I'm currently working on a small app to demonstrate the usefulness of iOS 14's new App Clips. Since this is a proof of concept to demonstrate the power of App Clips, rather than an app meant for production, I do not have an app available on the Store.
Is it possible to configure an App Clip launch experience without having an App available on the App Store? The documentation I could find appears to require the creation of an App Clip on Apple Connect.
Without an app in the app store you can create an app clip that can be used in a very limited way. If a proof of concept is what you're after, maybe the app clip testing methods will do. Generally there are 3 options:
Run the app clip project in Xcode. add the environment parameter
_XCAppClipURLto simulate the invocation link.Use the local experience. Create a local experience on the iPhone you'd like to simulate the app clip on. Then invoke the app clip using a QR scanner or whatever other method you'd like to use. You'll need to configure this for each device you want to use the app clip on.
Use TestFlight. For this you'll need to upload some app and the app clip to app store connect (The build is for an app and app clip together). You don't have to submit them to the store, uploading the build to app store connect is enough to get them on TestFlight (at least for closed testing).
more information can be found in Apple's documentation