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One day, you will be able to delete your mistakes on iTunesConnect"
Your Best Laid Plans...posted: 12th August 2009
...and Apple's plans don't always marry up! When my client told me they had four applications to launch I thought I had best get ahead of the game and prepare the iTunesConnect account early so that when the applications landed in my inbox I would have less work to do. Alas, I fell foul of one those little foibles that ITunesConnect has made a bit of a name for itself amongst developers. If you are prepared and know what to expect from iTunesConnect then even your first experience of it can be a joy. Without that preparation you should watch out because your account can soon resemble a real dog's dinner (like mine did).
All software on the app store is managed in iTunesConnect and to be fair it is pretty (just like iTunes) and it is also expected to manage an awful lot of information. There is after all more than 65,000 applications (*) available for download from the app store. And thats a lot of Apples in any currency!
Still, it's just a database of data on applications, right? And iTunesConnect is just a front end to that data, Right? Well the good news is that iTunesConnect is a fantasic enabler for small companies such as my own but it's not without it's pain either.
If you are just about to launch your first app or indeed if, like me you had pushed a couple of apps through iTuneConnect in a previous life then you might think, "How hard can it be?" or "I've done it before therefore I have nothing to worry about!". Beware! It still has the ability to throw a curved ball now and again. Here are three simple tips for you before you go and submit your killer app.
1. Have your upload matierial to handiTunesConnect takes you through the submission process one step at a time. Certain aspects of the submission are mandatory and you will not be able to complete your submission without them. Believe you me, you will not want your web session to time out while you are busily preparing your icon in your favourite image editor.
Most parts of the submission you can answer on the spot but there are some submission statements that once you make them, you cannout change, BEWARE!
Before you start you will need at minimum
- Your application icon a 512x512 'flat' & square, 72 DPI, jpg or tiff according to the docs; I have uploaded PNGs without any problem.
- Your primary screenshot Just snap this on your device (so its a real screen shot) then it will work and be the correct size.
- The application's SKU I remember COBOL and that means STOCK UNIT. Each of your applications needs a SKU which is unique within your account. This cannot be changed once you have clicked the final 'SUBMIT'.
Each application on the App store has a content related age rating; go on check if you dont believe me! You are not asked to rate your application during the submission, rather you must answer ten content identification questions. Do not do as I did, which was to offer a temporary answer to this section because once you have pressed 'SUBMIT' you can not change your content identification answers. This is the part that threw me completely as I had until that time been un-aware of the gravity of my answers.
In fact all my previous submissions to iTunesConnect had always been Age 4+ (No Sex, Drugs, Violence etc. of any kind). This time the careful preparation of my iTunesConnect account, counted for nothing when I realised that the four new applications I had set up, could not have their content rating re-assessed and were therefore completely unsuitable for use
So unless you want to have your iTunesConnect account look like this...
Make sure you know the answers to these questions before you start the submission process.
These ten questions are the Apple mechanism to determine your applications content rating. Choosing Frequent / Intense for Graphical Sexual Content and Nudity means your application will not be able to be submitted to the app store. Just a hint okay?
3. Sign up to all the agreements earlyThis is the easy one; unless we are talking about the Tax forms for Japan, then it's the really really hard and stupidly translated one! It's five minutes to five on Friday and your development boss wants the app submitted to iTunesConnect - NOW!
It certainly isn't the time to try and figure out that Japanese form and it will hold up the release of your application to iTunes if your documentation isn't in place. You have no excuse not to do this early.
Bonus Tips
- Do get your WWDC's phone number He / She is the *GOD* who recommends applications for a feature. Don't get me wrong, just knowing and using your WWDC's first name will not in anyway guarentee your application a feature. Only having a good app, will do that! Do talk to them and explain to them about your app and why it should receive a feature and do listen to the point of view when they say, "It's not so great and here's why..".
- Infact, get the UDIDs of all their devices You should provision betas of your app for your WWDC and ship it to them so that they can see how fantastic your app really is!
Remember those 65,000+ apps? Your WWDC is one of the closest humans on the planet to those apps and their honest opinion is your pay dirt.
As an added bonus, if you ever manage to create an application in iTunesConnect and you cant release it and need
to differentiate it from an application which is going to be released. Please feel free to use this handy
graphical reminder of my your stupidity. Just upload it as the icon for your broken app.
Thank you for reading this far. If you have any comments or wish to link to this entry then please feel free. I sincerely wish you and your app all the very best. Good Luck!
Damien Laughton 
