iTunes Connect, the way to submit your App

If you have checked all the boxes regarding your app submission check list, you can now move on to submission.
Submission happens only through iTunes Connect. If you believe you can talk to Apple about your app in the process, forget about it. iTunes Connect is just a landing platform which will inform you of the following submission steps:

1) Prepare for upload
2) Waiting for Upload
3) Upload received
4) Waiting for review
5) In review
6) Processing for App Store
7) Ready for sale

Between "Waiting for review" and "In review", 15 days will pass in a complete silence, so be patient. And pray. Pray that your testing has been well done, otherwise you will have to retake the whole process from the start.

ios developers praying Apple divinity during submission

Apple will check that your app is compliant with the AppStore rules and that it works. And that's pretty much it. Review last on average a few hours, very frustrating when you think that nothing happened for 15 days while "waiting for review".

If your app is rejected, Apple will give you the reason why (the bug they found for example). I strongly suggest not to discuss your rejection, even if you feel it's unjustified.

Don't play too smart if your app gets rejected

In a world where the only relationship you will have with Apple is based on your app and half filled dialog boxes, it's better to keep it clean. Remember that Apple is the one calling the shots here. Even if customers will be terribly frustrated from not getting your app, all these customers are Apple customers. And Apple is not going to jeopardize its customer relationship for you.

So what can you do during those 15 days? Well for one thing you can create a facebook or google+ page, a tweeter account and start creating some awareness around your app. If your customer target is not too wide, you can also start creating some buzz.   If you have connections at Apple, it might help you get some interest but we didn't have any so it didn't take us very far.

And then, one day, you will receive the magic notification "Processing for AppStore" very quickly followed by "Ready for Sale". You're in baby and that's worth celebrating!

Celebrate when you get your "ready for sale" notification

Nonetheless don't forget that :

- You will need to go through the same process for EVERY evolution (which will be very stressful for bug resolution)
- It's only the beginning!

Will everything be free on the App Store?

Creating an app is a painful process, it takes long time and you would believe it deserves to get some reward and a price. One thing when you start thinking about pricing an App is that you can't escape having those wild billionaire dreams where all users will pick up your app and you'll end up purchasing a beautiful island somewhere.

All app developers share the same dream

Before approaching any fancy real estate agency and putting option on a Ferrari, you will need to pick up your pricing model. Choices aren't that large even if Apple pricing matrix offers up to 87 tiers.

Setting the starting price for your app seems to offer lot of flexibility. You can either:

Option#1: Go for an upfront price ($0.99 and above)
Option#2: Go for a freemium model ($0 and selling in-apps)
Option#3: Go for upfront + in-apps because you are very confident
Option#4: Go for free because fame is the reward you are looking for

Option #1: For some obscure reason, someone at Apple decided to make prices start at $0,99 and by doing so made completely useless about 70 tiers above $10. On iPhone, prices have already got down to $0.99 and as Richard Gaywood stated it, it looks that there is very little room for prices above that tier.
The iPad has been somewhat preserved from the cup of coffee syndrome but there are very few apps above the $5 tier. I see a few reasons to this deviation from the iphone apps price behavior:

- The iPad reaches a different kind of public than the iPhone (families, business people) who sound more able to pay for an app that's worth it
- There are less apps for iPad than iPhone and competition has not been as fierce as on the iPhone market

Overall I think there is a market on the iPad for the moment but looking at the way iPhone market has evolved I am pessimistic and Option#2 is likely to become the standard.

No escape from the freemium model?

Option #2: The freemium model will probably become a standard in the months to come. Most of the games have already gone that way and with increasing pressure on boosting downloads, going free seems the way to go (check out this incredible experience). With a broader customer base, In-Apps purchases make sense, provided that they come with a service.

There are however 3 limits to this model:
- Customer behavior may evolve with the increasing amount of junk apps around. They may become suspicious at free apps and may be willing to pay if they see a point in getting your app.
- What has value has a price, everyone knows there is no such thing as a free ride. They know that there is a price to pay at some point either with in Apps or with no maintenance.
- Customers are zappers: they get an app and for a large majority of them, they just forget about it after a few hours, making In-Apps just inapt.

So big question is: are we doomed? 

Unsustainable business model will bring everyone down

Everyone needs to make a living. There are less and less investors on App Store start ups and many developers are giving up because it's just not sustainable that everything goes for free. Price war is like nuclear war, at some point everyone loses. Even Apple will start to worry (at some point) because what makes iPhone and iPad competitive is the number of apps available. And with an unsustainable business model, who will develop apps?

Conclusion and I am asking Apple here: why not make possible a 30 days trial on every app? It will give customers more confidence in what they buy and developers a reason to compete!

It's not that hard to do and cannot be more complicated than the pricing matrix!

Screenshots on the App Store: how to choose them?

Screenshots have always been an important part of the purchasing process on the App Store. It is the only way for the App shopper to get an idea of what the app look like.

If you are familiar with reading patterns, you know that the average shopper will surf very quickly through your screenshots (15 seconds is the average time spent). In that case, what's critical is to get the shopper to stop by. Therefore catching his/her attention must be your only obsession.

If the shopper doesn't stop by, it's not a good screenshot

Also if you have updated your iPad to ios 6 (meaning you have at least an iPad 2), you also noticed that on the App Store screenshots now come first, making it more important to put up the best you have, especially the two first screenshots which will make a difference.

On iPad 1:

Text first, screenshots second with an iPad 1

And now on iPad 2 or above

The first 2 screenshots come first on ios 6

I have also noticed some app developers have put concept pictures instead of their real app screenshots which is something I don't recommend. The shopper is visiting your App Store site to get an idea of what your app is about, if he/she was looking for concept pictures, there's all he/she needs on the net. If the picture you put up is not about your app, forget it.

Instead focus either on real app screenshots OR contextual picture of your app i.e the user using your app in a particular situation (remember the umbrella principle). 

In either case, I recommend one important thing: tell a story! Tell what is happening when you use your app, it's the best way to attract their attention.

Your screenshots should tell a story

A user case scenario is a good way to tell a story. Here's what we have picked up:

1) Screenshot 1: Welcome screen

2) Screenshot 2: Setting up a meeting

3) Screenshot 3: Meeting notes being taken

4) Screenshot 4: A finalized meeting Report

5) Screenshot 5: The email ready to be sent with the attached meeting report

You can also add a few comments on your screenshots to help the user better understand what the screenshot is about (features and such).

Finally don't forget to update your screenshots when you have a new version available.