I assume I am not the first to experience this, but let this be a warning so it does not happen to anyone else. I created an entry in iTunes Connect for one of my apps. As is usually the case, the game development is taking longer that I initially expected and 120 days have passed since I created the entry in iTunes. Since the game is not yet done, I was unable to upload a binary. I then received the following email. The app name has been removed and I added the emphasis. I have not tried emailing them, and luckily I have decided to change the app name a few months ago, so this does not affect me at all. It is still surprising that I can NEVER use the app name again. This could really screw someone over especially if they paid money for a logo, a website, or started to generate hype around the name. I imagine there could be a way to get around this. Maybe upload an incomplete binary that will get rejected. Or maybe it is possible to upload a binary and then remove it. I am guessing they check for that though. Anyone have any ideas on how to get around this in the future?
It's a to prevent app-name squatting... I forget when they started the 120-day limit, seems like it was last year sometime. On the whole I think it's a good policy, but yeah... it can be a problem if you don't finish your app in time. I ran into this with my recent game Cryptoku. I entered the info in iTunes Connect back in August (suuure, I'll be done within 4 months, no problem!) Hah. It was a race to the finish line to get it in on time. I actually did get it submitted about 2 weeks before the deadline (just before Christmas), where it sat in review past the deadline. It was eventually rejected on Jan. 4th (about a week after the 120-day deadline), and I had to upload a new binary. I was able to reject the old binary and submit a new one without losing the name, but I'm not sure what the time frame on that is. e.g. if you reject the binary, and don't upload a new one, do you lose the name that same day? Not sure. I didn't risk it; I uploaded a new binary within 10 minutes of rejecting the old one. I suspect they only run the deletion task once per day, though I'm not sure on that. Anyway, yeah. The thing to do would be to submit *some* kind of binary before your deadline. The binary is going to go through app review, so it'd better be a complete app or it'll just be rejected.... Of course the other (better?) option is to not enter the data into iTunes Connect until you're about ready to upload your app.
Yes, this policy was created as Apple's response to the growing problem of app-name squatting. Presumably, you may be able to get an extension if you can convince Apple that you are developing a real app that is simply taking a long time to develop. However, you will be entering a gray area and it's up to Apple's whim whether or not they will give you more time to publish your app. For example, if you run into Syndicated Puzzle's reviewer, you are probably dead meat.
My latest App ran into this same issue. It's a complicated app so it was taking me some time to get it down...hey, it's just me working on it ;-) Anyways, I'm pretty sure Apple sends out reminder emails stating that they will delete your App Name if you do not upload a binary. I know I received these emails...one for about 30 days away from the deletion period, then one 10 days away, and well at that point I just compiled a binary, uploaded it, rejected it IMMEDIATELY, and that seemed to reset the whole grace period. So I'm not sure if Apple sends out an automated email the day before the App Name is scheduled to be removed. What I did seems like a loop hole and I know other devs have used this method. I do not like the idea of devs creating/squatting on 10-20 App Names just for the sake of "owning" an App Name so I'm all for this automated deletion process. At the same time, I think there should be a better method than this loop-hole method for devs to communicate to Apple that they ARE in fact working on something...and that its just taking more than the 90 days of App Name grace period time to complete.
Wow. Good thing I saw this thread. I've had a name since the first week of November. I expanded the scope of the game and simultaneously hit some performance issues. So I don't think I'll have a finally binary. March 7. (Unless things go perfect from here on out.) I suppose if I get the warning I'll do the workaround!
I am glad to hear the work around works, although it seems to me that it defeats the whole purpose. Just a way for legitimate devs to get screwed while the squatters can use the loophole. I figured the name would simple become available for anyone else to quickly grab, rather than banning me completely from ever using it.
Hi I'm new here, have been a hobbiest developer for a couple of decades though. We're roughly 1 month away from releasing our entertainment app. I had a look on iTunes Connect for where to register our name, but it seems that the whole iTunes store description, icons, etc. all need uploading at the same time. Can any of this be edited later? We have a moc up of the info only. Thanks for heads up OP.
Yes, you can edit your description, icon, screenshots and localisation. Pretty much anything except the name.
I had a couple of these. Blame it on too many ideas, not enough time. I got around it by uploading a completely different app but not setting it for release. All that's going to happen if you do this is your version numbers are going to get messed up if you start at 1.0 but you could always upload an app for version 0.1 or something.
Runloop, what do you mean by "no setting it for release"? We're having this problem with one of our games. It's almos there, but I don't know if we'll make it to the deadline.
Down to my 7 day warning. Bah. Most art has rolled in but audio is weeks behind. Game content is about 2/3 in. This really frustrates me. So it's 100% confirmed that if you self-reject your binary, that resets the counter? Or what if I let it get reviewed but put it on hold for developer release, later issuing an update? Does this hurt my chance of a N&N mention, for example?
You dont need to release after being approved. Set your release date into the future and you can release whenever you want.. You can also update the app while its not released.. N&N has only todo with your first appearence on the actual store, not about your release descision
Nice. Thanks for the info. I'll get something stable together and submit before the deadline. This is my biggest, most expensive app to date... I don't want to screw it up!
I followed mr.Ugly's advice. I uploaded a broken version, gave it v0.6, and submitted to Apple with a May 1 release date. It's a day after the name expiration deadline and the app is still there. So this looks like a way to save the name. My hope is the Apple reviewer understands why I gave it a sub-1.0 version number. Now I can go back to development and scratching my noodle about marketing. Thanks!
Yes, I self-rejected my binary when my I got my notice on my last App and it reset everything. That App is even out now. So all went well...except for app downloads lol...but I'm working on that Self-Reject and release when you need to.
So, I learned this too late and my app has already been auto-deleted. My fault; I got the reminders, but figured since I wasn't close to ready I'd just let it expire, then re-register the name when it became available to the developer community. Just didn't realize I'd be excluded. Anyway, I e-mailed them explaining the situation. Just wondering, has anyone else been in this situation and had any luck with it? I'll report back. Not sure how long it will take for them to respond (not holding my breath).
under certain circumstances you will be able to get your application name back.. but on a recent project the problem occured that all GC services where not working properly after apple reenabled the usage of the application name.. this issue was never fixed, so it was forced by apple to use a different one anyway.. apples support in this case was more than lousy, so beware of it..
