Transcript
[ Music ]
[ Applause ]
>> Hey everyone.
Welcome to our session on what's
new in App Store Connect?
My name is Daniel Miao.
And I'm an engineering manager
on the App Store Connect team.
So what's new?
Well, first off, you may have
noticed we changed our name.
This is really just a small part
of our ongoing commitment to
building the best tools and
services focused on you, our
developers building apps for the
App Store.
Now along these lines, we've
also been undergoing a few
renovations on our App Store.
So last year, we went back and
we redesigned the iOS App Store.
And following the success of
that redesign, this year we also
redesigned the Mac App Store.
Now with this Mac App Store
redesign, we've added support
for a few new features including
app subtitles and app previews.
You can take advantage of these
features by signing into App
Store Connect or by using the
XML feed if you use that for
automation today.
Now for today's session, we're
going to focus on enhancements
we've made to App Store Connect.
And we're going to talk about it
within the context of your app
lifecycle.
This lifecycle typically begins
with the design phase.
This phase can be both visual or
in code.
And as you make your way around
this lifecycle, you eventually
end up with your app on the App
Store followed with an analysis
of how your app is doing on the
App Store.
Now more specifically, we're
going to focus on a few key
areas of this lifecycle.
We're going to talk about
changes to provisioning, user
management, delivering your app
into our system, beta testing
the builds, and analyzing your
biggest business drivers.
Now looking at all these
different areas, you can imagine
how something like automation
could bring all these together
quite nicely.
And we tend to agree which is
why we're very excited because
this summer we'll be releasing
an all-new product focused
around automation and we call it
the App Store Connect API.
[ Applause ]
Now the App Store Connect API is
simply a RESTful interface into
your app management experience.
To authenticate with the API,
you'll be using
industry-standard JSON web token
authentication.
Some of you may already be
familiar with this with other
APIs you've worked with.
In designing the API, we've
designed it around strict
convention.
This means whether you're
looking at something like naming
or error formats, no matter what
corner of the API you're in,
everything should feel familiar.
And finally, we've been writing
extensive documentation for this
API.
You might be looking for
references around resources and
their attributes or maybe you're
simply looking for a guide
around how to best use this API
for your use cases.
Well, either way and for many
other scenarios, this
documentation will be the place
to go.
We'll be launching the API this
summer.
And we will be launching with
support for the areas of the
lifecycle we highlighted
earlier.
Now as we add more features and
support for other areas, we will
be delivering those features to
you.
So going back to our lifecycle,
let's talk through some
enhancements and some API
integrations.
We'll begin by talking about
provisioning.
Now today, many of you rely on
Xcode to manage your
provisioning automatically.
But for some of you who are
looking for a little more
control, today you sign into the
Apple Developer website to
generate the resources you need
to sign your apps.
Well, with the API this summer,
you'll be able to do a lot of
these things directly.
The API will support generating
provisioning profiles, creating
and revoking signing
certificates as well as managing
your devices and your app bundle
IDs.
This should make it a little bit
easier for you to integrate your
provisioning activities into
your automation process.
[ Applause ]
So early on in the lifecycle
while you're thinking about
provisioning, you're probably
also thinking about managing
your users.
Now the API is going to support
inviting new users to App Store
Connect, modifying which apps
your users can see, managing
your user's roles as well as
updating profile details.
Now we didn't want to stop at
simplifying your management
experience with just the API.
We also wanted to take a look at
how we could simplify where you
go to manage your users in the
first place.
Today, you go to both App Store
Connect and the Apple Developer
website.
But starting this summer, you'll
be able to go to just one place.
[ Applause ]
And that's App Store Connect.
Coming to App Store Connect,
you'll be able to think about
all of your users within the
context of just one set of
roles.
And you can manage just one
account for each of your Apple
IDs.
Now we know that App Store
Connect and the Apple Developer
website, they're very different
systems.
So you might be wondering how is
all this going to come together?
Well, that's why we've built a
way for you to see how your
user's permissions will be
changing once this process is
complete.
Once we have this preview
available, we'll let you know
via Developer News and on the
App Store Connect home page.
From here, you can click into a
page that looks sort of like
this.
Here you'll see a list of all of
your users as well as a summary
of how their roles will be
changing.
Of course, some of your users
won't be changing at all.
Now if you click into a single
one of these users, you'll be
able to pull up a modal giving
you much more information about
that user including what their
permissions will look like going
forward.
We encourage you to come in to
App Store Connect and take a
look at each and every one of
your users and make any
necessary changes before we
began this process.
And once this process completes,
we encourage you to come back
one last time to make sure your
users are in a state that makes
sense to you and after that you
simply come back to App Store
Connect for any future changes.
All right.
So while some of you were
thinking about provisioning and
user management, others were
working on your apps.
Now a natural part of the app
development process is, of
course, spinning up builds.
At some point, you reach a build
that you're ready to deliver,
that way you can distribute it
to your customers.
Now many of you today are using
our tool called Transporter.
For those of you who aren't
familiar, Transporter is our
command line tool that does many
things and one of those is
delivering your builds into our
system.
For those of you who use
Transporter today, you know that
macOS is a supported platform.
Well, we also know that many of
you use Linux for things like
continuous integration, which is
why this summer we'll be adding
Linux as a supported platform
for Transporter.
[ Applause ]
Now you'll continue using
Transporter the same way you do
today.
And Transporter will continue
allowing you to validate your
builds before you deliver them.
This will save you a lot of time
because you'll know whether your
builds are in a good state
before you push us all of the
bits.
And once we launch the API this
summer, in addition to the
username and password
authentication that you can do
today, you'll also be able to
use the same API tokens that you
use with the rest of the App
Store Connect API.
Okay. So now that we have a few
builds in the system, it's time
to beta test them.
And, of course, beta testing
means TestFlight.
We've got a few enhancements to
TestFlight.
And I'd like to invite Tommy
McGlynn up to the stage to tell
you all about them.
[ Applause ]
>> Thanks, Daniel.
I'm really excited to be here
again talking to you about
TestFlight.
We've got a new feature to tell
you about, and it deals with
tester acquisition.
Today, all you need to invite
someone to TestFlight is their
e-mail address.
You simply enter their e-mail
and they'll be sent an
invitation.
Tapping on the invitation will
launch TestFlight where they can
install your beta app.
It's pretty awesome, but if
you're dealing with a lot of
testers, it can be cumbersome.
And if you're working with
testers who don't have an e-mail
address, there isn't an easy way
to invite them.
We think we can do even better,
and we call it TestFlight public
link.
[ Applause ]
This is really exciting.
Public link is a unique URL that
represents an open invitation to
your beta app.
You can share it anywhere you'd
like.
And it can be used by anyone to
become a new tester.
So public links can be shared
anywhere that a regular link can
be shared.
This means you can send a public
link directly to someone, or you
could share it on social media
to reach a wider audience.
If someone wants to become a
tester, they simply tap on a
link.
This would launch TestFlight
where they can install your beta
app and instantly become one of
your testers.
It's really easy.
You don't have to collect any
information.
You simply make the link
available and testers can join.
So let me show how we can create
a public link.
In TestFlight, groups allow you
to organize your testers and
decide which builds each group
of testers should have access
to.
We'll need to create a group
before we can generate a public
link.
And we can do that by clicking
new group in the left nav and
then giving the group a name.
Now before we create a public
link and start bringing testers
in, we want to make sure there
is a build that they can test.
So first we'll add a build to
this group.
We do that by going to the
builds tab and clicking the plus
button next to build.
This will show all the builds
we've uploaded.
And we can choose one that we
want to distribute.
Now that this group has a build,
we can create a public link for
this group.
We'll go back to the testers tab
and click enable public link.
This generates a unique URL that
we can share anywhere to reach
new testers.
And testers who join through
that link are automatically
added to the group.
So when you're ready to deliver
a new build, you simply add the
build to the group.
You can see how this is a much
faster way to bring in up to
10,000 active testers.
If you want more control over
the number of testers or you're
not quite ready for your beta
app to go viral, you can easily
set a custom tester limit on
each public link.
This would put a cap on the
number of testers who could join
through that link.
You also have the ability to
disable the public link at any
time at which point new testers
would no longer be able to join.
If someone tries to open a link
once it's been disabled, they'll
receive a message letting them
know this beta isn't accepting
any new testers.
I also want to show what happens
when someone taps on a public
link and doesn't have TestFlight
installed.
They'll land on a localized page
that explains how to install
TestFlight and get started as a
beta tester.
This will make it a lot easier
for brand-new testers to begin
testing your app.
I'd also like to mention that
you'll soon be able to do all of
this without using the App Store
Connect UI at all.
This will be possible using the
new App Store Connect API.
You'll be able to automate the
creation of groups, assign
builds to groups, manage public
links, add and remove testers,
and update test information.
All of this can be automated
using our new REST API.
Thank you.
We have an entire session
devoted to the new App Store
Connect API.
And I strongly encourage you to
check it out tomorrow at 3:00.
That's TestFlight public link.
And I'm really excited to see
what you're able to do with this
new feature.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
>> Thanks, Tommy.
Well, TestFlight public links
and the new TestFlight APIs are
just two more ways for you to
streamline your beta
distribution process.
So now that we've gone through a
successful round of beta
testing, prepared our App Store
metadata, gone through app
review, and now our app is in
the hands of our customers.
Now it's time to take a look at
some hard numbers to see how our
customers are actually
responding to our apps.
So the first place we can look
at this is in sales and trends.
Just this week we launched an
all new sales and trends
overview page.
This page gives you a summary of
your biggest business drivers
like app units, in-app
purchases, and sales.
As you scroll down this page,
you'll see your top apps and how
they contribute to each of these
metrics.
Here, when you look at these
sales numbers, these numbers
include not just app sales but
also in-app purchase sales from
within those apps.
As we scroll down towards the
bottom, we'll see these same
metrics broken down by territory
and by device.
After looking at all this
information, you'll know better
where to focus your efforts.
Now another place we can look is
in your generated reports to see
how your app is doing.
Today, in order to download your
generated reports, you use a
reporter tool but beginning this
summer you'll be able to do the
same thing directly with the
API.
And we'll be supporting the
download of both financial
reports and sales reports.
This will make it easier for you
to integrate reporting in to
your process.
So we've been talking about a
lot of features.
And so far they've mostly been
centered around your web and
your desktop experience.
So now we'd like to move on and
talk about our all new mobile
experience.
And I'd like to invite Alex
Miyamura up to the stage to tell
you all about it.
[ Applause ]
>> Thanks, Daniel.
We know that the involvement
with your apps doesn't stop the
moment that you step away from
your Mac.
You may have a version of one of
your apps that you've been
working on hard for quite a long
time that you're just itching to
release and it's now in app
review.
You may just have released a
version of one of your apps, or
you may just want to see how
your apps are doing, check out
their sales and trends or their
ratings and reviews.
And for that reason, we've
created a brand-new App Store
Connect experience for iOS.
This experience is centered
around giving you the ability to
access your apps data on the go
as well as empowering you to
take certain quick actions and
letting you know exactly when
you can take them.
Now let's start with sales and
trends.
When you tap into your trends
tab, you'll see this gorgeous
graphical summary of your app's
performance over the past 7
days.
You'll see your app's units and
proceeds.
Scrolling down, you'll see
sales, updates, and then in-app
purchases and app bundles.
Now we know that you implement
diverse modernization strategies
across your apps.
Some of you have paid apps, free
apps, apps with in-app
purchases, or you may leverage
subscriptions.
Now we know that and we wanted
to give you the ability to
select exactly which of these
graphs are most relevant to you.
So we've added this edit
function where you can select
the graphs you'd like to see.
So let's say that, in my
business, I only have free apps.
I'll go ahead and unselect
proceeds, sales, in-app
purchases, and app bundles.
Hit done and, voila, now I just
see units and updates, exactly
what's relevant for my business.
Next, we're going to take a look
at the time selection control
underneath the trends title.
In iTunes Connect mobile, we
allow you to see the status from
7 days all the way to 26 weeks.
Now this was amazing if you are
interested in longer-term
trends, right?
But what about an app that you
just released?
You might not even have 7 days'
worth of data.
And if you want to compare those
7 days to the previous 7 days,
well obviously you're not going
to have that.
So in App Store Connect, we
introduce the 1 day view.
In this view, you can see how
your apps are during day over
day even just a few days after
launch.
Of course, some of you are still
going to be interested in
longer-term trends, right?
So we still offer you the
ability to view your apps data
over 2 weeks, 5 weeks, 13 weeks,
and 26 weeks.
You can also drill down into
each one of these graphs in more
detail.
So we're going to take a look at
units right now.
When you tap into one of these
graphs, you'll see a breakdown
across your free apps, your paid
apps, and in-apps for the
iOS/tvOS App Stores as well as
the redesigned Mac App Store.
You can also take a look at a
deeper dive into any one of
these cells just by tapping on
them.
So let's go ahead and tap the
free iOS/tvOS app cell.
Now you can see data about each
one of your apps in more detail
and also your apps top
territories.
If you're interested in seeing
more territories, you can tap
the show more button.
Now you can see the territories
that your apps are available in
worldwide.
You can also take a look at your
apps data individually as
opposed to this aggregate view
by taking a look at the my apps
tab which we'll do next.
When you tap into the my apps
tab, you'll see a list of your
apps, obviously.
But what if you're a member of
more than one development team?
So do we have anyone in the
audience that is, indeed, a
member of more than one
development team?
Cool. So it's actually quite a
bit of you.
So that's awesome.
And that's exactly why we've
introduce the ability to select
which development team you'd
like to see within App Store
Connect.
So we'll tap the little account
button.
That brings up settings.
And you'll see the account cell.
We'll tap into that, select the
team that we'd like to see
within App Store Connect, and
dismiss this.
Now we see exactly the apps that
we're interested in right now.
Let's go ahead and take a look
at one of the apps within our
apps list, Mountain Climber.
When we tap into Mountain
Climber, you'll see four
sections.
The first section that you see
is the iOS app section.
And here you'll see your iOS
versions.
If your app has a tvOS app
version, you'll see the tvOS app
section and, obviously, the tvOS
app versions underneath.
Now we also have App Store
information.
And remember that I noted that
you can see your apps trends
data individually.
Well, all you have to do is tap
into that cell and you'll be
taken there.
Now, finally we have
notifications.
And we're going to do something
a bit unorthodox here.
We're actually going to start
from all the way at the bottom
with notifications.
There are two types of
notifications that you can
receive within the App Store
Connect app.
The first one is for app status
changes.
And this is something like when
your app is in review and then
goes to pending developer
release when it's approved.
The next one that you can take
is for reviews with a certain
star rating.
And so we're going to go ahead
and select the five-star review
because we want to thank users
that are enjoying our app as
well as the one-star review
because we want to engage users
that, for whatever reason, are
not having the best of
experiences.
Now that we've selected our
notifications, we're going to go
back to the app view.
The reason why we started with
notifications is because one of
the key tenets of the App Store
Connect experience on iOS is
giving you the ability to take a
quick action around your apps
and letting you know when you
can do so.
So we know that you've taken --
you've spent countless hours
working on your apps.
You've distributed them to beta
testers via TestFlight.
You've taken those testers
feedback, iterated upon that
with your apps, and finally you
have a build that's ready for
release to the world.
Now one of the last things you
have to do before releasing your
app to the world is, of course,
submitting your build to app
review.
One of the notifications that we
just set up in the App Store
Connect app was for app status
changes.
This means that when your app is
approved by app review, you'll
receive a push notification that
tells you this happy news.
The second that you received one
of these notifications, you can
open App Store Connect wherever
you are.
And we'll go to the version
view.
You'll now see that our app
Forest Explorer is pending
developer release.
We'll scroll down and you'll see
two buttons.
The first one that you'll see is
this big red button.
It's really obvious.
Reject this binary.
We don't want to do that, but
now we see release this version
and that's exactly what we want
to do.
We'll tap there.
We'll get a confirmation dialog
and we'll hit release.
Now we sent that build off to
the world.
Sometimes you don't get the
happiest push notifications and
this is one of them.
Right. Sometimes your app may be
rejected by app review.
And, obviously, that's something
that no one wants to see.
Later in our session, my
colleague Daniel is going to go
over some tips and tricks from
app review to make sure that
this never happens to you.
But what should we do now?
We need to make sure that we can
get this app approved and out
there to the world.
Now what we're going to do is
open up App Store Connect.
And under App Store information,
you'll see this warning badge
next to resolution center.
Within resolution center, you'll
be able to see app reviews
feedback for your app.
You can tap into one in more
detail and, of course, reply to
it on the go.
Now once we send our response
back to app review, they'll get
a chance to review it and
hopefully our app will be
approved at once.
Now once your app has been
submitted to app review, once
it's been approved, and you've
used App Store Connect to
release it, the next thing that
you'll be receiving his customer
feedback.
And here's one of the
notifications that you may
receive, a five-star review.
Now recall we set up
notifications for one and
five-star reviews within App
Store Connect.
Since we set these up, you'll
know the very minute a customer
submits one of these reviews.
You can access all customer
feedback within App Store
Connect by accessing the ratings
and reviews section where you'll
be able to see your current
rating across any one of the
territories you've selected or,
obviously, all territories.
You can also take a look at your
reviews, read them in more
detail, and reply to them.
Now this is a satisfied customer
so we're going to thank them for
the positive feedback.
That covers App Store Connect
notifications and the quick
actions that you can take from
them but there's one more thing.
We've also optimized App Store
Connect for iPad.
So let's take a quick look.
As I mentioned earlier, you can
view a certain apps sales and
trends data.
And here is sales and trends for
Forest Explorer.
You can see units.
And we'll scroll down to updates
and also drill down into the
territories view.
Now I'm sure you want to try
this out on your own.
And our app is actually
available now.
So if you haven't downloaded it
already, please go ahead and do
so.
We've worked hard to bring an
experience -- an improved mobile
experience to you.
And we hope you'll enjoy using
it as much as we enjoyed
creating it.
And with that, now back to
Daniel.
[ Applause ]
>> Thanks, Alex.
So that's a beautiful new app
that'll give you even more power
to manage your apps on the go.
So next we'd like to talk about
a guideline change we made just
this week that will let those of
you with paid apps offer
time-based free trials for your
customers.
Now those of you who are using
subscriptions today know that
free trials are a great way to
attract new customers to your
services.
But we also know that
subscriptions aren't the model
that works for every app which
is why we're happy to now have a
path for paid apps.
So we're going to take a look at
what this setup looks like.
So let's say we start with a
paid app.
The first thing you would do is
turn your paid app into a free
app.
Now on top of this free app,
you're going to add two
non-consumable in-app purchases.
The first is a free tier 0
priced non-consumable.
And you'll present this to your
customers when they launch the
app so that they can opt-in to
the free trial.
Now the second non-consumable is
the in-app purchase that you use
to unlock your app functionality
for that customer for good.
You can present this at any
point; in the beginning when
they launch the app or when
their free trial is complete.
Now in order to use this setup,
there are a few guidelines to
look out for and to follow.
First, make sure you name your
trial in-app purchase with this
naming convention.
And next, you'll want to make
sure that it's very clear to the
customer exactly what they are
signing up for.
So please make sure that they
know how long the free trial is
going to last, how much it'll
cost to unlock the
functionality, and what kind of
features and content won't be
available anymore after the
trial if they decide not to
continue.
All right.
So we talked about a number of
new features today.
So let's take a second to recap
them.
First, we're launching an
all-new App Store Connect API
this summer.
We're unifying where you go to
manage your users.
We've extended app Transporter
to support Linux.
We're launching TestFlight
public links, which will make it
a lot easier for you to invite
large numbers of testers.
We've launched a brand-new sales
and trends overview page, a new
App Store Connect for iOS page,
and a path for you to offer
trials to customers on your paid
apps.
Now these are features that will
be launching between now and the
end of the summer.
But we also have two significant
features we launched over the
past year that we'd like to
highlight.
And these are intro pricing and
pre-orders.
So introductory pricing, for
those of you who use
subscriptions, is a great way to
incentivize new customers to
sign up for your subscriptions.
Now you do this by offering your
customers a discounted
introductory price at the
beginning of your subscription.
There are three different
pricing models we offer for
this.
First, we have free trials.
Now with free trials, your
customers sign up for free.
They use your services for the
introductory period.
And at the end of the period,
they move on to your regular
subscription price.
Next, we have a model that we
call pay upfront.
With this model, your customers
sign up and they pay one time at
the beginning of your
introductory period.
And, again, at the end of the
period, the regular subscription
price kicks in.
And finally, we have pay as you
go.
With pay as you go, your
customers pay a recurring
discounted price during the
introductory period.
Now once the entire period has
been completed then they move on
to the regular subscription
price.
Now we have two related sessions
that happened yesterday that
have more information around the
StoreKit side and best practices
around both intro pricing and
subscriptions.
They are Best Practices and
What's New with In-App Purchases
and Engineering Subscriptions.
So check those out if you have a
chance.
So next we have pre-orders.
Now pre-orders are a great way
for you to drum up excitement
for your app before your app is
actually available for download
or purchase.
In order to set up a pre-order,
you can take any app that has
not yet been released on the App
Store and you can enable it.
After you submit it to app
review and that app has been
approved, you can release that
app to the App Store as a
pre-order.
Once that pre-order period is
over and your customers have
signed up for your pre-order,
your app will move into ready
for sale state where your
customers can now download or
purchase that app.
It's also at this transition
that customers that have signed
up for your pre-order are
charged for the price of your
app.
Now let's take a look at how you
might set this up in App Store
Connect.
We begin here on the pricing and
availability page.
Again, if this app has never
been released to the App Store,
you'll see a section in the
middle here labeled pre-orders.
Here, you can enable your
pre-orders and set a release
date.
This release date is a date on
which your app goes from being
available as a pre-order on the
App Store to being available as
a download or purchase on the
App Store.
In other words, this is when it
goes from pre-order ready for
sale to ready for sale.
Now once you've gone through app
review and your app is in
pending developer release state,
you'll see a button in the top
right corner.
This is the release pre-order
button.
You click this button to make
your app available on the App
Store as a pre-order.
Once you do this, you'll see a
banner at the top of the page
telling you when your pre-order
started and when it completes.
This completion date is simply
the release date that you set
for your app.
Now if you'd like to release
this app before the release date
or more immediately, you can
click the release app now button
in the top right corner.
And that's intro pricing and
pre-orders in a nutshell.
So we have to close out this
session with a few best
practices from app review.
These are a few tips that'll
help your apps to get through
review a little more smoothly.
First, please enter contact
information and keep it current
throughout the review process.
Sometimes app review needs to
reach out to maybe ask a few
questions to clarify how your
app works.
This will help us to get your
app through review a bit more
quickly, but we can't reach out
to you without contact
information.
Next, please submit demo account
information if your app requires
a log in.
There's a section on the version
page where you can enter this
and keep it updated.
Please make sure the account --
this account information is
current throughout the review
process.
And if there is a server side to
the log in, which usually there
is, please make sure that the
server side account is also
enabled throughout the process.
You may be wondering does app
review ever look at the notes?
Well, yes they do.
They look at it with every
single review.
So if there is any information
that might make it clearer for
app review or maybe tells them
about any kind of non-obvious
features of your app, be sure to
include that information in
these notes.
When you submit screenshots,
please make sure to include
customer experience.
We want to see what the customer
sees in these screenshots.
And finally, if you're asking
your customers for permissions
around things like their
location or maybe access to
their photo library, please
include, in that permission
modal, why you're requesting
that information and how it's
going to be used.
And those are a few notes from
app review.
For more information about
anything we've talked about
today, please visit this link.
A recording of this video will
be posted there along with
related documents and other
things, more information about
what we've talked about.
We also have a few related
sessions.
Tomorrow, as Tommy mentioned, we
have our Automating App Store
Connect session at 3:00 where
we're going to take you into a
deep dive of the API and show
you how to use the API at a much
deeper level.
We also have two labs coming up,
one tomorrow and one the day
after.
So if you'd like to come and
talk to us, we'd love to talk to
you.
And finally, there is an App
Store lab that happening, as
many of you know, on the other
side of this building.
So if you have any questions,
feel free to sign up for that.
Or if you just have a quick
question, we now have a walk-in
table this year that you can
just drop by with a question
for.
Thank you so much for spending
your time with us and we hope
you enjoy your dinner and the
rest of this conference.