Today is your big day. You’ve spent months of hard work on developing your app idea, which will bring you closer to the world of fast cars and champagne for breakfast. Everything is ready: your business plan & marketing strategy are just waiting to be fully launched, you’ve already bought letter balloons contracting in your app name and people are nervously waiting to see your baby born. So what are you waiting for? Oh, yeah, there is one teeny-tiny thing you need to take care of first.
ADDING YOUR APP TO APP STORES
By now, your app exists only in yours and your developers/closest ones/investors consciousness. That’s not enough – it’s time for your app to leave the nest and fly as high as it can. The places where it can thrive the most are app stores – that’s why it’s essential, to put your app there right. According to Statista, there are 2,8 million apps in a Google Play Store and 2,2 million in AppStore right now – that’s A LOT of apps.
You think that people would add their precious app to these stores if they weren’t the best place for them? I don’t think so. But before you find out how to add your app to app stores, you need to find out what are the main differences between those two biggest, owned by Apple and Google, applications markets. It will help you to make a decision to which one you should add your app into. But remember – you can’t add your Android designed app to App Store and vice versa – so you need to very thoroughly consider the platform you are choosing for your app at the very beginning of its development process. Ok, so back to app stores: we will start with the numbers:
App Store vs Google Play Store differences in numbers
By numbers itself, it appears to be clear, that the Google Play Store is definitely a better place to publish your app. The adding procedure is much faster and cheaper, and the number of apps downloaded in total is much higher. So how the heck is it possible that apps in AppStore bring so much bigger income to developers and the store than those in Google Play? The catch here is that these two appstores have different target audiences.
Wanna find out about other differences between iOS and Android? Check this ebook
As you can see, the users of those two app stores differ from each other greatly. And we believe that the key to getting the most valuable users of your app is to tailor your product and its marketing strategy to the RIGHT target audience.
Alright, I guess you know enough that we could proceed to the bottom of the things. Creme de la creme. So let’s add your app to an app store!
ADDING YOUR APP TO THE APPLE’S APP STORE
We will start with the Apple shop.
WHAT YOU HAVE TO PREPARE AT FIRST:
– check that your app passes App Store Review Guidelines
– create Apple developer program account
– make sure that your computer runs Mac OS X
– and it has Xcode development environment installed
1. Create an iTunes Connect app record
Before you can upload your app to Apple App Store you need to create a record in iTunes Connect. You have to include there all the information that needed to manage the app through the distribution process and data that you want to appear on the store for the app.
2. Configure your XCode project for distribution
You have to set Identity and Team, Bundle ID, create a provisioning profile and set version number and release string. All that could be done from the General pane in the project editor.
3. Archive your app
Regardless of the type of distribution method that you have selected, you need to create an archive for your app. Xcode archives allow you to build your app and store it, along with critical debugging information, in a bundle that’s managed by Xcode. Choose Product > Archive to create an archive. Xcode will create and store archive in Archives organizer.
4. Run iTunes Connect validation tests
Validate your archive before uploading it to iTunes Connect. In the Archives organizer selects the archive and click Validate. If it founds any validation issues – take a closer look at them and fix them.
5. Upload your app
You’re almost there! To upload your app to iTunes Connect, in the Archives organizer select the archive you want to upload and click “Upload to App Store”.
6. Submit Version for Review
Before releasing, EACH app that is submitted has to be reviewed by the Apple team. The app should comply with App Store guidelines. You can request a Manual or Automatic release of the approved app – we recommend you to choose the manual one. Before submitting your app, make sure that all the relevant infrastructure (backend servers, etc.) is running in the production mode. The review usually takes 1 day for Mac App Store and 2 days for iOS App Store. If your app was not approved, review the notes in the Resolution Center and make any necessary changes to the app or version information, then resubmit.
7. Release
Now finally, your BIG moment arrived: you will make your mobile app live. The last things that you need to do are: if you selected Manual release, click Release your app when you’re ready. Then wait for the green “Ready for Sale” version status (This might take from 1 hour to 1 day after release). When it appears to search for your app on the App Store. Is it here? Well, you made it, it’s time for opening a bottle of champagne!
And that’s it, there is no turning back now – your app is available for all Apple users. Just remember, that when you will want to submit a new version of your app, you will only have to repeat steps 2 through 7.
ADDING YOUR APP TO GOOGLE PLAY STORE
Obviously, the next one that goes is Google Play Store.
WHAT YOU HAVE TO PREPARE AT FIRST:
– create your Google Play publisher account
– if you want to sell your apps, instead of offering them for free with ads, you also need to set up a Google Wallet Merchant account
– it will be much easier for you, if you also prepare a description of your app, high-res icon and at least 2 screenshots
1. Add new application
While your Google Play publisher account is ready, to add the application click the “+ Add new application” button. The first thing you’ll see is a dialog asking for the default language and the title of your app. You’re then presented with two options “Upload APK” and “Prepare Store Listing”. It doesn’t matter which one you choose first but we will go with APK first.
2. Upload APK
As the title says, this step is all about uploading your Android Package File (APK). A link to this file is emailed to you whenever you successfully build your application and can be downloaded at any time from your projects section on Andromo. Click the “Upload APK” button, and browse for your application file to upload.
3. Preparing store listing
The Store Listing is like the front page of your app – those are the things, that your users will see when they will find it in the Google Play store. The available listing details are described in detail in Google’s uploading applications help topic. This step involves submitting content such as your title, description, icon, screenshots, categorization, contact details, and privacy policy.
4. Pricing & Distribution
This is the moment when you choose the monetization strategy for your app: will it be for free or paid? You are also choosing here where you want your app to be available and you are defining users consent options.
5. Publishing your App
If you have done everything right – you should be able to publish your app. A”Publish this app” button will be enabled on the page. Click it! After you do it, your application should appear in the store usually after a few hours (but could take longer).
BONUS STEP: Editing your Listing
If you want to go back to edit your listing or upload a new version of your application, you can. When you make your changes simply save them and they should be live in the store in twenty minutes or so.
Now you have it – a powerful knowledge, of how to make your mobile app available for millions of mobile users. Use it wisely and start thinking about another step of your app owner path – how to encourage users to download your product? Check these 10 bulletproof strategies and you will reach 1 million downloads of your app before you even notice.
