Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Upload the Final Version to iTunes Connect
If you've been automatically inserting build numbers into your version numbers, you
just need to create a new version in iTunes Connect that matches that build number,
and use XCode to archive and upload the app. If you're doing it by hand, remember
that the version numbers have to always increase from one version to the next, and
must match between the version in the plist file and the version you create in iTunes
Connect.
Once it's uploaded, it will head off for review. Make sure that if there are test servers
the Apple engineers will have to use to test the app, that they are up and any necessary
credentials are included in the testing notes in the version description. Believe it or not,
Apple does in fact try to use your app—it's not just some automated servers somewhere
scanning your code for bad API calls. I know from personal experience.
Things to Worry About One Week Before Launch
Did your application pass review? No worries, then! If not, you'll be scrambling to fix
whatever caused it to bounce, pleading for an expedited review, and praying to the
deity of your choice. As mentioned above, we had a bounce in the final week of our
release due to a server glitch, and it was…interesting. The kind of interesting that you,
many years from now, can laugh about. A quiet, hysterical kind of laugh.
When to Pull the Trigger
If you haven't discussed the actual mechanisms of “pulling the trigger” with all the
concerned parties, now is a good time. Once you release an application into the store,
it can take time to propagate, especially to non-US versions of the store. If it's critical
to the timing of the launch that the app be available at a certain time, it may be worth-
while to “pull the trigger” the night before.
Also, now is the time to work out your launch-day plan of operations. Who is going to
make sure that the app is in the store, and that it downloads correctly and works?
Remember that until it goes live in the store, you can't download it and check it. If it's
going up for sale in multiple versions of the store (i.e., different countries), do you have
people with accounts in all those countries that can check that it went live?
Things to Worry About on Launch Day
If you've done everything right, you should be able to sit back and bask in the glory of
a successfully launched product. If things have gone pear-shaped, you hopefully have
contingency plans in place so at least you know what direction to panic in. If worst
comes to worst, you can always pull the app out of the store.
