So how do you deal with iTunesArtwork?

[rames44]

From what I've experienced, if you include the iTunesArtwork in a build that you're going to debug on the device, you end up getting errors during the application install process.

So how do you guys include the iTunesArtwork - flip the switch to include it in the target just before building your distribution build? A different target for production as opposed to development?

Inquiring minds want to know...

[scottiphone]

What iTunes Artwork? Your app needs its 57 x 57 icon.
If you're talking about the itunes connect artwork (512 x 512 icon image, screenshots, etc) those are only loaded in itunes connect, not your app.

[rames44]

No, I was talking about the 512x512 image.

I know that you provide this via iTunesConnect as part of setting up your app with Apple.

I ran into some information elsewhere about including this as part of the app itself - it could be that it was mis-information. What I had been told was that you needed to include this file if you wanted your icon to show up in iTunes. I did discover that this was the case for an ad hoc distribution - if you added a PNG named "iTunesArtwork" (without the extension) into the ad hoc build, you got the icon in iTunes.

Based on your reply, however, I'm guessing that this is something peculiar to ad hoc distributions (which the info I had didn't mention).

So Apple presumably merges in the artwork you provide with your app as part of setting it up in the App Store?

[scottiphone]

You don't need to include the 512 image in your app.

For AddHoc I don't care if my beta testers don't see an official icon in iTunes.
it's not required so why bother.

Apple doesn't merge your 512 with your app. They use it for the store display so they can show different sizes as needed for different views.

[rames44]

They use it for the store display so they can show different sizes as needed for different views.

Yes, I knew that much from what everyone has written.

Let me phrase the question about merging slightly differently. For the applications I've purchased and downloaded through the App Store, if I go to the "Applications" section of iTunes, the apps show up with a graphic as well as a title. Am I correct that this image is auto-generated by Apple based on the 512x512 artwork that I upload to iTunesConnect? And that I don't have to do anything to my project itself to cause that to happen? That's what I meant by "merging".

[scottiphone]

All your app needs is the 57 icon image. Anything else that Apple needs they take care of with the 512 image you uploaded. They do require the images to be the same or nearly so.

[neilmix]

The documentation for "The Application Bundle" discusses the use of the iTunesArtwork file for ad-hoc distribution. The problem is that this file will cause an error during install/run of a debug build. It appears that if you want to use the iTunesArtwork file for ad-hoc distribution, you need to add it to the bundle manually *after* building in XCode.

I don't know of a way to include the file in your project, would love to find out if there is.

[rames44]

Yes, this is what I eventually figured out. My original information was not entirely accurate - it suggested that you needed the iTunesArtwork file in all your builds, which obviously isn't the case. So, I'm just manually adding it to Ad Hoc Builds when I generate them, which isn't all that often.

There's probably a way to do this with setting up two different targets, since you can control the inclusion of a file on a target-by-target basis - basically, set up one target for debug and production builds and another for ad hoc builds. So far, it hasn't been worth the trouble to me...

[fszczerba]

The iTunesArtwork file should be bundled into your .ipa file, not into the application bundle (there's no point including it on the device). I do something like the following:

$ output="Releases/$(date)"
$ mkdir -p "$output"
$ mkdir -p Payload/Payload
$ cp -Rp build/Release-iphoneos/MyApp.app Payload/Payload
$ cp MyApp.iTunesArtwork.png Payload/iTunesArtwork
$ ditto -c -k Payload "$output/MyApp.ipa"
$ rm -rf Payload

You can then drag the resulting .ipa file into iTunes (or just double-click it) and your artwork should show up.