Just because you have a valid iTunes account and have been acknowledged as an expert mobile app developer does not mean all the applications you make will easily get approved at the Apple store. You need to follow these guidelines, to ensure that your apps do not get rejected.
The approval process for mobile applications at the iTunes store is rather stringent. While this means that buyers are almost always ensured to get apps with quality assurance, many developers often view the task of getting their apps approved at the store to be cumbersome. Given the significant number of app-rejections done by Apple every quarter, a bit of apprehension creeping in the minds of app developers is not entirely inexplicable. However, if you are interested in mobile application development for the Apple iTunes store, the following tips would help in keeping chances of rejections pretty much minimal:
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Test your app for bugs and malware – This is self-explanatory. If you rush through the mobile app testing phase in a hurry, bugs and viruses can remain undetected – and such faulty applications would immediately be chucked out by the Apple authorities. You need to test new apps in focus groups, as well as on devices connected to the cloud network.
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Avoid including complicated app operations – The simpler and user-friendly your mobile applications are, the greater is the chance of their getting approved quickly at iTunes. The initial version of the app you submit should be simplistic – focusing only on the primary purpose it is supposed to serve. Later on, you can always release upgrades, implementing progressively advanced controls, features and functionality.
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Apple hates apps in demo mode – Wouldn’t it be just great, if your app could have a trial run on the Apple store – before you went ahead with the full release? Unfortunately, that’s not possible, since smartphone applications in beta mode or demo mode are never accepted by the authorities. You need to submit the final version of an optimized app, to be hopeful about its approval.
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Make sure that the app interface adheres to Apple guidelines – There are set guidelines about the user-interface (UI) features that developers from an iPhone application development company should always be aware of. An app with even ‘minor’ touch-related glitches can be promptly disapproved by Apple. For instance, if you have created a mobile app for kids with text highlighting options, make sure that the feature gets activated only when the screen surface is tapped.
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Be careful while naming your app – iPhone apps whose name suggest any form of violence have practically zero chance of getting accepted at Apple iTunes. The trick here lies in choosing an appropriate name for your new application, that would make it stand out from other similar apps, without having any suggestions of offensiveness. Do not get too excited and end up choosing a misleading name, however.
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Unpublished API-s are an absolute ‘no-no’ – As the methods for iPhone application development in India and overseas have evolved, the set of API-s you can use for new apps has expanded too. Remember, you need to publish the names and brief descriptions (in most cases) of all the application programming interfaces used in your product. Apps with unpublished APIs are, more often than not, rejected outright. For monetized applications, following the in-app purchase regulations of Apple, and having the Cordova plug-in, are also essential.
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Make your app quick to load – If the app you have submitted at iTunes takes over 12 seconds (on average) to launch on devices, you can stop hoping about it getting approved. In addition, you need to ensure that the bandwidth requirements of your application is, almost always, on the lower side. Mobile users hate apps that take too long to load and/or require heavy data downloads – and Apple, understandably, is not a fan of such apps either!
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Provide all relevant information – Negligence while providing information about new applications can cost a mobile app development company dear. To get your apps featured at iTunes, you need to provide information on the types of icons, pictures and other visual elements that they include (having a couple of unnecessary Apple logos is not going to please anyone!). Do not forget to give detailed contact information (phone/fax nos., email ids, etc.) as well.
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Do not plagiarize app-ideas from other developers – It’s not bad luck when the app you have developed turns out to be almost identical to an application already displayed at the iTunes store. It only indicates that you either neglected to do a proper research before starting the app development process, or were hoping to simply ‘copy’ someone else’s idea and get away with it. With the Apple store currently having well over a million apps, it’s tough to come up with totally unique stuff every time. You only have to ensure that your products do not bear uncanny resemblances to already existing apps.
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Do your apps work only when internet coverage is available? – If yes, that takes down the its chances of getting approved considerably. To be regarded as good, a mobile application should remain functional even when the device network coverage is not available. In case the app has links to external web pages, publish such information from beforehand. A 12+ rating is necessary for your app, if you have implemented the UIWebView feature in it.
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Avoid targeting a niche that is too small – Apple gauges whether newly submitted apps would be useful for a relatively high percentage of users – and your application should not come up short on this count. Do not create an app that offers only a glimpse of your organizational workflow, or one that provides a service that has a very limited demand. Mobile apps that target very narrow niches are either rejected, or remain present on iTunes – but with disappointing download figures.
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Interact with other Apple app developers – Networking with professional peers can be instrumental in preventing you from making serious mistakes while developing iPhone/iPad applications. You can learn from the cases of app-rejections (if any) that other mobile application development companies might have suffered. In general too, seamless exchange of ideas between different teams of developers often helps in the generation of original, interesting, viable app concepts.
On average, you might have to wait for up to four weeks for your iOS applications to get approved at iTunes. Remember, the reviewers get scores of new apps everyday, and it takes time to properly check each of them. Do not get too disappointed if your first couple of apps do get rejected – you can learn from your mistakes and make better software products later. If you adhere to the basic app development guidelines, the probability of your application getting approved and featured at iTunes would go up, significantly!