We updated the binary for Flickitty Free yesterday. I set the release date for our new submission to November 30 2009. Apparently it altered the date for our existing App without my knowledge. The free version has been pulled from the App Store since I updated the binary yesterday. I'm glad we caught this, as I just updated the binary for the paid version less than an hour ago. I don't think the Paid version has been pulled. I don't remember iTunes Connect connecting dates in that way. Has this always been in effect? Good new is, it didn't affect our sales at all and we continued to rise in the charts.
It has always been this way. Changing the date on an existing app in the store to a future date will cause it to disappear until that date. The update that you uploaded and the current app share that same date. Foolish, but that's the way it is. A lot of people make that mistake, but only once
We didn't make the change to the existing app though, we made the change to the update. It crossed over and changed the existing app without our knowledge. Weird.
It only makes sense, updates are designed to improve the app you already have on the store. Meaning there is no reason to set a release date to a future date, unless you want it pulled from the listing until the new version is live.
Here's a good article about it: http://majicjungle.com/blog/?p=115 I noticed the author added this: Nov 8th was just yesterday. Hmm..
A developer could have many reasons to not want the update released as soon as it is approved. To coincide with a banner ad marketing campaign To coincide with a major review website's article publishing date To coincide with a special date or holiday (e.g, Xmas apps) To wait for additional DLC content to be made available Maybe I only like to release updates on Mondays or days that are prime numbers Any other reason that a developer might want Whatever the reason, it makes no sense for those two dates to be linked as they currently are.
Good point, I understand if it is a low frequency, high content update. e.g. you're re-designing the interface for christmas, you should want it to go live on a certain date. The main thing here is that Apple wants the apps to behave how they see fit. The current system doesn't cater to apps having large content updates. Rather, it's an updating system designed to fix the current app you have.
