Application Submitting Process
by Ecliptic · in iTorque 2D · 03/16/2009 (9:34 am) · 15 replies
Didn't see any threads for this so I figured I would create one and see if any others would mind chiming in. We can use this thread for those who might have questions about the process.
My applications were submitted on the 9th and are currently still "In Review" status. I have been reading that it takes a week usually but some people have waited longer. Even some of those had to send the ADC an email letting them know their application hasn't been reviewed.
I believe the whole process to for submitting applications was pretty painful with all the certificates, but the actual upload process was very intuitive and easy to understand.
All in all, I think that the store submittal process is well done. What I did find odd was with my first submitted game I got a extra page that asked about adult content, humor, violence, ect... My second application did not have that information for me to fill out. Did any others come across this as well?
On a side note, I will be attending the Game Developer Conference for any of those who are going and might want to meet up. I plan on taking some summits for the mobile development.
Dane
My applications were submitted on the 9th and are currently still "In Review" status. I have been reading that it takes a week usually but some people have waited longer. Even some of those had to send the ADC an email letting them know their application hasn't been reviewed.
I believe the whole process to for submitting applications was pretty painful with all the certificates, but the actual upload process was very intuitive and easy to understand.
All in all, I think that the store submittal process is well done. What I did find odd was with my first submitted game I got a extra page that asked about adult content, humor, violence, ect... My second application did not have that information for me to fill out. Did any others come across this as well?
On a side note, I will be attending the Game Developer Conference for any of those who are going and might want to meet up. I plan on taking some summits for the mobile development.
Dane
#2
I think it would be nice to have almost a tracking system to tell if the "review" process has actually been started or if you are still on the list.
03/16/2009 (12:06 pm)
From what I have been researching... The rate about now seems to be 7 - 10 business days which seems close to your experience as well. When submitting your application did your status change between "In Review" straight to "ready for sale"? I think it would be nice to have almost a tracking system to tell if the "review" process has actually been started or if you are still on the list.
#3
One mistake I made was not checking off the 'all ipod touch and iphone'. This made my app unavailable to the 1st gen folks who really wanted to try it, and some folks complained loudly. It was easy to fix, and the app store reflected the change in about an hour.
Somebody found my app before I was even aware it was approved, and there was a largish thread about it on TouchArcade. Was pretty exciting! I did swap binaries halfway through the wait, with some bugfixes I had made.
03/16/2009 (12:59 pm)
I submitted my app on Friday the 6th around noon. It got approved Saturday the 13th around 9PM.One mistake I made was not checking off the 'all ipod touch and iphone'. This made my app unavailable to the 1st gen folks who really wanted to try it, and some folks complained loudly. It was easy to fix, and the app store reflected the change in about an hour.
Somebody found my app before I was even aware it was approved, and there was a largish thread about it on TouchArcade. Was pretty exciting! I did swap binaries halfway through the wait, with some bugfixes I had made.
#4
Less than two weeks is normal, with same week approvaly being more common lately. Looks like they work all week. I get responses to my frequent bug reports on Saturday evenings :)
03/16/2009 (2:39 pm)
There are many threads about this on the Apple forums. The oldest ones start out with bad news, but the review process is much faster now (usually).Less than two weeks is normal, with same week approvaly being more common lately. Looks like they work all week. I get responses to my frequent bug reports on Saturday evenings :)
#5
Good thing I have a cousin that attends USF, so I can crash her pad to save on lodging expenses. :)
03/16/2009 (3:24 pm)
Yes, I will also be at the GDC 2009, from 25th to the 27th of this month.Good thing I have a cousin that attends USF, so I can crash her pad to save on lodging expenses. :)
#6
Click Here for Rock Paper Scissors
This is not made with torque, was just a simple test to see the process of submitting and how a quick turn around game does in the market compared to my other game made with torque which is 3 months of work and still in development.
I will let you guys know what type of info I gather from these :).
Dane
03/17/2009 (7:31 am)
Well my first application was just approved on there yesterday night. So it only took 6 business days for it to make it to the store. I have another that was submitted the next day as well so I would think it should be up soon as well. Seems to be fairly quick though either way.Click Here for Rock Paper Scissors
This is not made with torque, was just a simple test to see the process of submitting and how a quick turn around game does in the market compared to my other game made with torque which is 3 months of work and still in development.
I will let you guys know what type of info I gather from these :).
Dane
#7
This particular application makes 3 different types of sounds based on the movement of the phone, allows users to take pictures with the camera or load from their library of photos to add to the experience. I geuss the App Store is starting to cut back on the games they let through now a days. I have to admit that it is slightly dissappointing because the Rock Paper Scissors was made as a test for this application =).
Anyhow just wanted to update the post and let people know it took 6 business days for both my applications to be answered.
Back to the drawing board!
Dane
03/17/2009 (12:55 pm)
Well I heard back from apple about my other application today. Unfortunately they felt there was not enough user functionality for it to be available on the App Store. I was kind of shocked with that decission based on games that just produce a sound when moving the phone. This particular application makes 3 different types of sounds based on the movement of the phone, allows users to take pictures with the camera or load from their library of photos to add to the experience. I geuss the App Store is starting to cut back on the games they let through now a days. I have to admit that it is slightly dissappointing because the Rock Paper Scissors was made as a test for this application =).
Anyhow just wanted to update the post and let people know it took 6 business days for both my applications to be answered.
Back to the drawing board!
Dane
#8
03/17/2009 (12:57 pm)
Hey Dane, I did the same thing with CastleGuard lol! NinjaRally is the 2.5 month game we're finishing up this week, so like you, I also submitted a quick one to test the waters and learn the ropes. I am actually making sales though, and decided to develop the game further!
#9
"Simple and easy like all my ex's" :D
By the way, those illustrations are a riot. Photoshop CS4?
03/17/2009 (2:59 pm)
Lol someone left a review for Rock Paper Scissors:"Simple and easy like all my ex's" :D
By the way, those illustrations are a riot. Photoshop CS4?
#10
03/17/2009 (4:52 pm)
Edit: nothing to see here, move along...move along (posted response in the wrong window)
#11
Ronald: Yes the images were created using Illustrator and Photoshop CS4. I felt that the other rock paper scissor applications were very traditional so I wanted to add some humor. I was hoping to bring something different to the category to entice more buyers.
Dane
03/17/2009 (7:42 pm)
LOL Geoff...Ronald: Yes the images were created using Illustrator and Photoshop CS4. I felt that the other rock paper scissor applications were very traditional so I wanted to add some humor. I was hoping to bring something different to the category to entice more buyers.
Dane
#12
A little bit of a gotcha that caught me.
04/09/2009 (12:45 pm)
Well just got a funny message about my app that has delayed its posting to the app store:Quote:
Mini Shogi 1.0 cannot be posted to the App Store because the small bundle icon does not match your large icon. This might be confusing to users.
A little bit of a gotcha that caught me.
#13
04/09/2009 (5:11 pm)
That's interesting. One of my apps, iConga, has mismatched icons and Apple published it. Seems that the app submission criteria is somewhat subjective.
#14
04/10/2009 (9:37 am)
Ya, I was quite surprised, given that they never explicitly stated the two had two match. My guess is they were just too different for comfort. So last night I re-submitted the same app and uploaded a different large icon that matched the small icon. I'm curious to see if the review process is any faster. 
#15
May 15: Started development of Archangel: Fate of the Galactic Commonwealth on iTGB.
July 1: Completed development of version 1.0 and continued beta testing.
July 3: Finalized development of version 1.0. Yeah, I was cramming on the holiday weekend, but I did the same thing with Tipster last year, and the profits remain to have been worth the effort.
July 5: First submission to the App Store.
July 9: Rejected due to the 512x512 and 57x57 icons not matching up (it was the ship, just in two different angles).
July 9: Resubmitted updated application, emailed back to the iPhone Developer Program.
July 10: Received email from iDP, saying, "Thank you for uploading a new binary. We will notify you if there are any further issues."
July 15: Sent email to iDP, "Can you provide a status update for the approval of my game?"
July 16: Rejected due to the use of an iPhone icon in my company logo. My logo originally had a guy holding a keyboard, but I figured it's a new era and I changed it to an iPhone-looking touchscreen device. That's a no-no in Apple's playbook).
July 16: Resubmitted updated application, emailed back to the iDP.
July 16: Sent email to iDP, "If I can make an inquiry, does the review process continue where it was stopped, or does it restart entirely?"
July 17: iDP replied back to July 15 email, "Your application is currently in review. We will inform you if we encounter any further issues."
July 19: iDP replied back to July 16 email, "Thank you for uploading a new binary. We will notify you if there are any further issues."
So, this is where I stand, 17 days later, and still in "In Review" limbo. Talk about painstaking, not to mention the canned responses, such as the one on July 19, when I clearly asked a simple question on whether or not each rejection starts the whole process over again. Or maybe they were responding to the first email when I told them it was reuploaded. I dunno.
Yes, it's been only 3 days since I heard anything from Apple, but it feels like forever. Can't be much longer now...?
07/22/2009 (12:53 pm)
FYI, Here's my timeline...May 15: Started development of Archangel: Fate of the Galactic Commonwealth on iTGB.
July 1: Completed development of version 1.0 and continued beta testing.
July 3: Finalized development of version 1.0. Yeah, I was cramming on the holiday weekend, but I did the same thing with Tipster last year, and the profits remain to have been worth the effort.
July 5: First submission to the App Store.
July 9: Rejected due to the 512x512 and 57x57 icons not matching up (it was the ship, just in two different angles).
July 9: Resubmitted updated application, emailed back to the iPhone Developer Program.
July 10: Received email from iDP, saying, "Thank you for uploading a new binary. We will notify you if there are any further issues."
July 15: Sent email to iDP, "Can you provide a status update for the approval of my game?"
July 16: Rejected due to the use of an iPhone icon in my company logo. My logo originally had a guy holding a keyboard, but I figured it's a new era and I changed it to an iPhone-looking touchscreen device. That's a no-no in Apple's playbook).
July 16: Resubmitted updated application, emailed back to the iDP.
July 16: Sent email to iDP, "If I can make an inquiry, does the review process continue where it was stopped, or does it restart entirely?"
July 17: iDP replied back to July 15 email, "Your application is currently in review. We will inform you if we encounter any further issues."
July 19: iDP replied back to July 16 email, "Thank you for uploading a new binary. We will notify you if there are any further issues."
So, this is where I stand, 17 days later, and still in "In Review" limbo. Talk about painstaking, not to mention the canned responses, such as the one on July 19, when I clearly asked a simple question on whether or not each rejection starts the whole process over again. Or maybe they were responding to the first email when I told them it was reuploaded. I dunno.
Yes, it's been only 3 days since I heard anything from Apple, but it feels like forever. Can't be much longer now...?
Torque 3D Owner Dan Pereira
Default Studio Name
First app took 5 days to hit the store. Second app (game) took 8 days. I should point out though that there may be 24 hours between the "ready for sale" status change and actually being able to find your app on the app store. Keep that in mind before calling Apple. :-)