Help with first app release - TOP 5 THINGS?

[ALEXLLC]

My first app will be ready for release in a few days, and I'd like to take advantage of the collective wisdom and experience of fellow developers. Let me preface my questions with a few notes:

1. My app is NOT crapware, copycatware, or any other category of the stink that fills the iTunes app store.
2. I have spent months building, polishing and cleaning the code so it is fast, efficient, and beautiful to look at.
3. I truly believe there is nothing like my app currently available, although there are several categories my app could "live" in.

So, here is my first questions: I've already cleared the hurdle of registering with Apple, all contracts (free and paid) are in effect.

Q: In order to have the most successful release possible, is there anything I should do now, or prior to, submitting the app to iTunes/Apple?

Q: I've read on the forum here that it is possible to "reserve" the name of the app by setting it up in iTunes Connect first. I'm not sure what that means, and I'm not trying to trump the system here... I just want to do it right the first time to give my app the best possible chance to survive the journey from my computer to everyone's iPhone.

Q: Does anyone care to share the list of the Top Five Things You Shouldn't Do when releasing an app?

Q: How about the Top Five Things You SHOULD Do when releasing an app?

Thanks for any and all feedback.

Alex

[CommanderData]

Originally Posted by ALEXLLC

My first app will be ready for release in a few days, and I'd like to take advantage of the collective wisdom and experience of fellow developers. Let me preface my questions with a few notes:

1. My app is NOT crapware, copycatware, or any other category of the stink that fills the iTunes app store.
2. I have spent months building, polishing and cleaning the code so it is fast, efficient, and beautiful to look at.
3. I truly believe there is nothing like my app currently available, although there are several categories my app could "live" in.

So, here is my first questions: I've already cleared the hurdle of registering with Apple, all contracts (free and paid) are in effect.

Q: In order to have the most successful release possible, is there anything I should do now, or prior to, submitting the app to iTunes/Apple?

Q: I've read on the forum here that it is possible to "reserve" the name of the app by setting it up in iTunes Connect first. I'm not sure what that means, and I'm not trying to trump the system here... I just want to do it right the first time to give my app the best possible chance to survive the journey from my computer to everyone's iPhone.

Q: Does anyone care to share the list of the Top Five Things You Shouldn't Do when releasing an app?

Q: How about the Top Five Things You SHOULD Do when releasing an app?

Thanks for any and all feedback.

Alex

Just to get this ball rolling-

1) Do you have your description already written for iTunes?
2) Do you have 5 good photos ready to upload in TIFF format? Remember to crop out the status bar (20 pixels high)
3) Do you have a list of websites you'll promote this to once it is approved and you can grab your first batch of promo codes? Have you written a press release or introductory e-mail to send to these sites yet?

[MarkusN]

As it is your first:

1. Is your contract, bank information, etc. all setup and cleared?
2. Familiarize yourself with the concept of resetting the release date once you get approval from Apple

on 1): if you don't have that in shape it can influence where you land in the "new released" list
on 2) I am not 100% certain yet but it seems to be a good GENERIC approach to reset your release date in itunes connect once you get your app "ready for sales". I have not 100% clarity if people are doing it all the time or only if something goes wrong

Being unexperienced on those made my first app appear for the first time rank 70+ in the new release list which you should avoid if you can Not that it will have tremendous impact on your overall success, but everything helps, right?

3. Plan Updates - will you release some new stuff after 3-4 weeks? If you can, you should
4. Plan Reviews/Ratings (highly controversial topic but at a minimum I would try to avoid falling into the 1-star-idiot-or-competitor death trap without any countermeasures... posting some codes to the forum for instance can help you out in such a case, nice folks here (this tactic only applies if your app is really not deemed "crap" by Slayer )
5. Compile for the lowest OS version possible (some great threads on this one in the forum)

6. I decided to upload a rather simple app to make some learnings before I release the more polished ones and I am thankful every day for that decision

Just some random thoughts, hth

Markus

[Naughty_Ottsel]

Throw it out there for all it's worth, I think there is a forum with a load of sites to show off your app.

Also pray! You still have to submit your App and that is nail biting, still waiting after 14 days for my update to go through.

[scotopia]

Originally Posted by CommanderData

Just to get this ball rolling-

1) Do you have your description already written for iTunes?
2) Do you have 5 good photos ready to upload in TIFF format? Remember to crop out the status bar (20 pixels high)
3) Do you have a list of websites you'll promote this to once it is approved and you can grab your first batch of promo codes? Have you written a press release or introductory e-mail to send to these sites yet?

You use tiff format for the screens? I thought they demanded .jpg for those...hmm...

[LeopardDevX]

Originally Posted by CommanderData

Just to get this ball rolling-

1) Do you have your description already written for iTunes?
2) Do you have 5 good photos ready to upload in TIFF format? Remember to crop out the status bar (20 pixels high)
3) Do you have a list of websites you'll promote this to once it is approved and you can grab your first batch of promo codes? Have you written a press release or introductory e-mail to send to these sites yet?

Why do we need to crop out the status-bar i have seen loads of screenshots of apps on the appstore including status-bar

Is it just to make the app look better??

[CommanderData]

Originally Posted by scotopia

You use tiff format for the screens? I thought they demanded .jpg for those...hmm...

Really? They specifically called out TIFF for me... It was a PITA because I had them all ready as PNG files and then had to go back and convert them

Originally Posted by LeopardDevX

Why do we need to crop out the status-bar i have seen loads of screenshots of apps on the appstore including status-bar

Is it just to make the app look better??

It's part of Apple's guidelines. They won't reject you for it, but it does make the picture look better. Plus when this is shown in each app store around the world people don't have to look at your carrier logo that may not exist where they are... or wonder why you were taking snapshots at 3:30AM with a nearly dead battery

[ALEXLLC]

Originally Posted by CommanderData

Just to get this ball rolling-

1) Do you have your description already written for iTunes?
2) Do you have 5 good photos ready to upload in TIFF format? Remember to crop out the status bar (20 pixels high)
3) Do you have a list of websites you'll promote this to once it is approved and you can grab your first batch of promo codes? Have you written a press release or introductory e-mail to send to these sites yet?

Thanks Commander. I knew about the descriptions and photos, but I didn't really think about the web site to promote how I would use the promo codes. It all makes perfect sense, but I'm truly that new to this, so the learning curve is steep.

I'm pulling back the launch a bit until all is ready to go.

[ALEXLLC]

Thanks for the great advice Markus. I'm going to wait until I have the web site completed and some additional graphics done as well. But your post got me thinking...

...I'm wondering if it makes sense to release a Lite/Free version now, and then the full version when everything else is ready (extra graphics, web site, etc.)?

Any comments on timing/tempo between releasing a free version versus the full?

Originally Posted by MarkusN

As it is your first:

1. Is your contract, bank information, etc. all setup and cleared?
2. Familiarize yourself with the concept of resetting the release date once you get approval from Apple

on 1): if you don't have that in shape it can influence where you land in the "new released" list
on 2) I am not 100% certain yet but it seems to be a good GENERIC approach to reset your release date in itunes connect once you get your app "ready for sales". I have not 100% clarity if people are doing it all the time or only if something goes wrong

Being unexperienced on those made my first app appear for the first time rank 70+ in the new release list which you should avoid if you can Not that it will have tremendous impact on your overall success, but everything helps, right?

3. Plan Updates - will you release some new stuff after 3-4 weeks? If you can, you should
4. Plan Reviews/Ratings (highly controversial topic but at a minimum I would try to avoid falling into the 1-star-idiot-or-competitor death trap without any countermeasures... posting some codes to the forum for instance can help you out in such a case, nice folks here (this tactic only applies if your app is really not deemed "crap" by Slayer )
5. Compile for the lowest OS version possible (some great threads on this one in the forum)

6. I decided to upload a rather simple app to make some learnings before I release the more polished ones and I am thankful every day for that decision

Just some random thoughts, hth

Markus

[ALEXLLC]

Originally Posted by Naughty_Ottsel

Throw it out there for all it's worth, I think there is a forum with a load of sites to show off your app.

Also pray! You still have to submit your App and that is nail biting, still waiting after 14 days for my update to go through.

Good Luck Naughty... hope your App appears soon. Let us know what it is so we can check it out.

Btw, I was going to just throw it out there as you suggested as this is the way I do everything, but I really want this to have the best chance for success. If I miss one opportunity because it doesn't look polished, then even if it does well, I won't be satisfied.

[CommanderData]

I've been doing pretty well without a lite app, although it could be a major factor for future sales once the initial hype dies down.

If your game is $0.99, $1.99, or $2.99 you can probably get away without a lite version for a while. If it's an app with some utility value instead of a game, my experiences may not apply... but I would think you can charge more for good applications (look at Jaadu VNC and RDP examples of more expensive but well done apps) even without a lite version.

Of course, make sure you have a lite version ready to go sooner or later! I made the mistake of not considering that, and after I'm done being featured by Apple I may need to work on one to stay up in the ranks

My final thoughts- get your app out there and see what the initial sales are like, then release your lite app a week or two later. Then stagger updates to it and the full version so that you keep one or the other visible based on Release Date in iTunes (assuming they ever get that fixed!).

[m0s]

There was a thread earlier by someone who had been offered a possible feature and was asked for two pieces of artwork, quite large png's.

I can't remember what the image specifications were, and what the images were intended for. I think it was a title text and background graphic for a 'software' box packaging style advert, but I might be wrong.

It is good to be prepared for your lucky break, I had a quick look for the details but couldn't find it. It is in a "I just got offered feature ??? !!! ???" thread.

If someone can remember the thread and post a link into this thread it would be useful for everyone to know the details.

[johnqh]

Did people forget the most important thing?

#1. Test, test and test.

Have you tested on all hardware models?

If that's difficult, have you tested on all versions of the OS? (2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.2.1)

At least, have you tested the release build?

Personally, I had an app whose debug version ran fine but release build crashes. Fortunately Apple caught that.

Then, I had another app which worked fine on my iPhone (3.0 and then I tested in 2.2.1), but crashed on 2.1 and 2.2. Seems to be an Apple threading bug. I wished I tested on earlier OS.

[CommanderData]

Originally Posted by johnqh

Did people forget the most important thing?

#1. Test, test and test.

Have you tested on all hardware models?

If that's difficult, have you tested on all versions of the OS? (2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.2.1)

At least, have you tested the release build?

Personally, I had an app whose debug version ran fine but release build crashes. Fortunately Apple caught that.

Then, I had another app which worked fine on my iPhone (3.0 and then I tested in 2.2.1), but crashed on 2.1 and 2.2. Seems to be an Apple threading bug. I wished I tested on earlier OS.

I don't think anyone forgot that, it was just assumed that if it was "ready for release" that the testing had been completed with some level of competence

I agree you can never test too much though. A problem like that delayed my 1.3 release. It turned out I made a small change not too long before submitting to Apple, and tested it fine. Problem was, I didn't test it on a clean install, just kept overwriting my current development app on the iPhone. It turns out I'd introduced a bug that was only seen if you did an install on a device that did not have a previous version already installed!!! Ugh! I won't make that mistake again.

Now, whenever I get ready to submit I follow this:
furbo.org · The final test

What better way to test than to take *the actual distribution build* and strip the Apple signing and swap in your own developer signature. This works great and is close to the experience of downloading it from the App Store as you will ever get until the release/update is live in iTunes!

[johnqh]

Originally Posted by CommanderData

I don't think anyone forgot that, it was just assumed that if it was "ready for release" that the testing had been completed with some level of competence

I agree you can never test too much though. A problem like that delayed my 1.3 release. It turned out I made a small change not too long before submitting to Apple, and tested it fine. Problem was, I didn't test it on a clean install, just kept overwriting my current development app on the iPhone. It turns out I'd introduced a bug that was only seen if you did an install on a device that did not have a previous version already installed!!! Ugh! I won't make that mistake again.

That happened to one of my friends' app too, and for some reason, Apple's reviewer didn't catch it (I believe once an app is approved, the same reviewer will review all the updates). He ends up with a bunch of 1 star and had to pull the app until the next update.

[ALEXLLC]

Originally Posted by CommanderData

Just to get this ball rolling-

1) Do you have your description already written for iTunes?
2) Do you have 5 good photos ready to upload in TIFF format? Remember to crop out the status bar (20 pixels high)
3) Do you have a list of websites you'll promote this to once it is approved and you can grab your first batch of promo codes? Have you written a press release or introductory e-mail to send to these sites yet?

Ok... almost there. I have the screen shots, I have the icon, description and list of web sites for promoting. The iTunes Connect instructions also suggest a 512px icon in case I get featured. Should this icon be identical to the app icon, or can I get a little more creative with so much room to create in?

[ALEXLLC]

Originally Posted by johnqh

Did people forget the most important thing?

#1. Test, test and test.

Have you tested on all hardware models?

If that's difficult, have you tested on all versions of the OS? (2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.2.1)

At least, have you tested the release build?

Personally, I had an app whose debug version ran fine but release build crashes. Fortunately Apple caught that.

Then, I had another app which worked fine on my iPhone (3.0 and then I tested in 2.2.1), but crashed on 2.1 and 2.2. Seems to be an Apple threading bug. I wished I tested on earlier OS.

John, thanks for the suggestion. Even though I have tested extensively, I didn't try every OS and I didn't try testing the release build. Since the app writes the default settings to the iPhone, I delete it from the phone before reinstalling/compiling again. I've caught a few bugs this way, but will not try all the OS versions. Thanks again!

[CommanderData]

Originally Posted by ALEXLLC

Ok... almost there. I have the screen shots, I have the icon, description and list of web sites for promoting. The iTunes Connect instructions also suggest a 512px icon in case I get featured. Should this icon be identical to the app icon, or can I get a little more creative with so much room to create in?

Oh, they *must* be the same during the submission process. Apple will reject you if they are not. I actually was stupid enough to draw my first one at 57x57 and didn't read the rule until submission time. Tried to scale it up but it was a mess

Started over from scratch and did a 512x512 that I then duplicated and scaled to 57x57. If they can't shrink your big icon and get the same result you're in for heartache. Once you are approved you can upload a different 512x512 if you like. That's the way all those "Sale" banners are done.

Hope that helps you!

[ALEXLLC]

Originally Posted by CommanderData

Oh, they *must* be the same during the submission process. Apple will reject you if they are not. I actually was stupid enough to draw my first one at 57x57 and didn't read the rule until submission time. Tried to scale it up but it was a mess

Started over from scratch and did a 512x512 that I then duplicated and scaled to 57x57. If they can't shrink your big icon and get the same result you're in for heartache. Once you are approved you can upload a different 512x512 if you like. That's the way all those "Sale" banners are done.

Hope that helps you!

Whoa.... HUGE HELP! Now my list of questions are down to less than a half dozen. If I'm lucky, my app might get released by the time the economy turns around and people have money again!

1. Do I have to Clean Targets?
2. After I Build and I'm ready to release, where do I find the actual app and what is the best method to zip file it?
3. What else is included in the ZIP file beside the app itself?
4. How do I determine if the correct codesign identity is set? I know it should be Distribution, and not Developer, but I can't find that in the settings or Keychain anywhere?

I will say that I have loved this process and I truly think my App will do well since it is unique, well thought out, very tight code... BUT I'M NOT CUT OUT FOR THIS MAN! I'VE GOT A WHOLE NEW RESPECT FOR PROGRAMMERS!

[panzeriti]

Anyone have any other good tips for marketing your app?

I have submitted my app to all of the top review sites, but am wondering if people can actually find your app on those sites in the sea of apps.

[williamapps]

I am wondering which top review sites have you fed them?

[MarkusN]

yes, I would be curious, too. I have not searched a lot but does anybody have a current list of app review sites worth notifying? plus some recent experience on sales impact of a review?

I know so far it has been minor impact, so I am curious.

Just saw Chris Brogan tweeted about an app, rather randomly, I will track that for a few days on how this impact the apps ranking and post results. I am pretty sure I captured the chart ranking so closely after the tweet that it was probably not yet influenced.

Thx,

Markus

[panzeriti]

i found this list after doing some googling 9 places to publicize your app

Has anyone bought advertising space on a site? If so, which site and did it help sales?

[ALEXLLC]

Originally Posted by williamapps

I am wondering which top review sites have you fed them?

Actually, I have only made a list of relevant sites based on the type of app. I didn't consider "review sites". Not sure what that means. I do plan on offering promo codes to folks here, if I can ever get through the bazillion steps I need to get through in order to upload.

[williamapps]

Originally Posted by ALEXLLC

Actually, I have only made a list of relevant sites based on the type of app. I didn't consider "review sites". Not sure what that means. I do plan on offering promo codes to folks here, if I can ever get through the bazillion steps I need to get through in order to upload.

Thx. that seems not much influence sales.