June 14, 2019
Links generated for apps on the App Store now begin with apps.apple.com. Existing links that begin with itunes.apple.com will continue to work in their current form and will automatically redirect to the apps.apple.com domain.
Category: Apple Developer News
Apple Developer News and Updates feed provided by Apple, Inc.
New Subscription Dashboards Available in Sales and Trends
Two new dashboards now help you visualize your subscriptions lifetime performance.
The Subscription State dashboard shows a graph of your daily subscriptions broken down by their current state (e.g., subscriptions at the standard price, introductory offers, and promotional offers).
The Subscription Event dashboard shows a graph of subscription events for a 30 day period, with similar event types grouped together. For example, crossgrade, upgrade, and downgrade events are grouped together as Renewals.
Hebrew and Arabic Metadata Now Supported
Starting with iOS 13, the App Store will be available in Hebrew in Israel and Arabic in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Submit your localized metadata today to help users with Hebrew or Arabic as their primary language setting find your apps more easily.
For details on localizing your app metadata, visit App Store Connect Help.
New Data Available in App Analytics
June 6, 2019
With the new Deletions metric, you can find out how many times your app was deleted on devices running iOS 12.3 or later by users who agree to share their data with you. This data includes deletions of the app from the Home Screen and deletions of the app through Manage Storage. Data from resetting or erasing a device’s content and settings is not included.
Learn more about App Analytics
Get Tester Feedback Directly from your App
Testers can now send feedback directly from your beta app simply by taking a screenshot and share detailed feedback with a crash report immediately after a crash occurs. TestFlight 2.3 and iOS 13 beta or later are required. You can view and manage tester feedback in App Store Connect.
Visit your app’s TestFlight page and click Crashes or Screenshots in the Feedback section in the left side navigation. You can filter your feedback view by build numbers, app versions, devices, iOS versions, or tester groups.
For details on how testers submit feedback, see Testing Apps with TestFlight.
For details on viewing and managing tester feedback, see View tester feedback.
App Store Connect API Update
June 3, 2019
The App Store Connect API now supports provisioning, including management of bundle IDs, capabilities, signing certificates, devices, and provisioning profiles. Previously issued App Store Connect API keys can now be used to access the provisioning APIs. Audit or revoke any existing keys that you do not want to have access to this functionality.
Siri
Use the latest advances in Siri to provide an interactive voice experience with follow-up questions, additional shortcut customization, and audio content playback. Your apps can let Siri know when a user makes a reservation so Siri can remind them to check in, provide directions in Maps, add the event to Calendar, and more. And with the Shortcuts app built in to iOS 13, it’s even faster for users to find, use, and combine shortcuts.
Feedback Assistant
June 3, 2019
You can now submit developer feedback and file bug reports to Apple using the native Feedback Assistant app for iOS and Mac, which features automatic on-device diagnostics, remote bug filing, more detailed bug forms, and more bug statuses. You can also use the Feedback Assistant website. Feedback Assistant replaces Bug Reporter.
Notarization Requirement for Mac Software
June 3, 2019
Mac apps, installer packages, and kernel extensions that are signed with Developer ID must also be notarized by Apple in order to run on macOS Catalina. This will help give users more confidence that the software they download and run, no matter where they get it from, is not malware by showing a more streamlined Gatekeeper interface.
Updates to the App Store Review Guidelines
The App Store is dedicated to the best store experience for everyone. In order to continue providing a safe experience for users and a great opportunity for developers to be successful, we sometimes need to update the App Store Review Guidelines.
Please note these summaries of the latest changes and see the App Store Review Guidelines for full details. All guidelines are now enforced for new and existing apps, unless otherwise indicated.
- Guidelines 1.3 and 5.1.4. In order to help keep kids’ data private, apps in the kids category and apps intended for kids cannot include third-party advertising or analytics software and may not transmit data to third parties. This guideline is now enforced for new apps. Existing apps must follow this guideline by September 3, 2019.
- Guideline 4.7. HTML5 games distributed in apps may not provide access to real money gaming, lotteries, or charitable donations, and may not support digital commerce. This functionality is only appropriate for code that’s embedded in the binary and can be reviewed by Apple. This guideline is now enforced for new apps. Existing apps must follow this guideline by September 3, 2019.
- Guideline 5.4. Because VPN provides access to sensitive data, VPN apps may not sell, use, or disclose to third parties any data for any purpose, and must commit to this in their privacy policy. Certain types of apps — such as those for parental control, content blocking, and security — from approved providers may use the NEVPNManager API.
- Guideline 5.5. (New) Because MDM provides access to sensitive data, MDM apps must request the mobile device management capability, and may only be offered by commercial enterprises, such as business organizations, educational institutions, or government agencies, and, in limited cases, companies utilizing MDM for parental controls. MDM apps may not sell, use, or disclose to third parties any data for any purpose, and must commit to this in their privacy policy.
- Guideline 5.1.3(i). Apps may use a user’s health or fitness data to provide a benefit directly to that user, such as a reduced insurance premium, if the app is submitted by the entity providing the benefit and the data is not shared with a third party. The developer must also disclose to the user the specific health data collected from the device.
- Guideline 5.1.1(viii) (New). Apps that compile information from any source that is not directly from the user or without the user’s explicit consent, even public databases, are not permitted on the App Store.
- Guideline 5.1.1(ii). Apps must get consent for data collection, even if the data is considered anonymous at the time of or immediately following collection.
- Guideline 1.1.3. Apps may not facilitate purchase of ammunition.
- Guideline 4.2.7. Remote desktop clients now include game consoles owned by the user. Software appearing in the client must be fully executed on the host device.
Demo videos of app functionality that is geo-locked or otherwise restricted are not accepted. Developers must provide a fully functional app for review.
Sign In with Apple will be available for beta testing this summer. It will be required as an option for users in apps that support third-party sign-in when it is commercially available later this year.