I have been looking around for an answer for a specific question but just got hints for it here and there. I want to know when i submit an app for review for the AppStore:
First, how long does the review process usually take? I know that it may vary but just want to have rough estimate if possible
Second, when an app is accepted does it go automatically to the app store or the developer has the control over when to release it there?
Cheers
AF
check out details, which is my recent app on appstore,
It take 1 week for approval , As I remember, it was taken 3 days too once.
Time taken to publish is all in their hand.
App will be publish directly to appstore.
But you can remember the option for publish by you or apple :) at the time of submitting app
From my experience review takes about 2 weeks recently, but it varied from 2 days to about a month in the past.
When you submit an application you have an option - whether to make application available on appstore immediately after it was approved by Apple, or hold it before developer does that manually, so if you did not select that option then Application should be published on Appstore by default. (See pages 75-76 in iTunesConnect Guide (warning - large pdf file here))
Related
I'm getting ready to submit an App that relies on the user being at specific locations to watch a video. (Kind of a mashup of geocaching and youtube.) Needless to say none of these videos are anyway near Apples headquarters. So how will the App store review people be able to properly review the App? Do I have to provide test data in their vicinity or can I instruct them to fake their geolocation to a location that works?
I guess the best way is to just submit it once, wait ~7 days and see what they have to say,
but since they have special toolchains to test apps, it shouldn't be a problem.
Just make sure to mention it in the review notes.
I've submitted an update to an app once that requires an user and password to login, and gave them a test user. When I checked the server logs, they never logged in once - but the app was still approved.
The iOS Simulator can 'fake' its location :) Though I doubt what they DO review in their process, because once they accepted one of my Apps' update which crashed upon launch...
Recently had to deal with this myself... submitted a location specific app without any extra review notes, and the app got rejected. In the rejection notice I was given the instruction to create a video of the app in action and then provide a link in the review notes.
So I used another iPhone to take the video, put some basic explanation text in the video using iMovie, uploaded to YouTube, put the link in the reviewers notes, re-submitted the app and then 5 or so days later it was approved.
As I understand, they review team does NOT test the usability nor stability of your app during app reviewing. All you need to do, is to provide an testing account, and some sample data, screenshots to them helping understand how your app works. If the app does not show any data because of a reasonable circumstance, it's not the problem of your app quality nor user usage, but data coverage. So you won't have problem with it.
Apple in iTunes Connect Developer Guide says:
App Name Expiry
Once you have created your app, and it is in the state Prepare For Upload or Waiting For Upload, you will have 180 days (6 months) from your creation date in iTunes Connect, to deliver a binary to Apple. If you do not deliver a binary before the 180-day deadline, your app will be deleted from iTunes Connect. As a result of this deletion, your app name will be able to be used by another developer and you cannot reuse the app name, SKU or Bundle ID. See the Deleting an App section of this guide to learn more about the ramifications of App Delete.
What's the meaning of "deliver a binary"? The app should be uploaded and approved in 180 days or just uploaded for review?
Is it possible to upload a preliminary binary and set the release date in the future (Availability Date setting within Rights and Pricing), so that before that date I can upload the final binary of my app?
I worked around this by preparing a version of my app that was good enough to be approved by Apple, even though it wasn't where I wanted it to be yet for the first release. I submitted it just before the 180 day deadline but set a future release date on the Rights and Pricing tab in iTunes Connect. Apple approved the binary and I continued working on the app with no further warnings about the name expiration. I was even able to move the release date further into the future to give myself more time.
I don't know what would have happened if my submission had been rejected by Apple or if I had rejected it myself. That might have been okay, but I preferred to play it safe and submit something that met all the review guidelines.
Now I'm still not ready for a public release, but ready for beta testing. I submitted my latest version for review and Apple approved that, too. At this point, even though the app still isn't publicly available, I can generate promo codes and give them to beta testers and they can download the app from the App Store using the promo codes. In my case this is better than using up more of the 100 devices available in my developer account. The trade-off is that each beta version I want to share has to go through the Apple review process.
Anyway, setting your release date in the future does let you meet the 180-day upload deadline without releasing something before you're ready. When you're ready to release, you can submit your final version, make sure it gets approved, then move the release date to the desired date.
Well most of us (fellow developers!!) will be happy to know that the grace period of 120 days has now been increased to 180 days which is roughly 6 months.
The following quote has been taken from iTunes Connect Guide
App Name Expiry
After creating your app and it is in the state Prepare For Upload or Waiting For Upload, you have 180 days (6 months) from your creation date in iTunes Connect to deliver a binary to Apple. If you do not deliver a binary before the 180-day deadline, your app is deleted from iTunes Connect. As a result of this deletion, your app name can be used by another developer and you cannot reuse the app name, SKU or bundle ID. See “Deleting an App” (page 90) to learn more about the ramifications of App Delete.`
Well, MisterX claims that once you upload a real binary, you can then reject it and never hear from Apple again. My company has had issues that prevent me from uploading their app (which I did) and I need to buy some time. The app uses their registered TM name so if I lose it I'm in big trouble!!!
Lets home MisterX was telling the truth!
EDIT: well, in fact, I did do an upload of the app once (you have to get all your permissions in order, certificates, etc and the binary has to pass the internal tests on using only legit frameworks etc). I immediately cancelled the binary, and I was able to keep my app name past until we were able to post it over 180 days after getting the name). This was as of May 2012 so YMMV.
iTunes App Name reservations no longer expire.
http://blog.salsitasoft.com/apples-new-app-name-reservation-policy/
I lost one of my app before and I can't take its name again. But now I have too many apps that are waiting in iTunes Connect about 1 year.
Deliver a binary - this is the zipped and compiled version of your app. This needs to be submitted for approval to apple.
Yes it is, but if you mess apple about then I don't know if they'll like it too much.
Basically the rules and what you're experiencing are there in order to stop people doing what you're doing, which is basically name squatting. Make the app, submit to itunes connect, upload the binary, get into the apple store. Don't just sit on names without an app, its not fair on the real developers trying to get real apps out there.
As guide says:
If you do not deliver a binary before
the 120-day deadline, your app will be
deleted from iTunes Connect
You must upload your binary for the application (ipa file) in maximum 120 days since you added in iTunes.
This binary will be the subject for approval. You cannot send one binary as a test one, and later the final binary. It will be rejected.
1) It should be just uploaded for review. Normally review takes about 7-10 days.
2) Yes it is possible to control the release date of the app. You can select it when you login to itunes connect and create a new app. One of the fields there asks for release date.
Also if you app is approved(Test binary in your case) you can also upload a newer version for the approved app (which can be your final binary) However the approval lies wholly on the review team at Apple.
I don't know this precisely, but by my experience and context, I think it means just uploading.
If you want to upload another binary, you should reject binary yourself and re-upload new binary, that means you should wait once more for review.
From what I understand, you just have to have the app uploaded. And if you really read exactly what the iTunes Connect Guide says (look at the wording), that 180 timer is only counting the number of days that your app is in either the Preparing For Upload or Waiting For Upload state. Take a look:
After creating your app and it is in the state Prepare For Upload or Waiting For Upload, you have 180 days (6 months) from your creation date in iTunes Connect to deliver a binary to Apple....
So a solution would be to upload whatever binary you have right now, then wait for the status to change to Waiting For Review. Once that happens, developer-reject the binary. Leave it in the Developer Rejected state until you're ready to re-upload. The reason I say this is because putting it back into Prepare For Upload or Waiting For Upload might start the 180 day timer again (though I'm not sure).
Play it safe. When you upload your binary upload something that would pass review and have a decent standing on the AppStore (even if it means "hiding" some features).
Let's hope this works! I have three days left before the 180 day deadline and I'm about to upload. I'll post to confirm if it works.
I was hoping someone can answer a simple question for me...
If you create an iphone app and get it approved for sale, what happens if you add updates to it? Do you have to submit this for approval too?
How does the whole process of updating existing apps work?
Assistance would be very much appreciated, thanks
Yes, every update requires a new round of approval. Once your first app is live, the management page for your app offers an "Add Version" button, which takes you through a similar process to the original app, but with options to document changes.
You do indeed need to have updates approved. So once your initial application is created in iTunes Connect, uploaded and approved by apple and available through the store, you can easily submit new versions.
You log into iTunes Connect and click Manage my Applications.
Select the application and click the Add Version button.
Fill out details of the update (such as the new version number, what's changed, any new screenshots, etc).
Upload your new binary via the application loader.
Wait for review.
The process of update is almost exactly like the process of creating and pushing out the first release. It's really quite simple, tbh.
The update process is nearly identical to the original submission, except that you don't have to reenter all the metadata (but you can modify almost all of it, except for the app ID, during update submission).
Update review times have historically varied by large amounts, either slower or faster than the original app's approval time, on the order of 1 day to 1 month. Don't count on it being any less.
Have heard of developers waiting 2 to 6 weeks in 2009. When they reject the app, you resubmit and wait another 2 to 6 weeks. So finally the review takes a few months. Same for fixing bugs. Does this rule still apply?
Someone created a neat website to answer this question based on information ios developers share on twitter:
http://reviewtimes.shinydevelopment.com/
However I've also heard there's various factors at play. Review times might be longer if it's a more complex app, or an app using certain features, or if it's your first app submitted with this developer account. The above site just shows the average time people report.
For anyone finding this post in the 2020s, there's a new resource for this! Current average App Store review times (plus TestFlight beta review times and build processing times), all backed by real world data and regularly updated:
runway.team/appreviewtimes
The iOS Dev Center News indicates that in the last week, 56% of new app submissions were reviewed and 71% of app updates.
With apple's in-app purchase approval system, is it not possible to have new in-app purchase content available every day? I've read in various places that the process typically takes 1-2 days .. sometimes longer. I know the typical answer to this would be to create a back log, but we're working with time-sensitive content and need it to be delivered every day (think newspaper-esk). What's the next best solution other than back logging?
Any ideas?
Use the same in-app purchase identifier for rotating consumables.
It might be against Apple's policies, though it's highly unlikely that your app will be reviewed regularly after it's approved. I recommend checking the developer agreement before you move ahead with this.
Several years later ...
A good way to do this is to submit several in app app purchase items ahead of time via iTunesConnect. I recommend you submit these IAPs at the time of your app submission. If you have any IAPs waiting for review at the time your app is being reviewed, they will also get reviewed at the time.