Publishing iOS apps

[edwind]

Hi,

Does anyone have experience in publishing iOS apps?

edwin

[ZeroHour]

I publish the EduGeek app on iOS and android if that helps.

[Sibrows]

We publish a couple of enterprise apps in-house and some to the app store. But these are updated once every couple of years so have to try and remember the dark art of getting the certificates right.

[edwind]

Thanks for the replies. Here is my particular dilemma.

I have published a few apps (both platforms - Android and iOS) for businesses. After modifying one of them, Apple decided that it did not meet the requirements for the app store (even though there was no recognisable difference from what had already been published), specifically, it was advertising the business only and did not use Apple functions and/or is simply reproducing web pages.

These apps are Virtual Tours of interior spaces, so each user experience is quite unique and essentially interactive.

 

Does anyone have any knowledge of how the apps could be shared to clients of the business without using the app store. I have looked into the Ad Hoc system but it would involve obtaining the UDID of each device the app is to be installed on first and using an SSL download site. Wholly impracticable. What exactly are the parameters for 'in house' distribution? I have tried several times to speak with Apple support but in every case I have been referred to their appeal page and/or support page. I cannot get a one to one conversation with them.

[Sibrows]

These apps are Virtual Tours of interior spaces, so each user experience is quite unique and essentially interactive.

 

This may be a silly question: Is the content locked based on location? If so does the app make that clear?

 

What exactly are the parameters for 'in house' distribution?

 

I apologise if I'm stating things you already know but for the complete picture of people referring to this thread later on:

Firstly you need an Apple Enterprise Developer account, this is a different and more expensive than the standard Apple Developer account which is needed to submit apps to the App Store.

Then you need a method of distributing the app(s) if using an MDM this is relatively straightforward but if not once to app is installed on the device it is registered as being written by an 'Untrusted Developer' and throws up a window telling the end user such until you go into the settings and manually trust the developer. See here: https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/IDEs/Conceptual/AppDistributionGuide/DistributingEnterpriseProgramApps/DistributingEnterpriseProgramApps.html

 

From your description of the issue, you might be better off jumping through hoops to get it into the App Store otherwise the end-user experience isn't great.

[Arthur]

I have published a few apps (both platforms - Android and iOS) for businesses. After modifying one of them, Apple decided that it did not meet the requirements for the app store (even though there was no recognisable difference from what had already been published), specifically, it was advertising the business only and did not use Apple functions and/or is simply reproducing web pages.

Which rule(s) did Apple reject you app for? Was it 4.2.6 (as mentioned in the article below)?

 

Apple’s widened ban on templated apps is wiping small businesses from the App Store

 

Following its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple released updated App Store guidelines that included a new rule allowing it to ban apps created by a “commercialized template or app generation service.” The understanding at the time was this was part of Apple’s larger App Store cleanup, and the focus was on helping rid the marketplace of low-quality clone and spam apps. But things have since changed. A number of app-building companies that had earlier believed themselves to be in the clear are now being affected, as well.

 

Many companies have recently been given a 1 January 2018 deadline, after which point any new apps they submit will be rejected by the App Store Review team, they’ve been told by Apple. In the meantime, some have been able to maintain their existing apps, but it’s unclear how long that will last.

 

What’s unfortunate about the expanded policy enforcement is that these app makers specifically target the small business market. They build apps for businesses that don’t have the internal resources to build their own apps or can’t afford to hire a custom shop to design a new iOS app from scratch.

 

Instead, these companies help small businesses like local retailers, restaurants, small fitness studios, nonprofits, churches and other organizations to create an app presence using templates, drag-and-drop wizards and various tools to put together a more basic app that can then be customized further with their own branding and images.

 

 

you might be better off jumping through hoops to get it into the App Store otherwise the end-user experience isn't great.

+1. Another option would be to create progressive web apps instead...

 

https://pwa.rocks

https://developers.google.com/web/progressive-web-apps

https://cloudfour.com/thinks/apple-starts-work-on-progressive-web-apps