ZiadaTime is here!

The pain of waiting is over. I made it. Finally, I made it. I don't know how many times (for the past years) I've thought about going through the process of befriending Xcode and going through the hassle of getting an app into the App Store.

After submission it took 4 days before the app was reviewed. Once so, it went like a charm through the process steps and before I knew it, it was right there!

I chose to charge $0.99 for two reasons:

  1. I really needed to learn Apple's contracting procedure for payment.
  2. I don't care if it puts presumptive installers off. Due to 1.
  3. There is no third reason. :-)

..but maybe I'll just switch it to be free for all sometime. (You didn't hear that).

Now, on to the next project. But before that, I'll jot something down about how it all went down.

Later!

Submitting To The App Store Is No Walk In The Park

Yesterday evening, as the painkillers for my back kicked in, I got some extra energy and decided to upload my very first app to the iOS App Store.

The one thing I've been dreading all along since I started developing the iOS app, is going through the infamous process of getting the app into the App Store. I've heard it is a cumbersome and time-consuming act.

Yes, time-consuming it was. After fiddling with screenshots, setting up a bundle id, distribution provisioning profile etc, it was time to actually prepare the meta data for the app itself.

Oh no, my designated app name was already taken! :-(

  • Figure out a new app name
  • Change whatever graphics was affected
  • Upload new screenshots.
  • Drop the app id and change build settings in Xcode.

Lesson learned!

Set the app meta data up in iTunes Connect first, so your app name belongs to YOU. Then code it and produce graphics.

Anyway, the whole process took two hours before I had the app binary uploaded. Another 15 minutes of auto-processing in iTunes Connect. Finally the state turned into:

YAY! Waiting For Review! Wow, now I can't do more than hope I haven't made any mistakes big enough to get a rejection. :-)

I checked the whole list of process steps:

  • Prepare For Submission
  • Waiting For Review
  • In Review
  • Pending Contract
  • Waiting For Export Compliance
  • Pending Developer Release (Submitter can choose Manual or Automatic here)
  • Processing For App Store
  • Pending Apple Release
  • Ready For Sale

So yes, it is a p-r-o-c-e-s-s. But I won't complain, it's all a matter of quality, privacy and security. I can totally accept that.

The feeling of actually having uploaded your very first app is... reeeaaally nice. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Googling on how long it takes to go from Waiting For Review to In Review...
Some people have reported 5 days. Some even 15 days! What?? Sigh.. it's going to be two painful weeks if I keep going back and check the status all the time. I think I'll limit myself to do that only ten times per day. :-D

Alright, that's it for now!

The very first posting!

Well... I have to start somewhere.. the upcoming posts will be about how I managed to get my very first iOS app to the App Store. I'll also write a bit about the learning process regarding Swift, Xcode and UIKit.