Prepare for iOS submission

What do I need to prepare my Apple Developer account to publish my app?

This article will cover steps to prep your developer account for your app submission.

Let’s get started:

1. Create an App Store listing

Follow the steps below to create a new app in your developer account:

• Log in to your App Store Connect account.

• Click on the My Apps button and navigate to the overview of your apps.

• Click on + symbol on the top left and then click on New App from the drop down menu.

• In the New App popup, enter the relevant details below:

  • Platforms: Select the iOS checkbox under Platforms.

  • Name: Enter the name of your app under the Name field.

  • Primary Language: Select the language for your app from the drop-down menu under Primary Language.

  • Bundle ID: Select the Bundle ID from the drop-down menu. The Bundle ID of your app is generated while creating the App Identifier.

  • SKU: Enter the SKU in the text field. You can enter a unique number as an identifier for your app. The number can be arbitrary.

• Click on the Create button.

You have now created a new app in your App Store Connect account. You will be directed to the inflight screen where all the information related to your app can be submitted.

2. Prepare for submission

This screen covers important information of your app that will be displayed on your app store listing, whenever the app goes live. Click on the Prepare for Submission button on the left menu. Here, you can submit information that is required for app submission. This is segmented into the following sections:

• Language: The pre-selected language will appear here by default. To change the language for your app version, select one from the drop-down menu under the Submit for Review button.

• App Previews and Screenshots: You can upload the screenshots of your app into the screenshot area. Alternatively, you can drag and drop the images into the field. Screenshots must be in the JPG or PNG format, and in the RGB color space. The app previews must be in the M4V, MP4, or MOV format and not exceed 500 MB. There are four tabs where you can add your images for preview:

  • iPhone 6.7″ display (Not mandatory)

  • iPhone 6.5″ display (Mandatory)

  • iPhone 5.5″ display (Mandatory)

  • iPad Pro (3rd Gen) 12.9″display (Optional)

  • iPad Pro (2nd Gen) 12.9″ display (Optional)

We recommend taking screenshots from your app of screens that display important features, products, blogs or pages.

You are required to submit a minimum of 4 screenshots each for both iPhone 6.5″ display and iPhone 5.5″ display.

• Promotional Text: Promotional text lets you inform your App Store visitors of any current app features without requiring an updated submission. For customers with devices running iOS 11 or later and macOS 10.13 or later, this text will appear above your description on the App Store. This is a required field with a maximum character limit of 170.

• Description: Add a description of your app. This is a required field with a maximum character limit of 4,000.

• Keywords: Include one or more keywords that describe your app. Keywords make App Store search results more accurate. Separate keywords with an English comma, Chinese comma, or a mix of both. The maximum character limit is 100.

• Support URL: Add the URL with support information for your app. This URL will be visible on the App Store. This is a required field.

• Marketing URL: Add the URL with marketing information about your app. This URL will be visible on the App Store.

• Copyright URL: The name of the person or entity that owns the exclusive rights to your app, preceded by the year the rights were obtained (for example, "2008 Acme Inc."). Do not provide a URL.

• Apple Watch: Only required for apps supporting Apple Watch. AppMySite currently doesn’t provide support for Apple Watch apps.

• Routing App Coverage File: Specify the geographic regions supported by your app. The file must be in the .geojson format and can only contain one MultiPolygon element. This is optional and can be skipped.

Build

A build of your app can be found here as soon as you upload it on your App Store Connect account via the Transporter App. Uploading the app should be done once the developer account is set up. If you have already uploaded your app, select the app build by:

• Clicking on the blue button that says “Select a build before you submit”, and select your build from the pop up window.

• You can monitor the status of the upload in the Activity tab.

It can take up to 60 minutes for the + sign to appear after uploading your app build. It is important to select the build before proceeding to the next step. You will not be able to publish your app until you select a build in this section.

Game Center

Enable this toggle for your app to be available in the App Store Game Center and to enable multiplayer.

You can disable this option if you do not have a gaming app.

App Review Information

• Sign-in required: If sign-in is mandatory to access the app, check the “Sign-in required” checkbox and provide the sign-in credentials. This should be a username and password that review team from Apple can use to sign in to your app. If users sign in using social media, provide information for an account they can use. Credentials must be valid and active for the duration of the review. Keep in mind that you only need to check this box if you have user registration on your app.

• Contact information: Provide the contact information of the person in your organization who should be contacted if the app review team has any questions or needs additional information. This is a mandatory requirement.

• Notes: You can provide additional information about your app that can help during the review process. Include information that may be needed to test your app, such as app-specific settings. This is an optional section.

• Attachment: You can attach specific app documentation, demo videos, and other items to help prevent delays during the app review process. Make sure you use files with the following extensions: .pdf, .doc, .docx, .rtf, .pages, .xls, .xlsx, .numbers, .zip, .rar, .plist, .crash, .jpg, .png, .mp4, or .avi. This is an optional section.

App Store Version Release

The app version can be automatically released right after it has been approved by App Review. You can also manually release it at a later date on the App Store Connect website. You get the following options to schedule your app release.

• Manually release this version

• Automatically release this version

• Automatically release this version after app review, no earlier than

We recommend going with the “Automatically release this version” option.

3. App information

In your App Store Connect account, navigate to the App Information section from the side menu, under the General category. This section will walk you through the process of submitting more information about your mobile app. This information is used for all platforms of this app. Any changes will be released with your next app version.

Localizable Information

• Name: Enter the name of your mobile app as it will appear on the App Store. The maximum character limit of this field is 30

• Subtitle: Enter a subtitle for your app that will appear below your app name. This is an optional field.

General Information

• Bundle ID: Select the Bundle ID for your app listing. This cannot be changed later.

• Primary Language: This will be auto-populated based on your country selection.

• SKU: The SKU of your mobile app listing will be auto-populated here. This is a unique ID for your app. This will not be visible on the App Store.

• Category: Select the Primary Category of your mobile app from the dropdown menu. You can also select a Secondary Category for your mobile app. The secondary category selection is optional.

• Apple ID: This is a unique identifier for your mobile app. This field is automatically generated.

• Content Rights: If your app contains, shows, or accesses any third-party content, you must have the rights to it or be permitted to use the content.

• Age Rating: Your app’s age rating will appear on the App Store across all your platforms.

• License Agreement: Apple’s standard end user license agreement (EULA) for all countries or regions is automatically selected for you. You can click on Edit for a custom agreement as per your geographical selection.

Additional Information

• View on App Store: This option allows you to view your app on App Store if it is already live.

• Edit User Access: By default, Full Access is selected for your app listing, which means all users will have access to the app. You can limit which users see the app listing in App Store Connect. Note that you cannot limit the access of Admin, Finance, and Reports user roles.

• Remove App: Avoid this option unless you want to remove your app listing and start all over again.

Finally, click on the Save button in the top-right of the window to save your work. Now proceed to the next section.

4. Privacy Policy

Apple now requires apps to get customer permission to track user data across applications owned by different companies. You can define how you use customer data on your app within your Apple developer account.

• Click on the Edit button. You will see a pop-up window where you can enter the URL of the privacy policy of your website.

• Click on the Get Started button. After clicking Get Started, you’ll be asked to provide some information about your app’s data collection practices. This information will appear on your app’s product page, where users can see what data your app collects and how it’s used.

• Data Collection: If your app uses the sign up/sign in option, it is mandatory that you select “Yes, we collect data from this app”. Click Next.

• Select the contact information that your app collects. If you only collect email address, then select that and proceed by clicking on the save button. If your app collects other data, you can disclose this information here.

• Click on Set up Email Addresses.

• A pop up screen will appear. Select App functionality and click Next.

• Select Yes, email addresses collected from this app are linked to the user’s identity and click Next.

• Select No, we do not use email addresses for tracking purposes and click Publish.

This guide has been prepared keeping in mind that normally apps built on our platform, only collect data for improving app functionality. If your app is collecting data for other purposes, please disclose it while setting up the privacy policies.

For example: if you are collecting more than the email address of your app user, disclose it while selecting options in “Data Collection” Form. Furthermore, if your app is going to use the data collected for more purposes than simply improving the App Functionality, you must disclose it in the “Email Addresses” Form while setting up the privacy policies in your developer account.

5. Pricing and Availability

You can define the pricing and demographic availability of your app in this section. Click on the Pricing and Availability button on the left menu.

The following sections appear on the Pricing and Availability screen:

Price Schedule

• By default, your app is $0 (Free) and is available in all countries.

• If you wish to publish your app as a paid app, select an appropriate price from the dropdown menu under the Price label.

• Click on All Prices and Currencies for a list of all currencies and their rates. This will give you an idea of how your app will be priced in different currencies.

Pre Orders

• You can make your app available for pre-order here.

• This allows customers to order your app before its release date.

• Once your app is released for download, customers will be notified and your app will automatically be downloaded to their device.

• For paid apps, customers will be charged before download. Any app that hasn’t been published to the App Store can be made available for pre-order.

Availability

• Your app is available in all countries by default.

• Click on Edit to select the countries that you’d like your app to be available in.

• You’ll have to select a price for your app to be able to edit availability.

App Distribution Methods

Select the distribution model for your app on the App Store. The available options are:

• Public: Discoverable by anyone on the App Store.

• Private: Available for private distribution to specific organizations on Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager.

Finally, click on the Save button on the top right and save your settings.