Xcode 26 – Organizer does not show “App Store Connect” for watchOS standalone app (only Release Testing available)

By "watchOS standalone app," did you mean watch-only app, with the terminology defined in TN3157?

For a watch-only app, it does seem that Xcode 26.x doesn't provide the "App Store Connect" option in the app archiving process, which, to me, is likely a bug. Do you have a feedback report yet? If not, would you mind to file one with screenshots that show the steps you use to create and archive a project, and then share your report ID here? Thanks.

Best,
——
Ziqiao Chen
 Worldwide Developer Relations.

has there been any update to this? This is still happening on latest xcode

Same issue.

FB22730778

Same issue here with the standalone watchOS app not having the App Store Connect option

Same issue here on Xcode 26.5 (17F42), standalone watchOS app, no iOS companion. Organizer only offers Release Testing / Enterprise / Debugging. xcodebuild export with method app-store-connect is rejected as not eligible for the archive. Filed as FB23341311 with full logs.

Despite submitting a Feedback report, participating in this thread, and opening a dedicated code support request, we are still facing this issue several months later. The only response we have received so far is that "it's probably a bug." As paying developers, we rely on these tools to distribute our applications to our users, and it is incredibly frustrating that this core functionality remains unavailable. We need a reliable solution or a clear timeline for when this will be resolved.

Fix that worked for me (my situation may differ than yours, ymmv): a bare watchOS archive can never show the App Store Connect option. Xcode literally has no watchOS App Store distribution method (you can watch it enumerate iOS/tvOS/macOS/visionOS only in the IDEDistribution.verbose.log). Watch-only apps have to be archived inside a stub iOS container app, like the one Xcode's "Watch-only App" template makes. My watch target started life inside an iOS project, so I didn't have one.

**What to do: **

1. Add a new target with product type com.apple.product-type.application.watchapp2-container (easiest to copy from a pbxproj created with the Watch-only App template, it needs zero source files).
2. Give it SDKROOT = iphoneos, a bundle ID that's the prefix of your watch app's (com.example.MyApp wrapping com.example.MyApp.watchkitapp), the same version/build numbers, and an "Embed Watch Content" copy phase (dstPath = $(CONTENTS_FOLDER_PATH)/Watch) plus a dependency on the watch target.
3. On the watch app: SKIP_INSTALL = YES, WKWatchOnly = YES in Info.plist, and no WKCompanionAppBundleIdentifier.
4. Add the container to your scheme's Archive action and archive for Any watchOS Device.
5. In App Store Connect the app record is iOS platform with the container's bundle ID. There's no watchOS option, and that's normal.

The archive then shows up as an iOS archive, the App Store Connect tile appears, and my upload + submission went through today. Hope that saves someone a night of head-scratching!

I had the same problem with ASC not showing up and this worked for me:

Step 1 - create a working dummy app: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/watchos-apps/creating-independent-watchos-apps

If you follow the instructions here you can create a project from the Xcode template that will be able to upload an archive to App Store Connect.

Step 2 - diff with your actual app: I then pointed my coding-agent at the working dummy app and asked it to compare the differences with my existing project's setup

Step 3 - convert watch-only to companion embedded in the iOS app:

3.1. Watch target - make it a companion again:

• Bundle ID: com.xyz.AppName.watchkitapp (i.e. <iOS-app-id>.watchkitapp)
• Add Info key WKCompanionAppBundleIdentifier = (the iOS app's ID)
• Remove WKWatchOnly
• SKIP_INSTALL = YES (it ships inside the host, not on its own)
• Add ITSAppUsesNonExemptEncryption = false (standard TLS only; stops TestFlight from stalling on the encryption question)

3.2. iOS host target:

• Add a target dependency on the watch app.
• Add a Copy Files build phase named "Embed Watch Content", destination = Wrapper, subpath = Watch, containing the watch .app.
• This step was easiest when copying the settings from the dummy-app from step-1

3.3. Multiplatform (important if your iOS target is SDKROOT = auto, i.e. builds iOS and macOS from one target):

• A watchOS app can only embed in an iOS product. Put a platform filter of "ios" on both the embed phase's file AND the target dependency, or your macOS build will try to embed a watchOS binary and break.

3.4. Archive the iOS scheme:

• Scheme = the iOS host app, destination = Any iOS Device (arm64), then Product > Archive.
• Archive type is now "iOS App Archive", and Distribute App > App Store Connect appears. The watch app uploads inside it - no separate App Store Connect record needed.

TL;DR: Don't archive the watch app directly. Make it a companion (.watchkitapp ID + WKCompanionAppBundleIdentifier, SKIP_INSTALL = YES, drop WKWatchOnly), embed it in the iOS app via an "Embed Watch Content" copy phase