With 1,8 million apps, the App Store is a lucrative place for entrepreneurs to reach millions of users around the world. But once you've developed an app, that doesn't necessarily mean it'll be approved by Apple's app review section in the first round. Bugs, broken links and incorrect screenshots are among the reasons why 40% of applications are rejected.
To avoid this and ensure a smooth app publishing experience, we offer the following 8 steps.
Verify that the app complies with App Store guidelines.
The App Store guidelines contain a set of rules that all submitters should be aware of, as the slightest mistake can cause your app to be rejected at launch. To avoid this, you must strictly adhere to the following 5 categories:
- protection
- the performance
- deals
- design
- legal mentions
Join the Apple Developer Program
To apply, you must create an Apple Developer Program account, which costs $99 per year. This gives you access to the following features:
- Ability to submit an application to the App Store for iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS platforms.
- Connecting your app to iCloud, Siri, Apple Pay, and other popular third-party integrations.
- Access to app analytics to track marketing campaigns, user engagement, and more.
- Inviting users and testing the application with TestFlight.
Prepare your app for delivery
You should perform beta testing through TestFlight to verify app compatibility across iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS platforms. Three tips for successfully completing this step are:
- Collect valuable feedback from potential users before launching the app on the App Store. You can do this by offering public access to a larger audience or by sending invitations to smaller groups of people with an email address.
- Find out which versions of the app have bugs and why.
- Finding new beta versions of the app is easy because TestFlight automatically notifies you of updates to your email address.
Create an App Store listing through App Store Connect.
You can list your App Store by logging into App Store Connect, clicking the "My Apps" icon and selecting the "+" option. If you're adding a new feature to your app and the app looks a lot like yours, but doesn't have a "+", you'll need to select "Existing app".
Once you have filled in the important details of your app (e.g. platform, title, subtitle or description, primary language, etc.), start filling in the information fields of the request. This is where you need to take the next step.
- Enter the category (where your app should be placed in the App Store).
- Include a link to your app's privacy policy.
- Enter your Apple ID (which you can create from this link).
Then be sure to fill in your app's price information and select your preferred publishing options, such as manual, automatic, or date-based publishing. If a payment system is integrated with your application, it may take an additional 2-4 days for publishers to review your application.
Upload your app with XCode
You can submit your app to the App Store through the XCode platform and verify that your Bundle ID matches the Bundle ID in your AppleID. You will then need to disable auto-signing in XCode.
Configure the app for publishing
Before submitting your app to App Store, you need to prepare information about icons, metadata, app preview or screenshots.
The app preview can be a short video or a screenshot (up to 3-5 images).
In addition to the app preview and screenshots, your app should also feature:
- A detailed description of the request (4000 characters maximum).
- Metadata containing information such as application name (up to 30 characters), version number, category (business, sports, etc.), keywords (up to 100 characters), contact information and content permissions.
For more information on what to include, see the App Store Connect guide.
Submit your app to the App Store for review.
To submit your app for evaluation via iTunes Connect, select the “App Store” section, then “iOS App”, and click on “Build”.
After following these steps, click the “Add Build” icon and then the “Submit for Review” button to submit your app for review.
Launch your app
When your app is ready to be published, the App Store sends you a confirmation email.
You can publish your app manually or automatically. In the first case, you click on the "Ready for sale" button, and within 1-2 hours your application will be published on the App Store. If you choose the automatic option, the App Store will send you an email indicating the status of your application.
Want to develop your own iOS application? Contact us!
