I've submitted my application to the app store and had it approved. I'd set the release date to a few months in the future, but in the meantime have added a lot of extra functionality to the product.
I still want my app to be listed as a 'new release' when it comes out (the release data hasn't been reached yet) so should I replace the binary, or do I have to remove the old app completely and start a new app?
Obviously, the previously approved app hasn't been released so I don't want the new code to be counted as an update.
Cheers,
Bryn
I asked the question here mainly because there is much more active iPhone community here, coupled with the huge amount of questions regarding iStore submission/code signing etc.
For anyone still wanting an answer to this:
If the application has not ever been released, reject the binary and create a new application altogether. If you want to keep the same name as the app you'll have problems since Apple won't allow you to completely remove the old application and you can't have two with the same name. In this case, email them directly explaining the situation and they should rename the old application to an arbitrary name, freeing up the name for the new app
Related
I wanna know if it is okay to submit an update to an app that is different from the first release. For example, my first release would be a game, but on my next release, I want to remove the game but instead make a couple of web views and table views, etc. Will Apple stop me from updating the app?
The Mailbox is one example. When I first downloaded it, it doesn't really do anything but countdown on the number of people getting the app. Honestly, I lost patience and didn't bother trying it out. But I don't think it's an entirely different app, just that the countdown was a layer on top of a fully functioning Mailbox app, correct?
Every time you update new version, apple review team will review your new ipa, so what have updated write in new version.
So if your new updated app is valid means follow all guidelines than there is no problem.
We have built an inhouse version of an iPhone application that is to replace another that is already available from another developer.
I was wondering if you think we can use "app transfer" from the previous developer and in turn replace it with our own app. Previous developer has agreed for the transfer (ofcouse excluding his code). Therefore our question is if we can transfer his app to our development name and then replace the app with our own. Our goal is that the current users of this app will receive ours as an update to what they already have and not as a different app.
In short, transfer and replace so users get our app as an update.
Note:
Please note that as we were unaware of this "transfer" we submitted yesterday our version of the app with a slightly different name. Should we cancel submition (as it is still pending for validation) and follow some route you may suggest in your replies, or stay as it is now?
If you keep the Appidentifier the same between the original version and the new version you will submit, this should work as expected. (But nobody has much know-ho of the new "transfer" option yet)
So, you process would be as follows:
Hand the old developer your TeamID and your Apple ID
The old developer transfers the current App over to your team
Once done (no clue how long that takes), you have the app in your itunes connect
Now you add a new version of the App to itunes connect and mark it as ready to upload
You upload your newly coded app that meets these criteria:
Application Bundle Identifier is the same as with the App you're updating
Your new App is signed with a correct certifcate/provisioning profile (just correct for the appid, doesn't have to be the same one)
The BundelVersion and BundleShortVersionString are at higher than those of the already submitted applications.
So basically, it will work just like a regular update.
My company had outsourced an iOS app to another company, and they published the app on the App Store using their Apple ID. The app have been available for download for a few months and has a number of users. Now my company developed a slightly newer version of the app and would like to distribute the app using our own Apple ID. What's the correct way to do it? The major concerns we have are:
Should we submit the newer version using our ID before or after we take the old app down from the App Store. Would it happen that the newer app get rejected because Apple feel the two apps are too similar? (Actually they are quite similar, for that the update is slim.)
Is there a graceful way to notify the currently online app's users that they should switch to the newer app? And How to coordinate it, since the newer app may take a certain amount of time to get approved.
Thanks.
There are some different scenarios here, I am going to try to address some of them to see which one helps you the most:
1-)You have a current application that contains no use of push notification and no use of in app purchase. This is the easiest one. Basically, It does not matter what version the user has had before. You can remove the old one from the previous developer account and add it to the new developer account. By completely removing the previous application (not just from the app store listing, but from the developer account), you can reuse the bundle ID. When the user reinstall the app, the user will be able to replace the old application with the new application (note that the new application will not appear on the user's update list).
2-)You have push notification. Here, you will have to keep the old application if you wish to maintain the push notification certificates, so, the new application will have to use a new bundle ID, which means that the app will appear on the user as a new application, and the user will be able to have both app simultaneously.
3-)You have in app purchase and subscriptions. You will need to remove the old in app purchase entries from the old developer account, and add it to the new account (if you wish to reuse the product id, if not, you will have to create it either way).
I am not sure what kind of measure you need to take if you are using iCloud and/or other services. Best course of action is to contact Apple developer support. They will give you some guidance on what to do with your specific case. Also, when submitting, make sure to point to the reviewer that you are trying to move the application from one company to another. I think they can access review notes from the review to the previous submission(instead of reviewing it as a new app), and speed up the process.
Edit: You can not transfer apps between companies using iTunes connect. More information here: link
I have an iPhone application in the App Store. I submitted 1.1 to the app store a few days ago, and selected to "Hold for Developer Release." I found out that there is a very serious bug in the approved version. I need to pull this binary.
From what I can tell, Apple doesn't support this. I have sent them an email, but there's another bug in the current version that needs to be fixed also, so time is of the essence.
I've heard that you can release the update in some random country (where I would have no sales) and then release the next (fixed) update in all countries. If I only release 1.1 in, say, Luxembourg, is the old version (1.0) pulled from the other stores? Are the chart ratings reset? I'm relatively high in the charts, and I don't want to lose the momentum the app currently has.
Until Apple supports rejecting approved binaries, I'm looking for the quickest alternative.
Craig. Let me answer some of your questions. First, if you release an update, regardless of what country it is released in, it will replace the old binary for every country. Thus, if you only select Luxembourg, you are not only releasing the update to all countries, but also removing the app entirely from every app store except Luxembourg.
Second, it would appear that even Apple has no say over the iTunes Connect website in terms of altering the process for one person. I believe you should be able to reject an approved update, I don't see why they would want to disallow this. However, since they do not right now, it's best to forget about it.
You basically have 2 options. One, you can release this new version to the world, which keeps your standing in the App Store and warn users of the bug and promise them a fix. At that point, you can appeal to the Review Board for an expidited review, which they may not give you. Remember, if you release the update, I would upload another update immediately after.
You're not going to avoid your problem but there are things you can do to minimize the impact of your mistake.
Second, you can remove the App from Sale, accept the new update, and upload a new one for review, and put the app back up for sale again once approved. The problem here is that you will most likely lose your store ranking and the app will be unavailable for about a week. Not what I would do. I would go with the first solution.
From my experience, customers are ok if you need to issue a fix and they're fairly understanding. Make sure you tell them exactly what's going on in the app description AND the "What's New" section. Make sure they see it. They'll be ok with a few days of inconvenience in return for your honesty and reassurance that the issue has been fixed in a near-future update.
Hope this helps.
Cheers!
You can reject an app that is on "Hold for developer release". You need to click "Binary Details", and there you should find the reject button.
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.