8 tips to get your app approved by the Apple App Store

Being an Apple developer is never a joke. Developers always have that lurking fear of their app being rejected by the Apple App Store. The Apple App Store is one of the best app marketplaces in the mobile industry, as also one of the most difficult to enter and get recognized for a developer. Tips on getting your app approved by the Apple App Store,

 

 1. Check for Errors

Most of the apps entering the Apple App Store are immediately rejected because they are found to have some technical glitch or the other. It could even boil down to sheer carelessness on the part of the developer, entry of a faulty version number and so on.
The latest version of the Xcode comes with a Fix-It feature, which can do away with most of the little problems that could otherwise hold up the approval process. See to it that your app is error-free both technically and otherwise. Test your app thoroughly before submitting the same to the App Store.

2. Give All the Necessary Details

Make sure you fill out all the necessary details, without leaving out even one of them. The most important things here are as follows:

• Your name, contact, telephone/mobile number and email id
• The APIs used, with a description about them
• Whether images or icons are used and if they are used in other apps
• Links to external Websites where necessary, with a description of the same, if need be.

3. Keep it Simple

Presenting a simple version of your app at first will be the sensible thing to do. Get down to the basics and do away with the unnecessary frills for initial submission. Remember that the initial app approval process is what takes the most time. Once approved, future updates are far easier to get done. So keep the advanced features for later releases of your app.
It is, however, not sensible to make it too simple. Do not present a “test” or “beta” version of your app, as it will most likely be rejected at first glance.

 

4. Play by the Rules

Apple has a set of well-defined, very stringent rules. Though some of them may sound downright crazy to you, be careful to follow the rules to the ‘T’. Do not, for example, misspell technical jargon. Also, never employ unpublished APIs.

Nothing that sounds in any way, “violent”, will be acceptable by Apple. So name your app in such a way that it sounds appealing, without appearing to be “damaging” or “offensive”.

5. Read Previous Case-Histories

Learn about other Apple developers’ experiences, ask around and find out just what it takes to get your app approved in the Apple App Store.

If possible, read previous “case-histories” of App Store rejections to find out why those apps did not get approved. This will give you a better understanding of the App Store, thereby letting you create a better app.

 

6. Get Creative

The Apple App Store has at present, over 300,000 apps. This obviously makes it really hard for developers to make their app stand head and shoulders above the rest. Get creative with your app, select a niche which is not very saturated and see if you can present your app in some different way.

Adopt a novel angle to your app, make it usable and engaging to the user. If you cannot make your app appear extraordinary, chances are that it will not pass the App Store approval process.

7. Be Polite

Know that the App Store deals with a large number of app submissions on an everyday basis. The least you can do is to be polite with them, be specific about your goals and clearly state the purpose of your app.

Politeness scores about all else and gives off an air of class and professionalism. Take the time to draft your covering letter and see to it that you include as much information as you can.

 

8. Learn Patience

Typically, the App Store approval process takes anything between 1-4 weeks. But sometimes, it may take much longer than that. Be patient and await the verdict.

In case you should get rejected, iTunes will also let you know the reasons for the same. This will let you know exactly what went wrong and how you can fix it in your next try.  

Useful tips on marketing your iPhone App

Ways to Promote Your Apple iPhone App and Make the Maximum Profit

Congratulations on successfully creating your Apple iPhone app and even more importantly, on getting it approved by the Apple App Store. The next step you need to think of is to promote your iPhone app and make the maximum profit from the sales of this app. While general app marketing techniques are more or less the same across the entire range of mobile devices and platforms available today, the App Store deserves special treatment, as it is a huge store that includes mobile apps in every imaginable, probable category. Marketing your iPhone app in such a way as to make it stand out among them all is quite a Herculean task.

Listed below are some ways you can use to successfully market your iPhone app in the Apple App Store:

Promote App in the iTunes App Store

Promoting your app in the iTunes app store is one step you should never neglect, as it may well prove to be the single most influential factor in bestowing you success in this app marketplace.

It is a fact that the most avid iPhone users are constantly on the lookout for newer apps for their iPhone and iPad. These users would most probably visit the iTunes App Store to get useful information on the latest apps. This is the reason why focusing on this app store is so important to you.

Focus on Making Your App Appealing

Since the iTunes App Store is a veritable gateway for you to make good profits with your iPhone app, you should focus on making the app most appealing to visitors. For this, the overall appearance of the app must be effective enough to generate a good conversion rate among visitors, that is, to rope in as many customers as possible. The following is what you should do in order to enhance app appearance and make it more engaging for your visitors:

1.      As we have seen before, properly naming your app is one of the most important steps in achieve success with app marketing. Your app name should be such that it describes the function of your app, cleverly including the keyword within itself. A good app name is the first and foremost thing to get your app featured prominently in the latest app listings.

2.      The app description should be clear and concise, stating the exact purpose for which your iPhone app has been created. This description should be keyword-rich as well. You should also feature clear photos and video previews of your app, so that potential users get a good idea about the same.

3.      Next, get as many customer reviews on your app. The more the positive reviews, the more are the chances of your app being featured repeatedly in the app store listings. The best way to get started with this is to share your app among family and friends, asking them to post their reviews online.

Submit App to iPhone Review Sites

Many iPhone developers tend to overlook this simple but very effective technique to further promote their app and give it most visibility in the marketplace. App review sites are nice locations to feature your app for free, as also get your much-needed user reviews for your app.

Though this technique does not guarantee instant app popularity, it does give you one more way to get your app that precious little piece of attention from visitors to such sites. Besides, this is a place which offers you an additional opportunity for link-building to your mobile app Website, in case you have already created one.

Social Network and Website Banner Ads

Most app developers typically concentrate on promoting their apps via the various social networks today. While this may be able to bring in a few users for your app, it cannot be the primary vehicle for app promotion. For instance, advertising on social Websites such as Facebook can prove to be very expensive for you. Not only that; not too many users are particularly interested in clicking on the ads placed on such Websites. Hence, advertising on these sites may not be worth the time, effort and money taken for the same.

The same is the case for banner advertising. Unless you are already a well-established app developer, who has won accolades with many apps in the past, the chances are that not many visitors on social networks will want to click on your ad. Nevertheless, it may help generate a certain minimum amount of sales for you.

In Conclusion

In conclusion, though marketing via social networks and mobvertising certainly enable you to make money to some degree, the most important step towards successfully marketing your iPhone app would be to feature it in the iTunes App Store and also try and gather the maximum possible amount of positive user reviews for the same.

Wish you all the best with your marketing venture!

Pros and Cons of major App Stores

App Stores are really popular today, for customers seeking to download/purchase mobile apps and also for developers to showcase, market and sell their applications.

There are many App Stores today and each of these app stores vastly differs from the other, in terms of pricing, billing, presentation and support. Each even rates the same app in different ways, which may finally get the customer in knots about whether or not to purchase a certain app. Which among these app stores are the best and how does one choose from them?

In this section, we deal with the pros and cons of the major App Stores in the market today.

1. Apple’s App Store

The App Store was originally created by Apple Inc., to help users download applications, both free and paid, from the iTunes Store onto their iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.
Pros

• Probably the biggest app store, comprising more than 1,00,000 apps
• Largest category of apps, ranging from fun apps to more serious ones
• Features a whole lot of free apps. The paid ones are very reasonable
• iTunes, is Apple’s biggest advantage. No other store so far offers users this facility

Cons

• Only the most downloaded apps are featured prominently
• Using the Apple App Store is the only method a user can install apps in their iPhone
• There is duplication of many apps in the "lite" version of apps
• Apple’s recent inclusion policies are very restrictive 

2. Android Market

Though the Google Android Market had initially gotten off to a slow start, it has now grown tremendously in both size and popularity. Some experts believe that it may very soon be capable of superseding the all-powerful Apple App Store.
Pros

• The Android Market features about 250,000 apps
• Developers only pay a low fee of $25 to register
• The apps are available at low costs too
• Each item is categorized and listed out neatly

Cons

• Quality of apps leaves a lot to be desired
• Google supports only 29 countries to sell apps in their store. Developers from all other nationalities can only publish free apps
• The app store is accessible only in certain countries of the world
• Many developers feel that the app market is highly fragmented

 

3. BlackBerry App World

The BlackBerry App World, which has been live from April 2009, has proved to be one of the more promising app stores, offering more than 3500 apps. The store presentation is neat and easy to navigate. Each item is categorized systematically, so finding any app becomes very easy.
Pros

• General presentation is very neat – all items are well categorized
• The only app store that supports Paypal billing
• The only one that pays developers 80% of the sales

Cons

• On the higher end among all app stores, so products are more expensive
• Some customers complain of issues during app installation
• Can only be accessed in some countries of the world
• This App Store requires the developer to pay up $200 to register his account therein

 

4. Nokia Ovi Store

The Nokia Ovi Store focuses on five main areas, namely, Games, Maps, Media, Messaging and Music.
Nokia has undoubtedly put in a lot of effort on building their app store and give Apple, Microsoft and Google a run for their money. The user can access the Ovi services from his mobile device, via the Nokia Ovi Suite on his PC or even through the Web.
Pros

• User interface is clean and easy to access
• Developers need not pay to register
• Nokia takes maximum effort to promote the developer’s app, at no extra cost

Cons
The only disadvantage about the Nokia Ovi Store is that it features very few apps at the present time.

 

5. Microsoft Windows Marketplace for Mobile

In spite of having many apps in just a few months, the Microsoft Windows Marketplace for Mobile fails to impress. Of course, there are also some positives.
Pros

• All apps are well tested  
• The app store managed to feature about 400 apps in a single month.

Cons

• Each developer is charged a registration fee of $99
• Developers are limited to certain countries only
• Developers can sell their app only in one country. If they want to feature their app in more than one country, they have to pay $10 per country
• The user is allowed 5 free app tries, after which he has to pay up $99 per try
• Functional only on 6.1 and 6.5 OS

 

 

6. Samsung Application Store

The biggest advantage of the Samsung Application Store is that it supports both the Symbian and the Pocket PC platforms. The store also keeps a perfect record of its apps, testing them thoroughly.
From time to time, the Samsung Application Store also involves itself in promotional activities and contests, where they offer a considerable amount of cash to the winning developer.
Pros

• Neat catalogue design – the store is well-maintained
• Each listing only costs $10
• All apps are thoroughly tested before they feature on the app store

Cons

• There are only about 600 apps in the store
• For now, the app store is accessible only in Italy, UK and France