How to get my app download details besides Apple developer account - ios

I know from the Apple developer account we can get how much downloads have done for our particular app. Now our clients asking they want to check the apps downloads without involving developers. Is there any way to find those details besides from the appstore, or else without accessing the developer account
Thanks

You usually see your download numbers in itunesconnect and therefore you can just invite your clients to look into the data there. There are also a number of web services that use the data from itunesconnect to show more details, for instance app statistics.
If you want more data and even logging, many users integrate additional logging features in their apps like google analytics for instance.
If this is not what you are looking for, please give me some more information on what you are trying to accomplish!

Related

iOS app waiting list for customers

I am building out a iOS & Android app. My app may not fully scale to support users and have some limited functionality out the gates. I wanted to put an invite list on the front of registration like Mailbox did a few years ago.
I was trying to read the Apple app store guidelines to creating a "waiting list / invite list" and couldn't get a clear picture. I assume Android is more flexible on this, so I figured I could start with Apple's guidelines first.
Here is what I can find.
In Apple's docs, it says under 3.2.2 "UnAcceptable"
(v) Arbitrarily restricting who may use the app, such as by location or carrier.
In this specific case, I am not blocking by location or carrier. I am just putting up a wall to use the app since some of my users can use it in a limited form, but I can't open it up to everyone on Day 1.
I understand I can run a "testflight" release, but I wanted to make our app available in the App Store for anyone to download since it will be publicly available, just not fully ready for a million people to hit it. My understanding is that the testflight release requires a bit more work based on their docs and isn't as simple as just putting it in the public app store so anyone can get to it.
Apple has the ultimate authority for approving and rejecting apps in their app store so nothing on SO can really be perfect advice. If you are really concerned about approval, you can try to contact apple developers support. Here are a few things I would advise:
Make sure in the developer notes for Apple when you submit to them you include a free account.
In the notes for the app store let the users know that it may take up to __ hours for their registration to get activated.
My understanding is you are doing this to handle the volume of users as you are launching the app. Be advised though that if you start restricting users too much you will possibly get poor reviews. Only restrict usage if absolutely required. If you run into issues make sure you are communicating with the users so they understand.
Good luck with you new app!

Private set of users for iOS App

I would like to create an iOS App for a limited set of people.
It should be possible to download the app for free from App Store, but in order to use it
the idea is that you are required to be a member of the organization, which in this case is a local sports organization.
To solve the problem I thought of giving away activation keys to members that can be entered when they create an account, and therefore only members will be using the app.
Will the app be rejected by App Store? If so, is it possible to go around this in some away?
Thanks.
No you will not be rejected by the App Store.
During the review you will only need to give the access to demo account.
Your app will be available to anyone but you are free to give the credential to any person you want.
edit
Fyi I have such apps. The AppStore only block 'discriminating' app based on carrier or location (you can choose the countries anyway), but you are perfectly in the rules if you give access only to your clients...
edit edit
2.22 like I said is against arbitrary criterias, not linked to the login mechanism
for 11.1 and so on, I understand the point, but in my case (and I think yours) there is no problem if
you sell your service before, the app is just complimentary
you dont sell anything within the app
you dont charge for the app itself or anything within the app, you charge only the use of the server/back office/whatsoever
I guess that Apple dont care, they just don't want to bypass the applestore but I dont think that it is your case.
You should try Enterprise distribution for such purpose.
Yes your app may be rejected. Check the App Store Review Guidelines. In 2.2 it says
Apps that arbitrarily restrict which users may use the App, such as by location or carrier, may be rejected
There are different alternatives.
You can opt in for the Apple Developer Enterprise Program, this'll cost you 300$ a year and requires you to be a legal entity.
If you want to test it with a limited number of people (<1000) try looking into Testflight it was bought by Apple and is deeply integrated in the development process.
No, there will not. You need to to give some demo account info as test data to review while submitting to app store in the iTunes Connect portal.
Demo use case(worked for me): Implementation is like, there need some userid/unique pin to the registered account holders to start the application. At the time they input this pin, authenticate the user with our server and give the permission to let in to the app.
Otherwise you need to go for enterprise distribution. Find more about enterprise distribution here.

Which way to distribute iPad app

We're a small company and have developed an iPad app we would like to give to our customers. I've read through the B2B option but don't like our customers having to register their DUN info with Apple.
Should I just load it in the App store and put in the description that it's a private App? It requires a login so it doesn't matter if other folks download it.
Currently, we're using it in house via the internal tester scenario.
No one but Apple can say for certain what Apple will do in any specific case, but your description suggests it will be rejected.
From Apple's App Review Guidelines (https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/):
17.2: Apps that require users to share personal information, such as email address and date of birth, in order to function will be rejected
If you don't have a base functionality that applies to the general public, you will, in all likelihood, need to go Enterprise delivery.
Distributing publicly might be the best option, but I don't think you would get an approval if you describe it as a private app in your description.
Without knowing too much about your business or the nature of your app, it's hard to suggest, but possibly you could add some public usefulness on the front-end of your app, even if that's business info, contact information, a news feed, etc... with the real intent of the app being tucked behind a login portal. (all total speculation).
Distributing the app outside of the app store has a lot of limitations as well: http://mobiledan.net/2012/03/02/5-options-for-distributing-ios-apps-to-a-limited-audience-legally/
I would just submit to the app store and see what happens. Apple may reject it, but that is true in any case. I have an app of this nature, submitted with a couple of test accounts, no problem getting it approved. When the app launches, it pops a logon screen, and has a short message about where to get an account (which won't make much sense to people not in the intended audience).

Confirming someone downloaded an iOS app

I want someone to complete a registration process on a website, then download an app from the Apple App Store, however I am unsure how we could track that someone did download an app and tie that download back to the registration.
What is the best I can hope to achieve with this and how would I go about implementing it?
Have them enter some kind of registration code or a username/password combo created on the website. As far as I know, the is no other way since you do not have access to that kind of information from the App Store.
It sounds like you want analytics tracking per registration. For that you may consider a B2B app, meaning it's not visible in the app store when you search for it yet, you can point users to a custom itunes url to download the app. After that you can download iTunes Connect a view active installs.
http://www.apple.com/business/vpp/
https://itunesconnect.apple.com/WebObjects/iTunesConnect.woa
You could take a look at Taps.io - http://blog.tapstream.com/post/40781681789/made-for-apps-taps-io-shortener
In their own words:
Taps.io is a universal URL shortener that sends web visitors to your app or your website. It also answers the question:
How many of those visitors download and run your app?
Just like Bit.ly, it tracks the number of clicks - but unlike ordinary shorteners it shows the number of app users you get from that link and its overall conversion rate. So use it instead of a naked iTunes link for tweets, email signatures, ads and anywhere else you share your app. You can even use LinkShare with taps.io to recapture affiliate commission.
Taps.io is free for indie devs, with no cap on how many taps.io links you create or how many clicks you generate.

Count iOS App downloads

Problem:
I'm an app developer and my boss asked me how many times one of our iPhone apps was downloaded
What I tried so far:
Apple statistics:There seem to be only daily or weekly data. Furthermore, there seem to be no way to access download statistics from previous years.
Services like www.appannie.com:
This might work, but I don't really want to give them the email and password of our developer account.
Scraping the data automatically (See: automatically-download-sales-reports-from-itunes-connect):
I don't really want to spend time to set up and maintain such a system unless there is really no other solution.
My Question:
Is there a better way? How do other developer find out how many times their app was downloaded?
Services like www.appannie.com: This might work, but I don't really
want to give them the email and password of our developer account.
i use appAnnie, but i didn't gave them my "email and password of my developer account".
in ItunnesConnect apple site you can create a new account with JUST the privilege to see the reports of a single app, and nothing more
P.S.
This may be very useful in case you want to give access to a client or a developer partner to a single app statistics, as you can create a new appAnnie user with access to just an app.
Apple just updated https://itunesconnect.apple.com site you can adjust the date range in the middle of screen (using the slider) or by adjusting the dates on top left corner after navigating to sale and trends screen to see how many downloads you have had.
Well I use Flurry to track installs and session. But you will have to add the flurry to your project.
And We als use AppFigures to track real downloads, but as you stated you can only retrieve so far back as Apple allows it.
AppFigures will also require you to give them your ItunnesConnect account details.
The iTunes connect app has other selection methods, try it.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/itunes-connect-mobile/id376771144?mt=8
Services like www.appannie.com:
This might work, but I don't really want to give them the email and password of our developer account.
That, seems like a very good idea!
Why not hire a sales guy to count the numbers for you? But in all seriousness, I'd go with the scraping option. I believe that's the only viable solution for your problem until Apple comes up with an API.
I use AppFigures.com, As #meronix suggested create a new user with privileges you specify. AppFigures gives you daily reports emailed to you every morning, in addition to Nicely done graphs and an entire dashboard of information. I recommend!
Just for your information there is another services called mopapp, it supports several platform.

Resources