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Mobile App Approval Process

The Apple App Store and Google Play Store Submission Process

So you want to submit your app to the App Store & Play Store for distribution. There’s a couple things you’ll need to get this process started. We’ve put together this handy guide to help you understand the requirements for store submission and what the specific process is by each platform: Apple Play Store Guide and the Google Play Store Guide 

Let’s get started!

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iPhone


You may have heard about Apple’s strict policies and guidelines for application development in the past, but it is important to know exactly what is required to beta test and release your iPhone/iOS application to the App Store.

1. For your iPhone development and distribution you will first need to do the following:

  • Create an Apple Developer Account ($100/yr).
    • Things you will need:
      • A D-U-N-S Number (required for an apple developer account that is registered to an organization and not an individual)
        • For help with this, check out: https://developer.apple.com/support/D-U-N-S/
        • The D-U-N-S Number is a unique nine-digit number that identifies business entities on a location-specific basis. Assigned and maintained by Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), the D-U-N-S Number is widely used as a standard business identifier”
      • Legal Entity Status
      • Legal Binding Authority
    • Link to enroll in Apple’s developer program: https://developer.apple.com/programs/enroll/
    • An Apple Developer Account is required for any type of iOS Development – iOS, iOStv, Mac Apps, etc! We recommend getting your D-U-N-S Number ASAP as the number can take several weeks to acquire.

 

2. Next you will need to register a new bundle ID on your Apple Developer Account. You can create a new App ID by hitting the large “+” in to top right on this page: https://developer.apple.com/account/ios/identifier/bundle.

  • Under the App ID Suffix section, choose “Explicit App ID” and name your Bundle ID in with the schema that Apple recommends.
  • Under the App Services section, select the services you wish to include in your app.
  • Hit Continue and on the next page confirm that you have the correct services selected.
  • Hit Register to register the new App ID.

Now you have a App (bundle ID) registered with your iOS developer certificate so that your build can be code signed when uploaded to iTunes Connect.

3. Once you have your Apple developer account all set up and your App ID registered to developer account, you will need to head on over to https://itunesconnect.apple.com and log in. iTunes Connect is your portal to the App Store as an Apple developer. Here, you will have access to important developer account info where you can view your Apps in the context of the App Store or TestFlight, add new apps, view App Analytics, Sales and Marketing info, as well as financial reports.

  • To get started, click the “My Apps” icon on the dashboard.
  • From here, click the big “+” sign in top left to start the process of adding your app to iTunes Connect.
  • After clicking, you’ll see this form:

    • You will need to fill out each field and assign access to different roles or users as necessary.
    • Note, in the Bundle ID dropdown, choose the bundle ID that you just entered for the App ID you just registered on developer.apple.com.
    • Follow the prompts and you will then be taken to a more detailed screen that starts the process of submitting your app to the App Store.

 

4. Upload your App Icon to your application in all the right formats. The App Store requires so many different formats so that your app icon looks great on all the various screen sizes for iPhone, iPad, and other Apple devices.

5. Next, you will need to build and upload your app to iTunes Connect via xCode. Someone from your development team can help with this. We also find this guide to be very helpful: https://medium.com/@dmathewwws/steps-to-put-your-app-on-testflight-and-then-the-ios-app-store-10a7996411b1.

6. After your app is uploaded to iTunes Connect, it is ready for internal beta testing via TestFlight. Log In to iTunesConnect and select your app on the “My Apps” page.

  • From here, you will need to select “TestFlight” on the tab menu. This will take you to the following screen where you can see a list of your builds uploaded to iTunes Connect.
  • From here, select the build you want to invite testers to your app and you will be taken to this screen:
  • Click “Add Tester to Build” and follow the prompts to invite up to 25 users by email to test your mobile application.
  • After some internal testing, you’re now ready to submit to the App Store!

 

7.  For App Store distribution, you will need to submit your mobile application for review by Apple. You will need to complete all the previous items for TestFlight as well as the following:

  • Basic App Information including name, subtitle, and an optional Privacy Policy URL.
  • Pricing and Availability – Price schedule, pre orders, availability by territory, etc
  • Preparing for Submission:
  • A working build – submitted via xCode or ApplicationLoader (you may already have this covered if you did not make any changes after testing through TestFlight).

After all those steps are complete, the only thing left to do is wait! The Apple iOS application approval is known to take anywhere up 2-3 weeks! Once your application is approved by Apple, your app is now ready for distribution on the app store!

Android


To make things easier, the Android Developer portal has created a handy checklist for launching your Android app on the Google Play Store: https://developer.android.com/distribute/best-practices/launch/launch-checklist.html, but we will go ahead and summarize the actionable items in that list.

You will need to have the following ready in order to release your app on the Google Play Store:

Once you have all those thing, upload your APK to the alpha or beta channel for testing by going to  and complete the following:

With such a complex and detailed process for submitting your mobile app to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, it is important to have the right development team helping you to get across the finish line. Cadence Labs has experience getting many apps through both Apple and Google’s approval processes and we can help you get past either one of these hurdles.

Contact us today for help submitting your app!

If you need help getting into an app store, fixing issues with your app for approval, or just need to build a new app, we can help. Get in touch today for a quote on your project.

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