I want to submit an app to the store that requires external hard ware. You cannot do much in the app without the hardware, so I was wondering what is the best way forward with submitting app to the store. I have read some reports that say Apple require us to ship them the hardware. Have also read reports where people say a video the app has sufficed.
I was reading some answers in this thread here
iOS app review process: app requires external hardware (connecting over WiFi)
I was going to create a video of the app and the hardware working. In iTunes connect, under App Review Information, can add an attachment, so was going to put it under there.
Do you think this would be enough for Apple? Or do you think we will have to actually send them the hardware?
Looking for advice from people who have experience in submitting apps that require external hardware and what your experience was. Did the review process take much longer? If so, how long?
Thanks in advance
I can't respond about the hardware aspect of things however I did create an App that was only allowed to be used within a specific country. Apple requested a video, provided and approved. Occasionally they would ask for another one for updates but not always.
Doing a screen capture isn't enough, has to be a video of you using the App. The review process took a bit longer than usual, longest wait period was the queue of about a week, once that was done each back and forth took an additional day, so at the end of it took about another 3 days for approval. I put it as a private video on youtube and submitted a link, then I could also track when they watched it.
Related
Its my first experience to upload my app to google play store and I personally developed so I dont think so that I used any illegal thing it it but Its in review for last 2 days.
The process can take even more than that, what you can do is make sure that:
-you ask the proper permissions, more permissions you need, more time for the store to give you an answer. If you ask for dangerous permissions, you must explain clearly why you want them, else your app will be rejected.
you describe your app well and detailed. This will improve your chances for fast approval
have all the fields filled in properly, like agreement, pictures and videos of different sizes
don't forget about category and ads. If you have ads and chose that the app is available to kids, you can expect a much more detailed check of your app, which takes longer
check all the warning messages you have on the dashboard. Most of them are very useful info.
My advice is to take time to sort all these as best as you can and later you will enjoy fast approvals and easy updating.
We have uploaded our game app at Google Play successfully. When we tried to upload a second version, we noticed that our app has been restricted in our country. When we investigated we receieved a message from support team stating that the app indicates gambling and that it doesnt match the ranking of "All Ages". We have got a review from IARC stating that we are not having any issues or relation to gambling.
We contacted support again to resolve the issue, but they stated the following:
"The app contain simulated gambling, or games of chance or skill that are conducive to gambling are prohibited in the above locale"
We have done all necessary measures and took the extra mile and change UX to remove any indication to gambling though it doesnt have at the first place. We are suffering from poor communication with support team, and need a super fast fix. Any Recommendations?
Unfortunately this is nearly unsolvable problem, I've faced this and after more than 1 year of appeals with Google I couldn't convince them that my app does not contain any gambling.
Once they flag your app as a gambling app it is very hard to change it.
I have made a simple desktop app that I want to sell through the AppStore. Of course I want to be protected against piracy. Does AppStore give any protection? How does that process work?
For instance, what prevents a dishonest person from buying my app and then upload it on a torrent and share it with others. If these other people download my app, will they automatically be asked for their identity check (Apple ID and password), the first time they try to use my app, thus preventing them from using it if they have not bought it legally.
If this identity check does not happen automatically, then do I need to add some code in my app that will ask for the identity check. If so, where can I find info about how to do that?
I'm not entirely sure how this process works. Could somebody shed some light on it?
Mac App Store slips a receipt each time it is downloaded into the bundle. The receipt contains information about the computer used (the so called GUID) and the user logged into the App Store.
See here how you should validate the receipt:
https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/releasenotes/General/ValidateAppStoreReceipt/Introduction.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40010573
If you implement the GUID validation as described in the document, the app will not run on any other computer.
Also check the signature of your code to make sure it has not been tampered:
Verifying app's signature by code
Your application, when downloaded from the App Store, contains a receipt. The receipt contains proof that it was downloaded onto this computer from the App Store, and the ID of the application. There are instructions somewhere on Apple's website that tell you how to verify the receipt and what to do if the verification fails.
That said, you are much better off concentrating on writing an app that people actually want to buy. People who pirate your app wouldn't hand over money if it couldn't be pirated. They would do without it, pick some free app, or pick a different app that they can pirate.
And I'm quite sure that any copy protection you build into your app yourself will get it rejected from the App Store.
Even though the answers I've got were helpful, they didn't quite provide the answer I needed. Looking around I found a software called Receigen from Laurent Etiemble, and the FAQ on his site (http://receigen.etiemble.com/faq.html) gave many answers for what I was looking for. For instance
What is an App Store receipt validation ? Why is it needed ?
Basically, an App Store receipt is what an application must check to ensure that the copy is genuine and can be run.
What happens if I don't check the App Store receipt ?
Well, anybody with a copy of your application can run it, with or without proper authorization.
Is the code receipt validation easy to write?
No because it requires deep understanding of cryptography and secure coding techniques.
It didn't hurt either that Receigen generated code that freed me from dealing with receipt validation code. Receigen takes care of this part so I can focus on what is really important for me: my application.
Yes, it costs money but personally I am more than glad to pay it, because I find this part of the development tedious, boring and complex.
TPInAppReceipt is a great package for this.
I was able to easily add local receipt validation after trying many others solutions less successfully:
https://github.com/tikhop/TPInAppReceipt
Given the recent hack on Preemptive's CEO's Windows Phone 7 App, what do other developers do to limit their application's chances of being ripped off?
http://apps-are-people-too.blogspot.com/2012/01/hoisted-by-my-own-petard-or-why-my-app_09.html
I am not just looking for "a solution" as nearly all of them will have flaws, but instead one that balances the wire between "slows down all the code your put through it" and "isn't really that effective in practice"
many thanks in advance
The app you mention hasn't been hacked. Only the media has been extracted and copied into a new app.
The only (semi)-reliable way to protect against this is to stream your media on-demand, after the user has authenticated. Fingerprint the media using one of the many cryptography/steganography methods out there with unique user ID signature. This way, if/when your media is eventually ripped off, you have at least some chance of identifying the user whose copy the media was ripped from. (Not that this is going to help you much, if you are sticking to only legal actions. Which I strongly recommend.)
Reality is - there is no way you can protect content using technology. The only thing you can do is follow up the legal procedures set by the app store.
Let each app download an ID and verifiy it against paid ones. Make this verification happen every so often, not all the time or else it wouldn't work without internet. Also make sure that the user can't use the app unless they are verified within a reasonable amount of time.
See this anti-piracy code, it works 100% with our apps too!!!
http://www.windowsphonegeek.com/tips/PROTECT-YOUR-Windows-Phone-APP-AGAINST--casual--PIRACY
Another option to use is MTIKS WP7 SDK. http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=ef88cf9415282e762a33f866c&id=6cf2a86fb3 Here they state they can track piracy.
My opinion is currently using any anti-piracy check is bit stupid, because of current store model and certification process.
Obviously it's early days, I do not know whether this is information that is in the public domain or not yet, but...
I have trawled through some of this site - http://www.windowsphone7series.com/ but I can't seem to find the answer.
Specifically will I be able to write an app on the phone that updates the cloud with the phones current GPS position in the background even when other apps are running in the foreground.
According to ZDNet's post yesterday, Windows Mobile 7 will support multitasking for things like having music playing while using an application, but as far as 3rd party it will most likely not be supported. Things like notifications however will be there, as to help with multitasking.
I hate to relieve myself on your bonfire Christopher but might I suggest that a background GPS process, might not be a good idea. You'd really run down the users battery performance, perhaps if you shared a little more about your idea we could suggest an alternative architecture that didn't require a constant gps post.