{"id":"454","date":"2016-09-26T06:30:41","date_gmt":"2016-09-26T13:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/blog\/?p=454"},"modified":"2017-08-07T10:25:51","modified_gmt":"2017-08-07T17:25:51","slug":"launching-app-store","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.pickfu.com\/launching-app-store\/","title":{"rendered":"Launching in the App Store: What Devs Wish They Had Known"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Launching in the App Store means being at the mercy of Apple and Google, a nerve-racking prospect. Rejections can sometimes seem arbitrary, and unforeseen bumps in the road can delay\u00a0a launch. <\/p>\n<p>We asked experienced app developers what they wish they had known before releasing their first app. Here&#8217;s what they said:<!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>Be conscientious with data<\/h2>\n<p>&#8220;Many times, we&#8217;ve seen our customers wanting to collect a wide array of user data for their analysis and marketing purposes,&#8221; said Mark Pedersen, app developer at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nodesagency.com\" target=\"_blank\">Nodes Agency<\/a> in London. &#8220;But if the app is not using these data for anything particular, odds are <strong>your app will be rejected due to collecting information not related to core functionality of the app<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>One suggestion: &#8220;<strong>Don&#8217;t ask users to subscribe to push notifications upon first opening the app without providing context for why you\u2019re requesting permission<\/strong>,&#8221; adds Jonathan Levey, Digital Marketing Manager for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skyjet.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Skyjet<\/a>. &#8220;It&#8217;s better to prompt the user to opt in at some key experience point when they\u2019re likely to be interested in receiving notifications.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Why is this important? The next tip explains. <\/p>\n<h2>Make sure your app has staying power<\/h2>\n<p>&#8220;Ever download an app and try it out and realize it was a waste of your time and then immediately delete it? Well, in doing so, that negatively affects that app&#8217;s rankings in the store you got it from,&#8221; said Bryan Clayton, CEO of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.yourgreenpal.com\" target=\"_blank\">GreenPal<\/a>. Both the Apple App Store and Google Play measure how long an app stays on a user&#8217;s phone after it has been downloaded. &#8220;This is one of the best metrics for these platforms to understand if the app is quality enough to be solving the user&#8217;s problem, need, or desire. To move the needle on this metric, app developers simply must <strong>have a clean, concise, easy-to-understand user interface that satisfies the user&#8217;s intent<\/strong>.&#8221;    <\/p>\n<h2>Add video<\/h2>\n<p>A great way to showcase your app is by <strong>adding video<\/strong>. &#8220;This will make it stand out from the other two million apps in the App Store and make consumers far more likely to engage and eventually download your app,&#8221; says Bob Bentz, president of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.atsmobile.com\/mobile-app-development\" target=\"_blank\">ATS Mobile<\/a>. &#8220;Many new apps simply don&#8217;t take advantage of it.&#8221; However, it&#8217;s important that your preview video focuses on functionality only.<\/p>\n<h2>Make sure it&#8217;s release-ready<\/h2>\n<p>&#8220;If you update your app straight away, the reviews you received from Day 1 users will move from Current Version to All Versions,&#8221; warns Ashley Burnett, 18-year-old creator of <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/type-in-time\/id1037049260?mt=8\" target=\"_blank\">Type In Time<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.theashcode.motormath&#038;hl=en\" target=\"_blank\">Motor Math<\/a>. &#8220;You want as many Current Version reviews as possible, as you will get an average star rating under your app&#8217;s listing, which looks nice. Therefore, you should ensure 100% there are no bugs and <strong>give it a week or two before releasing any non-urgent updates<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Remember the basics<\/h2>\n<p>One of the most common issues is forgetting meta-data. &#8220;The <strong>meta-data should always be double-checked for containing correct information and no broken links<\/strong>, since the moderators in the App Store are particularly keen on having correct meta-data,&#8221; says Pedersen. In addition, he warns, &#8220;the App Store moderators are intent on all apps having proper privacy policies in place. Apple takes this item very seriously, and <strong>even a few minor spelling errors in the privacy policy can result in rejections<\/strong>.&#8221;  <\/p>\n<h2>More helpful hints<\/h2>\n<p>\u2022 Visit <a href=\"http:\/\/appreviewtimes.com\" target=\"_blank\">AppReviewTimes.com<\/a> to get a crowdsourced idea of how long the review process will take.<br \/>\n\u2022\u00a0Email <a href=\"mailto:appstorepromotion@apple.com\" target=\"_blank\">appstorepromotion@apple.com<\/a> and <a href=\"mailto:appoftheweek@apple.com\" target=\"_blank\">appoftheweek@apple.com<\/a> to increase your chances of being featured.<br \/>\n\u2022 Use PickFu to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/blog\/pickfu-super-80s-world\/\" target=\"_blank\">test app names<\/a>, icons, descriptions, and more so that you have data <strong>before<\/strong> entering the review queue.<\/p>\n<p><em>Got more advice for aspiring apps? Comment below!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":""},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Launching in the App Store means being at the mercy of Apple and Google, a nerve-racking prospect. Rejections can sometimes seem arbitrary, and unforeseen bumps in the road can delay\u00a0a &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":""},"author":"2","featured_media":"457","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":"","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":"","_editorskit_reading_time":"0","_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":"","_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":["12","16"],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Launching in the App Store: What Devs Wish They Had Known - The PickFu blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We asked experienced app developers what they wish they had known before launching in the App Store. 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