Microsoft shut down Visual Studio App Center on March 31, 2025. Lycan is the drop-in replacement — with active development, automated code signing, self-hosted runners, and AI features App Center never had.
App Center has been retired
Microsoft officially retired Visual Studio App Center on March 31, 2025 — including build, distribute, CodePush, and diagnostics services. If your pipelines still depend on App Center, they are no longer running. Lycan offers a complete migration path with feature parity and active long-term development.
| Feature | App Center | Lycan |
|---|---|---|
| iOS builds | ||
| Android builds | ||
| Code signing | Manual | Automated |
| App Store publishing | ||
| Self-hosted runners | ||
| Workflow YAML | Limited | Full YAML |
| Free tier | ||
| Active development | ||
| CodePush / OTA updates | ||
| Support | ||
| AI code review on PRs | ||
| Autonomous fix pull requests | ||
| Build error genome matching | ||
| Dependency CVE scanning | ||
| AI deployment gate | ||
| Personalized build notifications | ||
| Pre-build failure prediction |
App Center was officially retired by Microsoft in March 2025 — build pipelines, CodePush, diagnostics, everything. Lycan is under active development with a public roadmap, regular releases, and a dedicated team committed to long-term support. You are not adopting a product on life support; you are moving to a platform with momentum.
App Center's code signing was manual and brittle. Lycan automates the entire signing pipeline: iOS certificate provisioning and renewal via App Store Connect, Android keystore management with AES-256-GCM encrypted storage, and signing activity audit logs. Your credentials are injected at build time and never exposed in logs.
App Center ran exclusively on Microsoft's shared infrastructure. Lycan lets you connect your own Mac or Linux machines as dedicated build runners — ideal for teams with proprietary SDKs, internal network dependencies, or compliance requirements that prevent sending code to third-party servers. You own the hardware; Lycan handles the orchestration.
App Center never invested in intelligence — it was a basic build-and-distribute service. Lycan ships with AI code review on every PR, autonomous fix pull requests when builds fail, pre-build risk prediction, build genome matching for instant error diagnosis, and an AI deployment gate that uses confidence scoring to decide whether a release should proceed. These features are built into the CI/CD engine, not bolted on.
Lycan's migration guide walks you through importing your App Center build configuration, signing identities, and distribution groups. Most teams are running their first Lycan build within half an hour.
Sign up for free
Create your Lycan account — no credit card required.
Import your config
Use the App Center migration guide to convert your build settings.
Trigger your first build
Push a commit or click "Build now" — your pipeline runs immediately.
Start a free trial and run your first build in minutes — no credit card required.
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