14 DAY TRIAL // If you put bread on the table selling apps and you’re planning to make a submission to the App Store this year, it would be a good idea to put those finishing touches this week.
Apple this week plans to shutter iTunes Connect in a usual move that allows the company’s staff to take a break for the winter holidays every year. The company issued this reminder a while ago, but we want to make sure no one gets left out (just in case you’re not signed up for the Mac makers’s RSS feeds, or missed the newsletter).
Last submissions will be accepted this week
Last week, on December 8, Apple released a brief announcement on its developer portal, announcing the annual scheduled shutdown of iTunes Connect.
In the memo, the company informs registrants to the iOS and Mac developer programs that “iTunes Connect will shut down December 22-29 for the winter holidays.” The Cupertino, California-based tech giant then stresses, “If you plan to schedule app releases or price changes to to take place during this time, make sure these changes are scheduled, submitted, and approved by December 18.”
As far as TestFlight users are concerned, including those who received an invitation to take pre-release apps for a test drive, Apple will make no modifications during this time frame.
The same goes for the Sales and Trends reports, which also remain available through the Autoingestion mechanism, according to the company.
Goes for Mac apps too
Despite the headline mentioning only iPhone apps (for ergonomic reasons), we imagine you’ve already guessed that the outage applies to both the iOS and the Mac developer program.
In other words, if you have a Mac app lined up for submission, you’d better roll it out no later than December 17. If you decide to submit it on the 18th, you might get an approval by the end of the day (considering that there are far less submissions in the Mac App Store than there are in its iOS counterpart), but don’t bet on it.
So whatever you do, make sure that your app is prepped and ready to be reviewed by Apple this week. That is, if you don’t want to wait until next year.
It’s worth noting that Apple has so far stated nothing about the two-day window between December 29 and New Year’s Eve. There’s a chance the company will be accepting submissions then as well.
