Chapter 12. App Store Submission

Now that you have completed the development of your cross-platform application, the next obvious step is to distribute your app on Google Play and iOS App Store. Xamarin apps are distributed in exactly the same way as Java or Objective-C apps; however, it can be a bit of a pain to get your app through the process. iOS has an official approval system, which makes app store submission a lengthier process than Android. Developers might have to wait for a week or longer, depending on how many times the app is rejected. Android requires some additional steps to submit the app on Google Play compared to debugging your application, but you can still get your application submitted in just a few hours.

In this chapter, we will cover:

• The App Store Review Guidelines

• Submitting an iOS app to the App Store

• Setting up Android signing keys

• Submitting an Android app to Google Play

• Tips for being successful on app stores

Following the iOS App Store Review Guidelines

Your application's name, app icon, screenshots, and other aspects are declared on Apple's website, called iTunes Connect. Sales reports, app store rejections, contract and bank information, and app updates are all managed through the website at http://itunesconnect.apple.com.

The primary purpose of Apple's guidelines is to keep the iOS App Store safe and free of malware. There is certainly little to no malware found on the iOS App Store. Generally, the worst thing an iOS application could do to you is bombard you with ads. To a certain extent, the guidelines also reinforce Apple's revenue share with payments within your application. Sadly, some of Apple's guidelines controversially eliminate a competitor in a key area on iOS:

The key point here is to get your applications through the store approval process without facing App Store rejections. As long as you are not intentionally trying to break the rules, most applications will not face difficulty...

Submitting an app to the iOS App Store

Before you get started with submitting our application to the store, we need to review a short checklist to make sure you are ready to do so. It is a pain to reach a point in the process and realize you have something missing or haven't done something quite right. Additionally, there are a few requirements that will need to be met by a designer or the marketing team, which should not necessarily be left up to the developer.

Make sure you have done the following prior to beginning with the submission:

• Your application's Info.plist file is completely filled out. This includes splash screen images, app icons, app name, and other settings that need to be filled out for advanced features. Note that the app name here is what is displayed under the application icon. It can differ from the App Store name, and unlike the App Store name, it does not have to be unique from all the other apps in the store.

• You have at least three names selected for your app on the...

Signing your Android applications

All Android packages (apk files) are signed by a certificate or a keystore file to enable their installation on a device. When you are debugging/developing your application, your package is automatically signed by a development key that was generated by the Android SDK. It is fine to use this debug key for development or even beta testing; however, it cannot be used on an application distributed to Google Play.

Complete the following setup to create a signed APK:

1. Click on the solution configuration dropdown in the top-left corner of Xamarin Studio and select Release.

2. Next, select your Android application project and click on Build | Archive for Publishing.

3. Next, select the created Android archive and click Sign and Distribute.

4. Choose Ad Hoc and click Next. Google Play is also an option you might look into later, but it takes a bit more time to set up (it also cannot upload the first APK for an application).

5. Select Create a New Key.

6. Fill out the required information...

Submitting the app to Google Play

Once you have a signed Android package, submitting your application to Google Play is relatively painless compared to iOS. Everything can be completed via the Developer Console tab in the browser without having to upload the package with an OS X application.

Before starting the submission, make sure you have completed the tasks on the following checklist:

• You have declared an AndroidManifest.xml file with your application name, package name, and icon declared

• You have an apk file signed with a production key

• You have selected an application name for Google Play. This is not unique across the store

• You have a 512x512 high-resolution icon image for Google Play

• You have a well-written and edited description for the store

• You have at least two screenshots. However, I recommend using all available slots, which include sizes for as well as 7 inch and 10 inch tablets

After going through the checklist, you should be fully prepared to submit your application to Google Play...

Tips for building a successful mobile app

From my personal experience, I have been submitting applications built with Xamarin to the iOS App Store and Google Play for quite some time. After delivering nearly 50 mobile applications totaling millions of downloads, a lot of lessons are learned about what makes a mobile application successful or a failure. Xamarin apps are indistinguishable from Java or Objective-C apps to the end user, so you can make your app successful by following the same patterns as standard iOS or Android applications.

There is quite a bit you can do to make your app more successful. Here are some tips to follow:

• Pricing it right: If your application appeals to everyone and everywhere, consider a freemium model that makes revenue from ad placements or IAPs. However, if your app is fairly niche, you will be much better off pricing your app at $4.99 or higher. Premium apps must hold a higher standard of quality, but can earn decent revenue on a smaller number of users.

• Knowing...

Summary

In this chapter, we covered everything you need to know to submit your application to the iOS App Store and Google Play. We covered the App Store Review Guidelines, and simplified them for the most common situations you might run into during the approval process. We went over the setup process for provisioning your app's metadata and uploading your binary to iTunes Connect. For Android, we went over how to create a production-signing key and sign your Android Package (APK) file. We went over submitting an application to Google Play, and finished the chapter with tips on delivering a successful, and hopefully profitable, application to the app stores.

I hope that with this book, you have experienced an end-to-end, practical walkthrough for developing real-world, cross-platform applications with Xamarin. C# should enable you to be very productive in comparison to the other options for mobile development. Additionally, you will save time by sharing code, without in any way limiting the...