My client is planning to release an iOS app (call it A) on the App Store which only has value for a limited time (say, a few weeks). After that time, they want to release another, basically completely different app (call it B), with functionality that is related to app A, but much more general. B will be built from scratch and will reuse no code at all from A.
They want to release B as an update to A, so as to retain their user base. Technically this should be no problem: we can change name/icon/metadata, as long as we keep the Bundle ID the same. But will this be a problem with the review process? Could Apple decide that it would be confusing for the user to release a completely different app as an update to an existing one?
So a different way of putting my question would be: can we freely reuse a Bundle ID for a different app within the same account?
Does anyone have experience with this?
What you want to do is absolutely acceptable. I don't see any reason why Apple would reject your app.
I personally recently updated an app with a new icon and a new name.
Granted, I kept most of the features from the previous version, but I really don't see Apple rejecting an update based on "it's too different from the previous version". Also, you often see notes in updates saying "rewritten from scratch", so this is also perfectly valid.
Technically you can do this, and lack of code re-use is irrelevant.
I have written and submitted apps that have have had their codebase completely replaced over their lifetime.
I've also changed an app's icons and name, so all the component parts are definitely OK to do.
You cannot reuse a bundle ID. Your best option is to just update the app. The review process accounts for major changes like this, so it will most likely be a longer review time.
Related
In order to change the bundle ID of an app in App Store Connect, there cannot be any previously-uploaded builds; if there are, the bundle ID cannot be edited. Therefore, to change the bundle ID (and subsequently remove an app's build history from App Store Connect), would one have to remove the app from App Store Connect and reclaim it? When an app is removed this way, the app's name is released to other developers, but is that immediate? And would anything prevent me from creating a new app with the same name right after I removed it from App Store Connect? The app is still in the prepare-for-submission phase.
I've gone through this process to hand an app over to another developer - we didn't care about losing the build history, so this is faster than transferring it.
would one have to remove the app from App Store Connect and reclaim
it?
I believe that is the case, although you probably could rename the original rather than deleting it.
When an app is removed this way, the app's name is released to other
developers, but is that immediate? And would anything prevent me from creating a new app with the same name right after I removed it from App Store Connect?
In my case, the other developer was able to use the name within an hour. Nothing should prevent you from re-using the name, as long as no other developer grabs it before you do.
In your case, I would try to register the name with the new bundle ID right away, and just re-try ever couple of minutes until you get it back. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a little time to get all of Apple's systems updated.
Please let us know the result!
Nothing from Apple explicitly said I couldn't do this but developer support said there is no guarantee it'll work, and not just because another developer may quickly take it, but for "a lot of other reasons" (according to support); the system was designed against this kind of behavior, I was more or less told. TLDR: not trying it. 😏
I have what I believe to be a pretty unique situation and I can't seem to find a solution online. The problem timeline:
4 years ago I paid a developer to build/upload an app to the iOS App Store for me under my own developer account.
Over the years it became outdated and this April it was kicked out of the App Store
I took some online courses this year and rebuilt the app from the ground up.
I would like to post my rebuilt version to the App Store - completely fresh like it's a brand new app (because it basically is)
A couple more things to consider...
I used Swift vs the original Objective-C that the developer used.
I used UserDefaults instead of what appears to be iCloud. (the dev account seems to be littered with permissions for things I don't intend to use - so advice on how to get rid of all of the weird stuff I don't use would be helpful, too)
I also have a different but similar bundle identifier (it replaces "RandomRuby" with "Random-Ruby") that Apple's App ID registration system seems to not like.
The level content and game play are the same - but I have no idea how to figure out what level the previous users were on. (which I'm ok with if it's ethical to make people start over).
It had In-App purchases (they could purchase consumable "Rubies" to use for hints and there was an "Ad Free" upgrade option. The new app doesn't use ads - it just has consumable "Rubies" for monetization). I have no plan to add ads back in - so I imagine a complete reset would be ok here, too? Again - is that ethical?
With all of this context - my question is...
How do I upload a completely-rebuilt-from-scratch app with the exact same name from the exact same company as an expired app through the iOS Developer system? Is this even possible? I'm having a hard time figuring out where to start. I can't even get past creating an App ID.
To update an existing app in your Apple Developer account you only need to use the same BUNDLE ID (e.g. com.apple.keynote) in your Xcode project and a higher version/build number. Everything else is not relevant.
Your previous iOS APP is bounded with the Apple Developer account when it was submitted. And the APP name is unique, just like anyone else may not create another app named 'Facebook'.
So, if the Apple Developer account was not yours, you are in trouble. You need to ask the previous programmer to transfer the APP to you.
If the Apple Developer account was merely expired, and you can prove that the account belongs to you, I guess you can contact Apple Support for help.
Now I have a major feature to release and I want to see the impact of it on a specific app store. The question is, if I submitted the app to the store and approved it.
Would it kill all other instances on all stores and my app would be available on that one specific AppStore?
It's not possible to "soft launch" an update by itself via iTunes Connect (only new apps by choosing the available territories for sale).
If you change the availability of your app to one country, users would not be able to download/purchase/update your app anywhere else, which I guess is something you don't want.
But it's definitely something you can hard-code. (Question is, if you really want this/it makes sense)
I don't think so , since when releasing a new version it automatically remove the previous ones from the store , so the new and only version is valid for the territories you select.
Hi we have an iOS app in itunes which have more than 20,000 downloads.
since we have re-branded our company we have developed a new app which includes extra features than the existing app. New app is with new name and Bundle id.
So now rather than taking out the existing old app, we want to redirect all the existing users to our new app. How can we do that ?
what we did was , we updated the existing app version with the popup, which says this app no longer available please download our latest app. but this got rejected by apple.
Any best practices to decommission an ios app
Thanks
Apple will not allow you to completely drop all of the features in an app - they want users to still be able to use the app. Imagine if all of a sudden Facebook make it so no one could use their app, and forced everyone to download a new app. It probably wouldn't turn out too good for them.
What you should do is just make an update to the old app. All of the users will be able to update easily, with no hassle, and you won't lose and users.
Another way to do this is by calling your new app MyAppName 2, although this will really only look good if you're developing a game.
If you would really like to get rid of your old app, I would recommend removing it from the app store and contacting Apple (You'll have to give them a good reason. Wanting people to pay for a new app doesn't count as one)
What many developers do, is add code to an app that checks a specified endpoint for instructions at each launch. The instructions are either, run as usual or, display this message and URL.
Personally, I would do this, and also update the old app as a freebie teaser for the new app. Apple pays less attention to reductions in functionality than they do to "kills".
Run the teaser for a year or so, then kill it.
I have got a rare problem at the moment, hope I can get any help from here. Thanks in advance.
The thing is that my company has two apps, outsouced one (named A) and insourced one (B) both in the App Store and running normally. Of cource they are not identical but similar indeed.
There is a decision from the management that we are going to replace A with B, so that there is only one app in the app store instead of two.
Here is what I am thinking to archive this,
1. Pull off/Delete the app B from App store.
2. Create a new version of app A.
3. Recompile app B with A's bundle Id and etc., upload the build to itunes connect under the name of app A. (We have A's certificates and provisioning files)
4. Submit the build.
Has anyone done this ever before? Will apple reject this new app?
Any advice is welcome.
I appreciate all your help, and thanks for reading my post.
If you want to keep both of the app then you procedure is okay. You can give update to B (With A's source). It should work, though apple might reject if they find similarity with those two apps.
Almost similar problem happened to me once. One of our app is currently in AppStore, it was a generic app for one of our client. When we tried to release a new app just changing the images/logos and name then the AppStore rejected it. They said this app has limited feature. :P
Hope this helps.. :)