It's finally time! It's finally that time; all your work has come down to this
deployment.
For me, this has always been the most exciting time of development, especially when you get the e-mail from Apple saying that your app is in review.
Then, when it gets released, just seeing your app in the AppStore is so exciting! I'll never forget the first app I released, the moment I saw my first app I went around to show it to my whole family. I had finally done it. Now it's your turn.
Deploying and Monetizing
To begin, we are going to create our app within iTunes Connect. Simply go to itunesconnect.apple.com and log in with your Apple ID that is linked to your developer account, as shown in the following screenshot:
Once you've logged in, click on the My Apps icon:
From here, you will now be able to see all the apps you have created (if any):
Just below the iTunes Connect logo, simply click on the + button to begin creating a new app. You will now see a roll-out menu appear, asking what type of app you would like to create. We will create a new iOS App.
Chapter 7 You will then be greeted by a new popup window asking for some basic information for the app, such as the app name, app language, bundle ID (which I will discuss in
just a second), version number, and SKU for your app (for the SKU, I literally just use the time I am filling it in, but you can use whatever you like):
Don't have a bundle ID? Simply click on the Register a new bundle ID on the Developer Portal button below the Bundle ID selection.
From there, it's simply a matter of filling in all the information, such as the App ID description, prefix, suffix, and services you want to include in the app.
Once you have it all filled out, return to the app creation screen and select the new
bundle id (if it hasn't appeared yet, simply cancel the creation and try again).
Your app is now created! Well, somewhat...
The next page requires you to fill in the complete information regarding the app—that
is, the description, keywords, screenshots, copyright information, and that kind of stuff. Now, it's time to submit your app to the AppStore for review!
There are two ways of doing this. One is directly through Xcode and the second is through the Application Loader (both app icons can be seen in the following image); we will discuss how to do this.
Deploying and Monetizing
No matter which method you choose to upload your app, though, both ways will require you to archive it. Before you archive the app, I highly recommend doing
another test just to ensure that everything is working as it should.
To create the archive in Xcode, ensure that you have iOS Device selected under the scheme selection. To recap, schemes are presets on the simulator or iOS device you
want to run your project on. The following screenshot shows the iOS Device option:
Once you have that selected, simply click on Product on the toolbar, then select
Archive. By archiving, you are essentially putting your whole project into a single, compressed file so that you can upload it to the app store.
Now, all you have to do is wait... Depending on how large your app is, you may be waiting for a while.
Once it's done, you will encounter the Archive window, which will show you a list of all the archives you have created for your awesome apps:
Chapter 7 Now, it's a good idea to validate your app through the iTunes validation process.
How do you do this? Simple! Click on the Validate button you see in the
Archive window:
If all goes well, you will get a window saying it's been validated. However, if you're like me, you will get an error, as shown in the following screenshot:
Sure enough, I had made a blooper and wasn't using the correct provisioning profile. Once that's all done, we can upload it!
Simply click on the big Submit to App Store button!
In the dialog that appears, choose a team from the pop-up menu and click on Choose.
Deploying and Monetizing
In the dialog that appears, review the app, its entitlements, and provisioning profile,
and click on Submit.
Xcode will then upload the archive to iTunes Connect. If a dialog appears stating that no application record can be found, click on Done, create an app record in iTunes Connect, and repeat these steps.
If issues are found, click on Done and fix them before continuing.
If no issues are found, click on Submit to upload your app.
You have now uploaded your app to the App Store! Await an e-mail saying your app is in review!
This is the easiest way to upload your app, but alternatively you can upload your app via the ApplicationLoader option. Simply open the ApplicationLoader tab; you will be greeted by the Template Chooser, which will allow you to either upload your app or upload an in-app-purchase, as shown in the following screenshot:
Before we click on Deliver Your App, we need to export the project as an archive
back in Xcode.
Chapter 7 Next, it will ask how you want to save the app as— Save for iOS App Store
Deployment, Save for Ad Hoc Deployment, or for Save for Enterprise Deployment. Select Save for iOS AppStore Deployment, then click on Next, as shown in the following screenshot:
Again, it will ask you which development team you would like to use; select the team you are using.
It will again run validation tests, and then ask you where you want to save the archive.
Simply select an easy-to-remember location, then pop back to Application Loader
and click on Deliver your App.
Select the app you just created. Application loader will then search for the
application and display a window with all the application details, such as the name, version number, SKU number, primary language, copyright, type, and Apple ID. Click on Next. Application Loader begins uploading your application binary file to
Deploying and Monetizing