You’re almost there! Now you are going to launch your app on App Store, here is our updated checklist for the App Store submission for iOS 11 apps.
You will be submitting your application through a portal called iTunes Connect — the information you provide shall define how distinguishable and competitive your app will be. Below, we explain what you should fill in to help your app’s discovery as well as things to avoid.
Important: Your app must support 64-bit architecture for iOS 11
As Apple announced, applications for iOS 11 should support 64-bit. 32-bit only apps will not launch on iOS 11 devices.
You shall make sure your library dependencies and your own project is compatible with 64-bit architectures. In your project in Xcode, it should include arm64 in your supported Architectures.
App Name (required)
App name is your product’s name listed on the App Store. The length of your app name should be less than or equal to 50 characters.
Note that some devices might not be able to display a long name due to screen size limitations. Apple suggests having 23 characters or less for optimal presentation on every device. You are also advised to check competitors to learn from their titles for app discovery, keywords, and descriptive taglines.
Examples:
- Whatsapp: “Whatsapp Messenger”
- Flipboard: “Flipboard: News for Any Passion”
- UberEATS: “UberEATS: Food Delivery”
Subtitle (required)
Since app name has a limited length, you can make use of subtitle to summarize your app. The subtitle appears right below your app name. You can add up to 30 characters to highlight the best features of your app.
App Icon (required)
Check the Apple App Icon guide for the latest updates. Don’t miss the Notification and Spotlight icons. *You will be required a 1024×1024 iTunes Artwork image as well. For most cases, you can use the same image for your appicon.
App Preview (optional)
App Preview where you can upload a short video (between 15 to 30 seconds) that shows the app interface and demonstrates your app features.
You can quickly make an app preview video by doing the following:
- List out a flow for demonstrating different functionalities
- Record a video that follows the App Preview Guide, using 6 steps. Quick Time Player in macOS is a recommended tool to record app previews.
- Editing the video in iMovie. You can add clips, titles or transitions. Here is a more in-depth guide for editing preview video.
Screenshots (required)
iTunes Connect has introduced the Media Manager, so you don’t need to upload hundreds of screenshots for all screen sizes. There are two sets of screenshots required when you submit your app:
- iPhone
- iPad
Of course, you can optimize by providing different sets of screenshots per device using our app Shotbot.
5.5-inch display screenshots for our side project app Spentable.
Promotion Text (optional)
Promotional text lets you inform your App Store visitors of current app features without an updated submission. This text will appear above your description on the App Store for customers with devices running iOS 11 or later.
Description (required)
The first and second sentences of your app description are critical. The remaining text of the description is hidden by default and most readers never click on the “More” button. Keep your sentences simple, short, and focused on the immediate value of your app to a user.
Category (required)
That helps users and App Store Editors (Yes, there are Editors!) understand who your app serves quickly.
You can fill in a primary and a secondary category for your app.
The primary category affects where your app will be placed in the App Store. The categories also let users to filter their search results, for example our Spentable app is in the “Productivity” category.
Note: Apple added the Games tab on App Store in iOS 11.
For example: UberEATS is Food & Drink, Facebook is Social Networking
Available categories
Subcategories (optional)
If you have chosen Games or Magazines & Newspapers as the primary or secondary category, you can choose up to two subcategories to help more accurately define your game or type of news.
Keywords (required)
Separate keywords and keyword phrases with commas. Keywords are limited to 100 characters. You can get ideas for keywords by referencing your competitors. App Annie is an analytic tool that shows what your competitors already use.
Avoid adding the key word types below:
- plural forms of words (e.g. “hotels” if you already have “hotel”)
- the word “app”
- the words already appeared in your category
- duplicate words
Support URL (required)
You need to submit a support URL that must lead to actual contact information for your users who have questions or feedback regarding your app. You need to submit the entire link (including protocol e.g. http:// or https://). For example: ｀https://support.oursky.com｀
Marketing URL to a Website (optional)
Marketing URL and Support URL can be the same. This can be a landing web page of your web site. There are website generator tools like our product Appsite to help developers to launch a landing page in 5 mins based on information you’ve already provided on the App Store.
People usually search for product solutions on Google rather than directly searching on the App Store, so having a single-page website containing information for your app will be useful for discovery. The contents can be as simple as a title, meta description and keywords relevant to your app to help SEO.
Privacy Policy URL (Optional)
A URL for your privacy policies. This is required for certain types of apps listed below:
- Apps made for Kids
- Apps Offering auto-renewable or free subscriptions
- Apps with account registration
- Apps accessing users’ existing account
- Or required by law
Copyright (required)
For example, you can fill in 2017.
The copyright symbol will be added automatically on the store.
SKU number (required)
SKU number is a unique ID for your app recognized by Apple only and not seen by users. It cannot be edited again after saving to iTunes Connect. You can use letters, numbers, hyphens, periods, and underscores. Apple suggests using a value that is meaningful to your organization.
License Agreement (optional)
Apple has provided a standard EULA (i.e. End User License Agreement). You can also submit a License Agreement that supersedes the Apple one. It should be in plain text form and all other HTML tags should be avoided except link break character. You can include multiple languages in the agreement.
TL;DR
- My app name is within 50 characters
- My app has a concrete and attractive tagline as my subtitle
- I have prepared app icons and the iTunes Artwork images in all required sizes
- At least 1 set of screenshots for iPhone
- (If you support iPad) At least 1 set of screenshots for iPad
- Promotion text
- My app has a detail description
- I have chosen up to 2 categories for my app
- (For games / news and magazines) I have chosen up to 2 subcategories for my app
- I have research keywords for my app, it should be less than 100 characters
- My app has a valid support URL
- My app has valid copyright information
- My app has a valid SKU number
- (optional) A 15 to 30s video as the App Preview
- (optional) My app has a marketing site as the Marketing URL
- (optional) My app has an updated Privacy Policy and an accessible Privacy Policy URL
(optional) My app has an updated End User License Agreement
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