The steps below will show you how to successfully fill in an app listing in App Store Connect and submit your app for review for the first time.
- Log in to App Store Connect.
- Next, click on the 'My Apps' button to go to the overview of your apps.
- Since this is the first time you will be uploading and publishing your app, a new app listing needs to be created. Click on the '+' sign in the top-left of the window and choose to create a 'New App'.
- After that, a new window will pop up and ask you for several details about your new app listing.
- Select the iOS check box.
- Enter a unique name into the "Name" field. If you enter a name that has already been used in the App Store or registered by another developer, the name field will turn red and give an error.
- Choose a primary language for your app listing.
- Choose the Bundle ID you created earlier for this app, you can click on the drop-down menu and find your Bundle ID in the list.
- Finally, enter an SKU – this is meant as a "code identifier", however, it is not really important for publishing. Simply entering the App Name in all capitals, followed by a number is sufficient.
- Then click on 'Create'.
- Your app listing should be created now and you will be taken to the App Information section. You will see your app name and Bundle ID, your app's newly created and assigned Apple ID number and a few fields on the right that need filling in.
- The privacy policy URL should be the DoubleDutch privacy policy. This can be found here: http://doubledutch.me/privacy/
- The Category of your app falls under the “Productivity” category.
- After making these changes, click on 'Save' in the top-right of the window to save your work before going to the next section.
- Next, click on 'Pricing and Availability' in the left menu.
- Here you will select the 'zero' price for your app and the countries your app will be available in. By default, your app will be available in all countries.
This is normal and fine. If you choose to limit the availability of your app to your country, this is at your own risk for the adoption of your app and the support response time by DoubleDutch.
Note: it is strongly advised to leave the USA, Netherlands, and the Philippines checked in the availability list so that DoubleDutch can provide support swiftly if needed. These are the countries we operate out of.
You can safely ignore the “Volume Purchase Program” section, seeing as your app is being offered for free. - Click on 'Save' in the top-right to save your work.
- Then navigate to the “Prepare for Submission” section in the menu, here you will upload images, the icon, and fill in the app description.
- First, you can upload the splash screen images and screenshots of your app into the screenshot area. You can drag and drop the images into the field. As you can see above the field, there are tabs for iPhone and iPad.
Each device requires at least two images and of certain dimensions. See the Annex below for a list of the dimension requirements of each device. Drag the two images into the field, then click on the next device tab to do the same for that device. When you are finished, click on 'Save' to save your work before continuing to the next section.
Note: screenshots are provided by DoubleDutch in the link containing the IPA file. - Next, you can fill in the "Description" field. The text you enter here will be visible as the app’s description in the App Store. Beware; there are some limitations to this field.
- Next, to the description field, you can see the Keywords, Support URL, and Marketing URL. In the "Keywords" field, you can enter the app name and event name as default terms. The Support URL is the link to where users can find support for the app, which is https://attendeesupport.doubledutch.me. The Marketing URL is the marketing description of the app, which is http://doubledutch.me/product/event-app/.
- Continue to the next step in the distribution process: Uploading your App to App Store Connect, then come back to this page to complete the rest of the steps.
- The next section is the "Build" section where you can select the app build to attach to this app listing. This is the re-codesigned IPA you created during the re-codesigning process.
Click on the '+' sign next to the heading, under "Build", and select your build in the window that pops up.
Note: it can take up to 15 minutes for the "+" sign to appear after uploading your app build. - Click on 'Save' in the top-right to save your work.
- Next, you can drag and drop your app icon image into the App Icon field.
Note: the App Icon must have dimensions of 1024 x 1024 pixels! - Next to the app icon section, you can see the Copyright and Trade Representative section. The copyright belongs to DoubleDutch, Inc. The Trade Representative Contact Information can be filled in with the contact information of your organization – where your Apple Developer has been registered as residing.
- Afterward, the app needs a Rating. You can see the rating section underneath the App Icon section. By default, when you first create the app listing, the app has no rating. You have to answer several questions in order to determine the rating of your app. Click on 'Edit' to open up a window with the questions.
Note: These are the default answers given about apps published by DoubleDutch. If your app will contain any information about alcohol, tobacco, drug use, gambling, or medical topics, please adjust the rating. - Next, you can fill in the App Review Information. Here you can enter the contact information of the person responsible for the Apple Developer account within your organization. Typically, it is the person that has been given the Account Holder role in your organization. All fields are required to be filled.
Below that, there is a Demo Account field. This is the user account that Apple Reviewers will use to log into the app and check its functionality and viability for the App Store. Input an email address from your organization here and then make sure that you add the email as an attendee in the CMS for your events. - Next, you can enter something into the Notes field. Best practice is to enter a secondary contact in case the App Reviewer needs more information to approve the app. Include information like a telephone number and email address. This field is not visible in the app listing in the App Store.
- Finally, you can determine when the app will be released into the App Store. Typically, it is best to leave it on the default setting “Automatically release this version” so that your app is available as soon as possible. If for some reason you would like to have your app only available from a certain date, you can choose this. However, please discuss the implications of this with your DoubleDutch representative.
Note: it takes at least one day for the app to visible in all countries after being released into the App Store. It can happen that after ‘going live’ the app will be seen immediately in the USA, but it will take several hours for it to be visible in the App Store in the Netherlands. This is something to consider when planning a specific date for app release. - Click on 'Save' to finalize your work and continue to app submission.
- After you have saved your work, the button to “Submit for Review” should be colored in and ready to be clicked. Click on it. You will be taken to another page with three final questions about your app. The following are the default answers for your app:
- Export Compliance – No
- Content Rights – No
- Advertising Identifier (IDFA) - No
- Click on 'Submit'. You will be taken back to your app listing now and the status should have changed to “Waiting for Review”.
You're finished!
Note: it can take about 2-10 days for your app to be reviewed, please plan accordingly with your DoubleDutch representative.
Annex - iOS Device Screenshot Dimensions
The dimensions below are the required screenshots for an app listing, the other iOS device specific screenshots have become optional.
The dimensions below are in pixels – width by height.
- iPhone X - 1125 x 2436
- iPhone 6 – 4.7 inch 750 x 1334
- iPhone 6 Plus – 5.5 inch 1242 x 2208
- iPhone 5 – 4 inch 640 x 1136
- iPhone 4 – 3.5 inch 640 x 960
- iPad 768 x 1024
- iPad Pro – 12.9 inch 2048 x 2732
For a detailed guide on screenshot dimension requirements, you can view Apple’s documentation here.
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