Tutorial - Submitting to Application Stores

v1.04 : 05.24.2011


Purpose

The purpose of this document is to outline all the requirements for submission of an application to the Apple Appstore and the Android Market. The first section describes all required assets and information that should be collected to build an application using appMobi's build system. The second section describes what is needed to submit an application to both the Apple Appstore and the Android Market. The final sections of this document include step by step descriptions of how to actually do the application submissions themselves.

Build Requirements

Before building your application using appMobi's build process, you'll need the following assets and information to complete the process.

Application Title

The application title is the text that will be displayed to the user when installed on a device.

The Application Title cannot start with an underscore '_', a dash '-', or a period '.' and cannot end with a period '.'

Be aware that the Application Title may be shortened depending on the width of the letters used (for example an "I" is not as wide as a "W"). On iOS devices, only one line of text is shown before the title is truncated with an ellipsis. The Android operating system allows for two lines of text, but it will truncate a title when it gets too long as well. We suggest that application titles contain less than 19 characters, and try to stay below 11 characters to avoid any truncation as a rule of thumb.

Targeted Operating System Versions

A decision about which operating systems the application should support is a choice in the build process. Currently, the following choices are available. Older operating systems allow the application to run on more devices, but it sacrifices functions that are only available on newer devices.

Platform

Choices

Android

2.1+, 2.2+

iPhone

3.1.3+,4+

iPad

3.2+,4+

iPhone & iPad

3.1.3+,3.2+,4+

Push Email Information

In order to support push for the Android process, a brand new Google account should be opened to register the application's push messaging services to. Google will communicate with this account if there are any problems with the push messaging.

Launch Icons

Applications require launch icons, but different platforms require different size icons. Both stores require that the icon images be .PNG files. The table below shows the differences between the platforms.

Platform

Icon Specifications

Android

72x72 pixels; 32-bit PNG (may include transparency)

iOS

Both 57x57 pixels & 72x72 pixels; PNG format

Splash Screen

While the application loads, it will show a full page graphic known as the splash screen. This image should be provided as well.

Platform

Image Specifications

Android

For a portrait build: both 320x544 and 800x1255 pixels
For a landscape build: both 569x295 and 1280x775 pixels
PNG format

iOS

For a portrait build: both 320x460 and 768x1004 pixels
For a landscape build: both 480x300 and 1024x748 pixels
PNG format

AdHoc Release UDIDs

Each iPhone or iPod Touch has a Unique Device Identifier (UDID), which is a sequence of 40 letters and numbers that is specific to your device. It's like a serial number but much harder to guess. It will look something like this: 2b6f0cc904d137be2e1730235f5664094b831186.

If you would like an ad hoc application for an Apple Appstore build, you'll need to include the UDID of any devices that you would like to run the build on. Device UDIDs can be determined from iTunes or by installing any free UDID application from the iTunes Appstore.

Submission Requirements

Application Store Developer Accounts

In order to submit an application to an application store, a developer account for the appropriate store is required. Developer accounts can be found at the following URLs on the Internet. The Apple iOS Developer program costs $99 a year and can be purchased from http://developer.apple.com. The Android Developer program has a single $25 registration fee and is available at http://developer.android.com.

For step by step information illustrating how to obtain the appropriate developer accounts, download the tutorial Obtaining Application Store Credentials here:

http://www.appmobi.com/amdocs/index.php?DOC=TUTORIAL_APPSTORE_CREDENTIALS

Application Binary File

The binary files produced by the appMobi build process are necessary to submit the application to the application stores.

Build Targets

When an application is prepared for submission to the Apple app store, it can be designated as an iPhone only application, an iPad only application, or as an application that would run on both platforms. Make sure to designate which platform the application is targeting.

Application Text

The application stores require some text to accompany the application for submission.

Text Required

Size in Characters

A title for the application

30

A description of the app you are adding, detailing features and functionality.

4000

The Android market offers a place to enter optional promotional text for the application. This text is required if you include a promotional graphic (see Promotional Graphic below)

80

The Apple Appstore asks developers to specify one or more keywords that describe new applications. When users search the App Store, the terms they enter are matched with keywords to return more accurate results. Multiple keywords should be separated with commas. Keywords cannot be edited once your binary is in review.

100

Categories

The application stores will ask which categories the application should be associated with. The most recent version of the Apple Appstore categories can be found athttp://itunes.apple.com/us/genre/ios/id36?mt=8. The most recent version of the Android Market categories are at http://market.android.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=113475 .

Screenshots

Both Android and Apple app stores require screenshots. The Android market requires at least two. The stores can accept up to five. The screenshots should be a .PNG or .JPG of a specific size. The Android screenshots may be taken from the emulator as long as they are resized appropriately. The table below shows the differences between the sizes of the screenshots for both stores.

Store

Graphic Size

Android

320 x 480, 480 x 800, 480 x 854, or 1280 x 800

iPhone and iPod touch

960x640, 960x600, 640x960, 640x920, 480x320, 480x300, 320x480, or 320x460

.jpeg, .jpg, .tif, .tiff, or .png file that is pixes, at least 72 DPI, and in the RGB color space.

iPad

1024x768, 1024x748, 768x1024, or 768x1004

.jpeg, .jpg, .tif, .tiff, or .png file that is pixes, at least 72 DPI, and in the RGB color space.

High Resolution Application Icon

The Android store requires a high resolution application icon for use in various locations in the Android Market. This icon does not replace the launcher icon. It should be a 512x512 pixels square 32-bit PNG with alpha; Max size of 1024KB.

The Apple store requires a large version of your app icon that will be used on the App Store. It must be at least 72 DPI and a minimum of 512x512 pixels (it cannot be scaled up). It must be flat artwork without rounded corners.

Promotional Graphic

The Android store allows developers to optionally include a promotional graphic for use in various locations in the Android Market. This image should be a 180w x 120h, 24 bit PNG or JPG (no alpha) full bleed, with no border in the art. Promotional text must be included if a promotional graphic is included in the submission process.

Feature Graphic

The Android store allows developers to optionally include a promotional graphic for use in the featured section of the Android Market. This image will be downsized to mini and micro automatically by the Android Market. It should be 1024w x 500h 24 bit PNG or JPG (no alpha) with no transparency.

Video Link

Developers may optionally include a link to a YouTube video showcasing an Android application. A short (30 seconds - 2 minute) video highlighting the top features of the application works the best.

Contact Information

Both application stores require some contact information for support purposes. That information is Contact Email Address, Support Email Address, Support URL, and Application URL. For example, applications that are built under the appMobi credentials use the following settings:

Contact email address: support@appmobi.com

Support email address: support@appmobi.com

Support URL: http://forums.appMobi.com

Application URL: http://forums.appMobi.com

A phone number may optionally be included in the Android application store.

Submitting an Application to the Android Market

Submitting an application to the Android Market requires a valid Android Developer account. For step by step information illustrating how to obtain the appropriate developer accounts, download the tutorial Obtaining Application Store Credentials here:

http://www.appmobi.com/amdocs/index.php?DOC=TUTORIAL_APPSTORE_CREDENTIALS

Once developer credentials have been acquired, log into Google and browse to the Android Market section of the Android developer site ( https://market.android.com/publish/Home). From there, click the button marked "Upload Application".

The page to enter all the submission data collected from the previous step (see Submission Requirements above) will display. The files and information to send to Android on this page include:

Select Publish to immediately send the application to the Android Market, or Save to conserve the listing for submission at a later date.

Submitting an Application to the Apple Appstore

Submitting an application to the Apple Appstore is not nearly as easy as submitting an application to the Android Market. Just like the Android Market, the Apple Appstore requires a valid Apple Developer account. For step by step information illustrating how to obtain the appropriate developer accounts, download the tutorial Obtaining Application Store Credentials here:

http://www.appmobi.com/amdocs/index.php?DOC=TUTORIAL_APPSTORE_CREDENTIALS

Once developer credentials have been acquired, browse to Apple's iOS Dev Center ( http://developer.apple.com/devcenter/ios/index.action). Log in using the email and password assigned to the developer account. Click on iTunes Connect to get started.

Click on Manage Your Applications from iTunes Connect.

Select the Add New App button in the upper right hand corner of iTunes Connect.

Enter the application information as it should appear in the iTunes Appstore. Select the Bundle ID that was assigned to your application during the build process. Make sure that the application was built using the same iOS developer account, or else its Bundle ID will not be available on this page.

Select the date and price of your application.

Enter the information collected for your application earlier in this document.

Once all the application information has been entered, click the Ready to Upload Binary button on the summary screen following. That will bring up a series of windows confirming that the application does not use any encryption technologies that are illegal for export.

Finally, upload the binary to Apple using Application Loader - an Apple utility for submitting mobile application binaries that only runs on Apple computers.

https://itunesconnect.apple.com/docs/UsingApplicationLoader.pdf


For more information from Apple on the entire process, download Apple's iTunes Connect Developer's Guide here:

https://itunesconnect.apple.com/docs/iTunesConnect_DeveloperGuide.pdf