New guidelines set in place for developers looking to deploy passes on iOS

Dec 20, 2012 07:30 GMT  ·  By

Apple developers can now use Passbook badges which, in essence, are nothing more than graphical elements which aid advertising efforts for Passbook-compatible apps.

Via the News and Announcements section for developers, Apple is spreading the word that Passbook badges are now available.

“Passbook is the simplest way for users to store all their passes in one place.”

“And with the Add to Passbook badge, you can offer users a visual cue to add your Passbook-compatible tickets, boarding passes, loyalty cards, coupons, and other passes from an app, email, or webpage,” it states.

Developers are encouraged to download one or several Passbook badges from 15 different language choices “and review important guidelines on using the Add to Passbook badge today.”

That’s right. With the inclusion of Passbook in iOS 6, Apple has set in place new rules for developers, which determine whether or not a Passbook-enabled app gets approved in the App Store.

With the new announcement, Apple also reminds developers that there are some new App Store badges too, as of November 8.

Localized in 35 languages, “two new badges — “Available on the Mac App Store” for offline use and “Download on the Mac App Store” for online use — are now available.”

“Make sure you also review the new Mac App Store Marketing and Advertising Guidelines for important information on using badges, product images, best practices, and more,” Apple adds.

Lastly, Apple issues yet another reminder regarding the iTunes Connect Holiday shutdown. The outage is scheduled for December 21–28.

Developers should not schedule pricing changes that take effect during the shutdown as the updates will be delayed until after December 28.

New releases that are scheduled to go live between these dates will also be delayed, and the same goes for bug fix updates.