How to Create a School or Classroom App (2026)
Create a school or classroom app for iPhone and iPad: classes, assignments, schedules, quizzes and parent updates, with Apple's rules for kids' data.
By Sigsten Gustavii· · 8 min read
To create a school or classroom app, decide who uses it (teachers, students, parents or all three), design one shared space per class with a schedule, assignments and updates, keep each person's data to the right audience, check Apple's rules for children's data, and publish the app under the school's own Apple Developer account.
| Who | What they do in the app | What they must not see |
|---|---|---|
| Teachers | Post assignments and materials, run quizzes, see submissions and progress | Other teachers' private notes |
| Students | See the schedule, open materials, hand in work, take quizzes | Other students' grades and submissions |
| Parents | Follow updates and deadlines for their child's classes | Other families' details |
School software is crowded with big platforms that do everything for a whole district. A small, focused app still has a place: one teacher's course, a language school, a tutoring centre, a music school, a coding club. These are the apps an AI builder makes well, because they are a few clear screens with careful privacy rules.
What a classroom app needs
| Part | What it does | In a Borel app |
|---|---|---|
| Classes | A space per class that students join | Groups with invite codes and teacher and student roles |
| Schedule | Lessons, rooms, exam dates | A timetable with Add to Calendar |
| Assignments | Task, due date, hand-in | Assignments per class, submissions only the student and teacher read |
| Materials | Notes, links, pictures | Posts and files per class |
| Quizzes | Short checks with scores | Quizzes with results kept per student |
| Updates | News for the class and families | A news list per class |
| Progress | Scores over a term | Charts per student, visible to them and the teacher |
Everything lives in Borel Cloud, the database, sign-in and storage Borel runs. Each table has an access rule enforced by the database: class materials for the class's members, a submission for its student and the teacher, a grade for the student only.
Children's data and Apple's rules
This is the part to get right before anything else. Apple's Guideline 5.1.4 says to take care with personal data from kids and to comply with laws like COPPA in the US and GDPR in the EU. Apps designed for children may join the Kids Category under Guideline 1.3, which brings its own strict limits on data and third-party services. Your school or country will have its own data protection rules too.
| Audience | What it means | Practical advice |
|---|---|---|
| Teachers only | Adults; the simplest case | Plans, materials, attendance, marking |
| Older students and adults | Students old enough to have their own accounts under local law | Accounts with email, careful sharing rules |
| Parents | Adults following their child's class | Updates and deadlines, no student data beyond their own child |
| Young children | Kids Category and child privacy laws apply | Get advice before building; avoid accounts and AI features for young pupils |
Many schools find the easiest route is an app for teachers, older students and parents, rather than for young children directly.
Quizzes and AI, carefully
Borel AI can write quiz questions from a teacher's notes, explain a wrong answer in simple words, or turn a chapter into flashcards. Under Apple's Guideline 5.1.2(i), an app must ask before personal data goes to a third-party AI, and Borel's AI kit asks for that consent itself. For a school, keep AI on the teacher's side (drafting questions from notes) rather than sending pupils' work to an AI, unless your school's rules allow it. For self-study, older students can turn the same notes into flashcards of their own.
Schedules, reminders and offline use
Native features make a school app useful every day. Lessons and exams go into the iPhone's Calendar with one tap. A reminder the evening before a deadline is scheduled on the phone, so it works even with the app closed. Materials can be kept on the device for a train without signal; see offline data. A student can photograph a worksheet with the camera or scan it as a clean page to hand it in.
Borel apps don't send push notifications, so class news appears when the app is opened. Keep your usual channel for urgent messages like closures.
Teacher tools that save time
Teachers adopt an app when it gives them time back. Small features matter most:
- Attendance in one screen: the class list with a tap per student, saved with the date.
- Marking queue: unmarked submissions oldest on top, with a mark and a short comment on each.
- Reuse last year's class: copy a course's materials and assignments into a new class with a fresh invite code.
- Quick posts: a photo of the whiteboard posted to the class in two taps.
- [Charts](/native-ios-features/charts) of quiz scores per student and per question, so a topic the whole class missed stands out.
Distribution: public or unlisted
A classroom app doesn't have to be found by the whole world. Apple offers unlisted app distribution: the app goes through the normal review but is only reachable by its direct link, which suits a single school or club. You request it from Apple for your app. Borel builds and uploads the app the same way in either case.
App Store rules for school apps
| Guideline | What Apple asks | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 5.1.4 Kids | Care with children's data; follow COPPA, GDPR and local law | Decide the audience before you build |
| 1.3 Kids Category | Strict rules for apps designed for children | Only join it if the app is truly for kids |
| 5.1.2(i) Third-party AI | Consent before personal data goes to an AI | Borel asks; keep AI on the teacher's side |
| 1.2 User-generated content | Filter, report, block if people post | Borel's moderation kit on class posts |
| 5.1.1(v) Accounts | Account deletion in the app | Built into every Borel app with accounts |
Read Apple's full App Review Guidelines before you publish an app aimed at students.
What a school app costs
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Borel Free | $0, with 5 credits a day | Build and try it in your browser |
| Borel Pro | From $20 a month | Install on devices and publish |
| Apple Developer Program | $99 a year | Apple waives it for some eligible educational institutions |
| Running the app | Pay as you go | Classes, files and any AI, from a balance you top up |
See Apple's fee waiver page for who qualifies, and Borel's pricing.
How to choose the right way to build a school app
- Borel, for a focused native iPhone and iPad app for one course, school or club, with careful sharing rules built in.
- A learning management system, if a whole district needs gradebooks, integrations and support.
- [CatDoes](/compare/catdoes), if many students use Android phones; it builds React Native apps for both stores.
- A shared drive and a calendar, if the class only needs files and dates.
How to do it with Borel, step by step
Step 1: Describe the classes and roles
Make a classroom app for our language school, for adult and upper-secondary students. Teachers create a class and share an invite code; students join with it. Each class has a timetable (with Add to Calendar), materials, assignments with due dates, and short quizzes. Students hand in an assignment as text or a photo of their work; only the student and the teacher see a submission and its mark. Remind students the evening before a deadline. Teachers see a chart of each student's quiz scores over the term. Class posts can be reported. Settings shows our school email and Delete account.Borel's planner, Penny, asks about anything unclear, then Rivet writes the app in Swift with SwiftUI. It runs on iPhone and iPad, and Xcode builds it on Borel's Mac.
Step 2: Test the privacy with three accounts
In the iOS Simulator in your browser, make a teacher and two students. Hand in work as one student and check the other can't see it, then mark it as the teacher.
Step 3: Try it in a real class
With Pro, install it on your devices with Borel Companion, then run one class with it for a few weeks through TestFlight.
Step 4: Publish
Stamp checks the common reasons for rejection, and Publish uploads it under your school's Apple Developer account. Ask Apple for unlisted distribution if it is only for your school.
The Bottom Line
A good classroom app is a few clear screens with careful rules about who sees what. Borel builds classes with invite codes, schedules, assignments, quizzes and progress natively for iPhone and iPad, with each submission and grade kept to the right people. Decide your audience with Apple's rules for children in mind, then describe your class to Borel and try it on a live iPhone.
Questions people ask
Can a teacher make a classroom app without coding?
Yes. Describe the classes, roles and screens to Borel and it builds a native app with the database and sharing rules. Changes are plain messages.
Is it legal to collect students' data in an app?
It depends on their age and your country. Apple's Guideline 5.1.4 points to laws like COPPA and GDPR. Follow your school's data protection rules and get advice before building for young children.
Can students hand in homework in the app?
Yes, as text or a photo or scan of their work. Each submission is readable only by the student and the teacher.
Can AI write quiz questions?
Yes. Borel AI can draft questions from a teacher's notes, after asking for consent as Apple requires. Keep pupils' personal data out of AI requests unless your school allows it.
Can I keep the app private to my school?
Yes. Apple's unlisted distribution makes an approved app reachable only by its link. You request it from Apple.
Does a school have to pay Apple's developer fee?
Apple waives the Developer Program fee for some eligible educational institutions and nonprofits. Check Apple's fee waiver page.
Can parents follow their child's classes?
Yes, if you ask for a parent role: parents join a class with their own code and see its news and deadlines, but not other students' work or marks.
Does the app work on iPad?
Yes. Borel apps are made for iPhone and run on iPad too.
Can the app notify students about deadlines?
Yes, with reminders scheduled on the phone before each deadline. Borel apps don't send push notifications, so news from teachers shows when the app is opened.
I think a good classroom app is a few clear screens with careful rules about who sees what. Start with one class and grow from there.
– Sigsten
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