starter prompt
Paste this description into AppFlight to generate the first build. It names the screens, the data, and where payment fits so the app comes back close to what you want.
Build a food delivery app for a single city with a small set of restaurants. Customers browse restaurants, search by cuisine, open a menu, add dishes with options to a cart, and see a running total. At checkout they enter a delivery address and pay by card through Stripe, since food and delivery are real-world goods. After ordering, customers watch the status move from received to preparing to out for delivery. Store restaurants, menus, carts, and orders in Supabase and push status changes so the tracking screen updates live. Add a simple courier view that shows a driver their assigned pickup and drop-off, and charge a delivery fee on each order through Stripe.
How to build it with AppFlight
Describe it, for example: "A food ordering app where a customer browses a menu, adds items to a cart, pays by card, and watches the order status update from received to ready." AppFlight plans the screens, generates native SwiftUI, and runs it in a live simulator. Use the Supabase connector for menus and orders, and the Stripe connector for payment. Add MapKit when you build courier tracking. You iterate by asking for changes in plain language.
Monetization for a food delivery app
Food and delivery are real-world goods and services, so customer payments run through Stripe, not in-app purchase. The business model is usually a delivery fee or a commission per order, taken through Stripe. A subscription for free delivery is a gray area: if it only discounts real-world orders it can run through Stripe, but confirm it against Apple current guidelines before relying on it.
Shipping it to the App Store
When it works in the simulator, AppFlight signs the build, uploads to TestFlight so you can test a real order and payment, then submits to the App Store with metadata and screenshots. If Apple rejects the build, AppFlight reads the reason, fixes it, and resubmits. Apple reviews every app, so a submission is not the same as an approval, but the pipeline runs without you opening Xcode.
FAQ
Does a food delivery app use Stripe or in-app purchase?
Stripe. Food and delivery are real-world goods and services, so Apple allows a payment processor instead of in-app purchase.
How hard is a food delivery app to build?
It is large because it has three sides: customers, restaurants, and couriers, plus real-time tracking. Start with one restaurant, a menu, a cart, and order status.
Do I need real-time order updates?
For a usable version, yes. AppFlight connects Supabase, which can push order status changes so customers see updates live.