Hi guys, I tried searching threads but didn't find anything. Sorry in advance if this is a duplicate thread... My game "Jump!" was approved early yesterday morning. It's been about 36 hours now and it still doesn't show up in iTunes (on the computer OR on the iPhone) if you look in either of the categories it's in (action, arcade or even all games) and sort by release date (yesterday was August 5th). I see other apps showing up that were released after mine, but mine is still nowhere to be found! You can find it if you specifically search for it (and even then it's on the second page of search results). So what's going on? Will my game just NEVER show up or do I have to wait even longer? Even if it shows up tomorrow it will be on the 5th or 6th page anyway so it won't ever bee seen by ANYONE. Does anyone have experience with this? And why did Apple suddenly alphabetize the new releases? It's often that 30+ apps get approved in a day, so unless your app starts with "A" you will never be in the first page of apps when sorting by release date!
Your app is listed as released on July 27. Go into iTunes Connect NOW and set the release date to TODAY (under pricing > availability date).
Really? So the release date isn't the date it was... you know... released? Way to go Apple! Well, that's good to know. Thanks Nattylux! Hopefully it's not too late. [I changed it, now I suppose it will take a few hours to take effect]
The documentation does state that the release date will be the date set by the developer, or the date of approval, whichever is earlier. I don't think this system is very good, but they don't hide it.... The releases have been alphabetized for as long as I can remember. --Eric
Too bad in reality this is now how it works. My date change took effect, but with frustrating results. My app is now shown as having a release date of August 5th (yesterday), but it is still sorted as if it were released July 27th. Awesome. So for instance if you look in "action" and sort by date, on the computer iTunes, my app is on page 12. If it were actually sorted by date and not by MAGIC, it would be on page 2 (thanks to being screwed by alphabetization). I guess I just have to update the app and be sure to change the release date the instant I get the "ready for sale" email from Apple. And rename my app to start with "a". I'll start my own naming trend, like Apple did with putting "i" in front of everything. How does "aJump!" sound?
Wow, I've started my whole existence here on TA on a very negative note. I'm sorry everyone, nobody wants to hear a whiner.
Yeah, don't worry about it. Unfortunately, every single first-time developer has to learn this lesson the hard way, because nobody expects it to work this way. Of course, by the time all the data propagates and you realize you're not listed where you expected, and then you change your date and let everything propagate again, it's been 2 days and you're buried anyway. I wonder how many first-time updates are done just to address this problem...
Does this mean that the best approach is to set a release date comfortably in the future?, maybe a month away just in case approval takes weeks or would Apple see that date as a reason to put your app to the bottom of the approvals pile?
No - if you overshoot the approval date, your app won't show up until the date you set, with Apple's actual approval date as its listed date. Meaning: - You submit the app on July 1, and set the release date as July 31 - Apple approves the app on July 15 - Your app appears in the store on July 31, with its date listed as July 15 - meaning, it's buried 2 weeks back. Really the only way to do this is to set the date to TODAY as soon as you get that approval email. To be even safer, you should probably check iTunes connect once a day, because at some point there was a problem with approval emails going out.
Ideally, first thing you do every morning while your app is in review is to set the release date to today. You don't have to worry about getting emails from Apple that way, and you get the best time possible for the date being changed correctly when it's approved. Gets a bit tedious when your app is in review for weeks though. --Eric
