How to Submit iOS App to the App Store:

This step-by-step process after enrolled in the Apple Developer Program, our app
follows Apple’s App Review and Human Interface Guidelines, and we ready to ship.
Here’s what to do in order to distribute our app for beta testing or to go live in the
App Store.

1. Code Signing: Create an iOS distribution provisioning profile and distribution

certificate
The development provisioning profile and development certificate that we’ve been
using are only for specific devices. In order to distribute our app to beta testers or to
users through the App Store, we’ll need a separate distribution provisioning profile
and distribution certificate.
The easiest way to do this is through Xcode. If automatic signing is enabled, Xcode
will create and manage certificates, signing identities, and handle device registration
for us. If automatic signing is already enabled or if we don’t need help with signing,
we can skip to step two.
In some cases, we might prefer manual signing.
• First, add our Developer Program account to Xcode if we haven’t already. From
the top menu, select “Xcode”, then choose “Preferences”.
• Click on “Accounts”. In the bottom left corner of the window, press the “+”
sign, then “Add Apple ID…”.
• Enter the Apple ID and password we use for the Apple Developer Program, then
click “Sign In”.
 • Next, enable automatic signing. From the Project Editor, choose a target and
select “General”.
• Scroll down to the “Signing” section and click on the triangle icon to expand the
settings.
• Click on the box to “Automatically manage signing”. Select our team.

When we connect a new device to our Mac, Xcode will automatically detect and
register it to our team provisioning profile. Note that in order to launch our app on a
device, the device needs to be registered on our team provisioning profile.
2. Create an iTunes Connect record for our app

Get an iTunes Connect account by:

• Creating our own iTunes Connect organization and being the team agent. Sign
in with the Apple ID we used to enroll in the Apple Developer Program.
• Or being invited by an existing organization as a user with an Admin,
Technical, or App Manager role. Read more details about iTunes Connect user
accounts here.

For paid apps:

If we’re submitting a paid app, we’ll need to sign a contract that covers terms of
payment. If our app is free, we can skip ahead.

• Click on “Agreements, Tax, and Banking” on the iTunes Connect dashboard.

• Click on “Request” under “Request Contracts”.
• Review the agreement that appears, check the box to agree to the terms, and click
on “Submit”.
• Under “Contracts In Process” click “Set Up” in the “Contact Info” column.

In the window that appears, click on “Add New Contact” and enter our information.

Back under “Contracts In Process” in the “Bank Info” column, click “Set Up” then
“Add Bank Account” and follow the directions to save our account info.

In the “Tax Info” column, click “Set Up”. A U.S. Tax Form is mandatory, so click
“Set Up” and fill out the required information. Set up any other country tax forms
necessary.

After we’ve completed the above, the contract’s status will now say “Processing”.
After Apple has verified the info we provided, which will take about an hour, the
contract will now appear under “Contracts In Effect”.

Add a new app

In the iTunes Connect dashboard, select “My Apps“.
Click on the “+” sign in the upper left-hand corner, then “New App”.
To create a new iTunes Connect record, we’ll need these details: platform, app
name, default language, bundle ID, and SKU. We can’t really change these details
later, so be sure of what we enter.
• Use keywords in our app name to optimize for discovery.
• The bundle ID must be an exact match of the bundle identifier in our Xcode
project Info.plist file (in the target’s General > Identity section).
• The SKU is not visible to users and is up to we to set. It can be an identifier we
use in our company or something else that is meaningful for we. Acceptable
 characters include letters, numbers, hyphens, periods, and underscores, and it
must begin with a letter or number.

If applicable, we can also set user access at this step.

3. Archive and upload our app using Xcode:

Before we can submit our app for review through iTunes Connect, we need to upload
the build through Xcode.
• In Xcode, select “Generic iOS Device” as the deployment target.
• Choose “Product” from the top menu and click on “Archive”.
• The Xcode Organizer will launch, displaying any archives we’ve created in the
past.
• Make sure the current build is selected and click on “Upload to App Store” in
the right-hand panel.
• Select our credentials and click “Choose”.
• In the next window that appears, click on “Upload” in the bottom right-hand
corner.
An “Upload Successful” message will appear when the upload has completed. Click
“Done”.

4. Configure our app’s metadata and further details in its iTunes Connect
record:
Under the “App Store” tab in iTunes Connect, in the “App Information” page
we can add additional languages, categories, and our app’s Privacy Policy URL.
Set our app as free or select its price tier on the “Pricing and Availability” page.
Under the “Features” tab, we can add configurations to any App Store technologies
in our app, like Game Center and in-app purchases.
At this stage, our app is marked with a yellow dot and the status “Prepare for
Submission” in the left-hand panel under “App Store”. Select the build we want to
configure. This is where we will add the information for our product page on the
App Store.

Upload our app’s screenshots (in JPEG or PNG format and without status bars). We
can upload a set of screenshots for one device and use them for all the other sizes.
Click on “Save” in the upper right-hand corner of the window after our screenshots
have finished uploading.
Scroll down and enter our app’s description, keywords, support URL, and
marketing URL.
• Our app’s description and keywords are critical. Make sure we optimize them
for discovery.
• The support URL can be as simple as a landing page with a contact form.
• The marketing URL can be our app’s website and is optional.
In the “General App Information” section below, upload our app’s icon, enter
its version number, and copyright and contact information.
•
• Our app’s icon should be 1024px x 1024px.
• The version number should exactly match the one in Xcode.
• The copyright info typically looks like this: “Copyright (c) 2019,
CompanyName, Inc.”
• The contact info here is what will be displayed to users.

Click on “Edit” next to “Rating” and select the applicable options for our app. Be
honest — our app can be rejected during review if it doesn’t match its rating.
Under the “App Review Information” section, enter our contact info, any notes we
have for the reviewer, and set the version release date. 

• The contact information here is for the reviewer in case they need to reach we
directly.
• Notes for the reviewer can include information about specific hardware they
might need to use or user account information they might need for access.
• For first releases, we should typically leave the version release date as
automatic.
In the top right-hand corner, click  “Save”. Now we’re almost ready to “Submit for
Review”.
5. Submit our app for review:

Scroll to the “Build” section in our app’s iTunes Connect record.

Click on “Select a build before we submit our app.”

Choose the build that we uploaded through Xcode. Click “Done” in the bottom right-
hand corner, then “Save” in the top-right hand corner, then “Submit for Review”.

Finally, answer the Export Compliance, Content Rights, and Advertising

Identifier questions and click “Submit”.
Our app’s status is now “Waiting For Review”.

6. Check on the status of our app:

In iTunes Connect, select “Activity” in the top horizontal menu, then “App
Store Versions” in the left-hand panel.
How long does it take to get App Store approval?

In most cases, it takes about one to three days to receive approval, and it can take up
to 24 hours for our app to appear in the App Store after approval. Check current
average app store review times here.
We’ll receive e-mail notifications at each stage. Read more about each status here.
If we’re on a tight timeline and need to align our release with a specific event or if we
need to release a new version with an urgent bug fix, we can request an expedited
review.
If our app is rejected
We’ll have to make the necessary fixes before we can submit our app again for
review. Use the Resolution Center in iTunes Connect to communicate with Apple
about any questions we may have. We can also escalate the issue and submit an
appeal if we believe our app was wrongly rejected.
One of the most common reasons for rejections from the Apple App Store is
performance. Make sure that our app is complete and that we’ve tested it thoroughly
and fixed all bugs. Using a bug reporting tool while beta testing will help reduce our
app’s chances of being rejected due to performance issues.

If our app is approved

We’re now on the App Store. We can view downloads, sales, ratings, and reviews
directly in iTunes Connect.
Choosing a Membership:

To get started with app development for iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS, simply
download Xcode from the Mac App Store. If we're ready to distribute apps to
customers, the Apple Developer Program provides everything we need to build apps
with advanced capabilities and make them available worldwide.

Enrolment:

We can learn how to develop apps for Apple platforms for free without
enrolling, with just an Apple ID.
We can access Xcode, software downloads, documentation, sample code,
forums, and bug reporter, and we can test our apps on devices.
If we don’t already have an Apple ID, we can create one following this URL
https://appleid.apple.com/account .

Distribute Apps:

- To distribute apps on apple store, join the Apple Developer Program.

- To distribute apps within our organization, join the Apple Developer
Enterprise Program.

Apple Developer Program:

If we're interested in creating apps for distribution, enroll in the Apple

Developer Program.
Membership includes access to beta OS releases, advanced app capabilities,
and tools needed to develop, test, and distribute apps and Safari extensions. You must
be 18 years or older to join.

i) Individuals or sole proprietors/single person businesses: Apps are sold on

the App Store under the developer's personal name.
ii) Organizations: Apps are sold on the App Store under the organization's
legal entity name. Companies and educational institutions must provide a D-U-N-S
Number (available for free) registered to their legal entity during the enrollment
process.

Price: 99 USD per membership year (nonprofit, educational institution, or

government entity may be eligible for a fee waiver.)
Apple Developer Enterprise Program:

If our organization is looking to create proprietary apps designed for and

distributed exclusively to our organization’s employees, enroll in the Apple
Developer Enterprise Program.
Membership includes access to beta OS releases, advanced app capabilities,
and tools needed to develop, test, and distribute apps for your entire development
team.
Companies and educational institutions must provide a D-U-N-S Number
(available for free) registered to their legal entity during the enrollment process.

Price: 299 USD per membership year.