iPhone - Automate Appstore submission - iphone

Did anyone try scripting/Automating an Appstore app submission?
It will be amazing if we can save all the necessary info in a plist or a server, Click on one button to generate and Upload the App to iTunes connect.
This will be very useful if we have to develop template based Apps.
Any expert opinions/comments/samples?

I don't know if I'm allowed to say the specifics (as it is under NDA right now), but if you're a registered developer the latest xcode kinda has this sort of thing (as I said, no more detail than that).

Related

What plist Changes Are Needed to Enable Apple In App Purchases

I have my MAUI app submitted to the Apple app store, but they are requiring me to provide a way for Apple users to purchase a subscription to the service that our app uses (that we manage through our web site). In the Apple docs, it talks about configuring the app in Xcode to add the capability for in app purchases. I haven't seen the specific plist changes (info and or entitlements) that it is supposed to make to support this, so wondering if there is a method that we can use in Visual Studio to enable the in app purchases?
The documentation for doing it in Xcode is here: https://help.apple.com/xcode/mac/current/#/dev88ff319e7. There's not a lot to describe - it basically walks you through the Xcode UI, you press the plus sign button, select In App Purchases from the list of capabilities and click OK - that's pretty much it. I have not been able to find a plist file though to try and figure out what it did.

How to sign app for AppStore in my customer's name

If I'm developing an iPhone app for CompanyX and when we want to put it on the App Store using CompanyX's signature, and if they dont have the source code, can they do it themselves?
Or do I have to do it with their signature, since I have the source code and then submit it to the App Store?
We have settled on a process where "CompanyX" gives us an account to their iTunes connect so we can build, sign and upload to the App Store in their name.
Probably you can build it on your machine, send them the product and they sign and upload it themselves, however that would be more tedious, as Apple's toolchain with Xcode and the Organizer has become quite good at this for the "usual" case of someone uploading their "own" apps.
AFAIK you have to sign the source code with the key you get from Apple to submit it.

How to automatically update an iPhone app from within the app itself?

This link shows a video where an app upgrade is "forced" from within the app itself:
http://buzzworks.de/blog/update-ios-beta-apps-from-within-the-app
The App Store is not called in and it's said to work only for AdHoc
apps.
Anyone knows how is this possible?
edit: please give a look to the video before answering. AdHoc apps are signed by the developer and they do not come from the App Store. This sort of forced update is useful when doing beta testing and in enterprise applications.
I've found that it's all explained here:
http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/featuredarticles/FA_Wireless_Enterprise_App_Distribution/Introduction/Introduction.html
The developer should create an .ipa with the app and a manifest in plist format with the URL to the .ipa and a few other things.
The app can optionally implement its own way to find if an update is available and open
the URL to the manifest.
I didn't it's really possible because the app has to somehow sign itself. The best I can think of right now is that the app is not signed?
You can always force people to go to the app store when a new version is out. Simply make the app connect to a webservice first. Other solutions are not accepted by Apple, or will quite simply not work because of other issues (signing is one of many).
You could also design your app in such a way that forced updates are never a requirement. You can load your user interfaces from the web (Apple has presented some valuable information about that during the previous WWDC), your data can come from the web, and if there is any other correction to do just ensure your app is backwards compatible.
That's how the app store works. And it never requires a 'forced update' ... Well, almost never ;-)

Can my app provide an "Update in App Store" link?

For various reasons I need my iPhone app to include a way to tell the user that a new update for the app is available and prompt them to go update in the App Store.
It looks like there used to be an undocumented way to give an HTML link that would lead the iPhone to open the Upgrade page for app, or something?
How can i make a link to update my iPhone application?
https://devforums.apple.com/message/139548#139548
Unfortunately it appears that iTunes links have changed format from these old "Phobos"-type links (which used "WebObjects") to something new? I'm not very familiar with the old system or the new one...
Can I create a link that will take my users directly to the "upgrade apps" screen on the App Store? Or even better, one that will initiate the upgrade for my app immediately?
Apple provides an iTunes Link Maker tool which you can use: http://itunes.apple.com/linkmaker
Just put the "Media Type" as apps and type in the app name. Apple recommends using an NSURLConnection for opening the link within your app since it will cut out all of the re-directing that goes on and open straight into the AppStore app.

iPhone: Application submission in AppStore

I want to submit my application in AppStore. After i have gone through the docs there, i see i should go to iTunes Connect and fill the form to submit my application in AppStore. If someone already did it, can you guys please share your suggestion?
I did build 'Distribution' in my Xcode project and compressed my app ready, i want to upload it in AppStore as i have already a developer account.
** I also want to know, should my build be created using 'Distribution' configuration and built with Distribution provisional file? I have three provisional file created such as Main provisioning profile in 'Provisioning->Development' tab in Portal and Ad-hoc, AppStore provisional profiles in 'Distribution' tab in Portal. Which one i should use in Xcode and build my application to upload that in AppStore? Can i use any one of the three?
**Can i go to iTunes Connect and fill the form to upload my app? During filling the form it asks for 'Does your product contain encryption?' Why is that and what does it mean? After further filling up the details, will it ask me to upload my Zipped application(myApp.app file) there? How would be the process further, just give me some brief idea please?
Clave/
I also want to know, should my build
be created using 'Distribution'
configuration and built with
Distribution provisional file?
Yes. Your build must be signed with distribution profile. And do not forget about Entitlements.plist file
Can i go to iTunes Connect and fill the form to upload my app?
Yes :)
After further filling up the details, will it ask me to upload my Zipped application(myApp.app file) there?
Yes, there will be a screen where you should upload your zipped binary (as well as 512x512 Application icon and screenshots)
How would be the process further, just give me some brief idea please?
You'll need to fill some forms - application description, category, pricing, stores where distribute your app, some questions to rate your app (in case it contain "objectionable" contents) etc
Anyway (IMO) everything is user friendly and clear there.
In order to upload your app to the app store you must build with a distribution profile, thats pretty much all you need...If you dont know what using encryption means then odds are you are not using encryption so check no for that...after that its pretty straight forward you fill out the info form and submit it for review. If at any step you do something (such as use a wrong provisioning profile) itunes connect will tell you and wont let you proceed, so if you succesfully finish submitting the app then you are good to go...there is also an itunes connect guide you can use here https://itunesconnect.apple.com/docs/iTunesConnect_DeveloperGuide.pdf
Go here:
http://developer.apple.com/iphone/
On the right of the page, there is a section called "App Store Resource Center", and inside of that there are some great resources like Preparing your App for Submission, etc.
Also, under the Distribution section of the Program Portal, there are some answers to questions like how to build and zip your app for submission, and properly configuring Xcode for the build.
Encryption:
The reason it's asking you for this information is because there are laws around exporting certain types of encryption. You would know if you are using this in your application. If you said yes, there would be some follow up questions and it might lock your application to the US App Store only if your encryption was too high to export. For more information on encryption, your friendly neighborhood search engine can do the rest :)