10 steps to releasing your first iOS app (in Swift)
I recently built and released the iOS app Hair Force One. This is essentially a checklist of all the bits and bobs that went into that. Hopefully it’ll be of use to the next person trying to release a political helicopter iOS app using Swift.
1. Tools you will need
- Apple computer. This is so that you can run…
- Xcode — this is the application you will use to write your app
- Credit card / way of paying the Apple developer fee
Optional extras:
- An iPhone / iPod touch — for testing
2. Signing up for an Apple developer account
There are free accounts and pay accounts:
- The free account will let you test your app on a device and will give you access to the beta releases of Apple software.
- The pay account will let you release to the app store. It’s $99 per year. You will need the pay account.
3. Learning Swift
There are numerous resources online to help you learn Swift and your way around Xcode. I found these the most helpful:
- Ray Wenderlich — love this site
- Apple official site — complete, but a little dry
- BitFountain — worth the money if you’re serious about it
4. Structuring your app
While I was learning some great stuff from online tutorials, I found that I was still hacking away (poorly) when it came to structuring my own apps. Two solutions to this:
- Find a tutorial / Github repo that does something similar to what you are trying to build. Understand the structure and replicate it.
- Find a mentor. I was lucky to have my good friend (and MindFund CTO) Leo at hand. Codementor looks like a decent alternative.
5. Uploading your app to iTunes Connect
Once you’ve finished building your app in Xcode, you will need to upload it to iTunes Connect, which is:
a suite of web-based tools for managing content sold on the iTunes Store, iBooks Store, and the App Store
You can upload your app to iTunes Connect from Xcode.
6. Signing legal/tax agreements
From inside iTunes Connect you will need to digitally sign legal agreements. If you are getting paid for your app in any way (paid app, in app purchases, iAd) then you will need to digitally sign tax agreements. While there is not a whole lot to fill in, this may (will) take hours of research to figure out exactly which boxes you should be ticking.
7. (Optional) Releasing under a company name
If you sign up to the Apple developer program as an individual, then your app will be released under your own name. You may wish to release it under your company name instead, as this provides certain legal safeguards. To do this, sign up to the Apple developer program as a company rather than as an individual. You will need your company D-U-N-S number and the authority to bind your company in legal agreements. It took me 4 weeks to get hold of my D-U-N-S number from Hong Kong. It may be faster in other regions.
If you are already registered in the Apple developer program as an individual, then you can request your account to be transitioned to your company. I did this and it took about a week for the transition to take effect.
8. Submitting your app
In iTunes Connect you will need to fill in a whole load of information about your app. This is everything that will go on your iTunes page. As a minimum you will need:
- Screenshots
- App description
- App icon
9. Getting accepted or rejected
After submitting your app, it will take about a week for Apple to get back to you. There are many possible reasons for your app to be rejected including poor design, edge case bugs and inappropriate content. If the app is rejected, Apple will detail the reasons why. You will then need to edit the app and re-submit.
After re-submission, Apple will take another week to review and get back to you.
10. Releasing your app
Once you have been approved, you can choose the date and time to release. Timing the release with an event / bit of marketing is probably a good idea. I wrote a short press release and timed my launch with the final Republican debate.
I hope you found something useful in the above. You can follow me @chtmorris and by all means download Hair Force One!
