IOS App Field Changes Required at App Store

Author: Parth Bari

The news has hit the market and people started behaving accordingly!

As per Apple’s announcement, all iOS app owners should submit a new version of their app soon to edit the marketing URL, support URL and the text covering ‘What’s new in this’.

Here consists the texts and images in an app’s Metadata that are visible on the App Store. Icon, title, description, keywords, screenshots etc. constitute the parts of this Metadata that should always be prefect as if you want your apps to successfully remain listed in App Store.

The developers can fully customize their app’s metadata when they are submitting an app after the app development process, but when the apps are live, they can be edited once only.

How to Proceed with the Changes in a Live App?

It will be a big takeaway for sure!

There is a very little scope for the app owners to make changes to a live app until and unless you are bringing an app update or taking consent from Apple.

Even if the permission granted, you and your developer should be very quick to submit data. Your app creator or app writer will join the drafting process in this stage of iOS app development and your app developer will quickly submit an update.

Now, you should learn about some essential steps to submit your app and it can save you a ton of money and time. Bellow follow a list of the fields that demand changes when your app is live along with informing about the fields that need an update.

Apple's Announcement

Here are the things that should essentially be changed after the Apple’s announcements.

  • The section – "What is New in This Version"

    • The location of this section is just right below the icon/title/subtitle/ratings of your app and right above the screenshots/description/video previews of the app. It should be changed to the most relevant one. Just take help of your app writer or mobile app development professional and do the required changes.

  • Support URL

    • The information section of the listing of your app comprises the support URL displayed over there as the ‘App Support’. This app support URL is only displayed on specific devices and platform for your app.

  • Marketing URL

    • The marketing URL is also displayed on the information section of the listing on your app and can be seen as the term ‘Developer Website’.

    Some Easily Updateable Fields

    Here are some of the fields that do not need an update to change and the developers can edit them easily without bringing any update to their app.

  • Promotional Text that is shown above the app description
  • Price of the App
  • Availability by Territory
  • Ability to remove from sale
  • Privacy Policy of the app company
  • Discounts and Volume Purchase Plan
  • Copyright of the App that includes the display name of the seller in your app’s information section

    • Few more field that require an update to change in your app:

    The app developers are not allowed to update any item listed below without submitting a new version of the iOS app and getting it approved by Apple.

  • Icon of the App
  • App Title and Subtitle
  • Keywords and Category
  • Video Previews
  • Description
  • Screenshots
  • Version
  • Rating
  • To sum Up
  • And the above three about which the announcement was made.

    • When I have initially ventured iOS app development and published my very first app, developers were allowed to make almost all type of changes on the fly, including screenshots and keywords.

    However, the facility of metadata-firepower that is given today was not there at that time.

    The latest news from Apple locks edits to the Marketing URL, Support URL and ‘What’s New in this Version’ Text without requiring an app update submission. This means that you will need to submit an update for your app.

    Why Apple announced this?

    There is a big reason why these changes occur in the iphone app development and promotion area. From some time, it has been observed that the developers are misusing the fields and providing malicious links to the App Store.

    This gave rise to bring the aforesaid decision and restrictions undertaken.

    What to do get benefits of this news?

  • You can stay ahead in the competition if you have a responsible development team to quickly submit the updates.
  • Take your time to learn how you can submit an app update yourself or get assistance from your development team to go with it on DIY basis.
  • If you do not have any coding knowledge and you are not an application developer, still want to go with submitting updates for your app projects. It saves you thousands and allows to make immediate changes to your apps.

    • Conclusion:

    When Google or Apple and other reputed companies release such kind of announcements, it is worth to interpret as your apps get costed for any move you make in this regard and it further affects your business ultimately.

    Hence, do the due as per the guidelines to reach the benefits.