Transcript
[ Music ]
[ Applause ]
>> Hello and welcome to our
session on What's New in App
Store Connect.
My name is Tommy McGlynn and I'm
an App Store Connect Engineer.
Today our focus is the App
Lifecycle.
This is everything from the
moment you first began creating
an app to the moment you make it
available in the App Store.
As we look at the lifecycle
today, we'll highlight some
things that are important to
know and we'll look at recent
improvements to specific phases
of the lifecycle.
And finally we'll look at some
brand new features that you
haven't seen yet.
So let's begin where it all
starts for every developer and
that's where we design and
develop apps in Xcode.
Xcode is where you create apps,
and we've just announced that
you can now deliver amazing
watch apps without needing to
build an iOS companion app.
And these apps will be fully
supported in App Store Connect
from TestFlight through to
through to the App Store and
customers can discover your app
right on their watch, in the new
App Store built specifically for
Apple Watch.
Now you've built an app in Xcode
and you're ready to share it
with the world.
The next step is to upload your
app.
A common way to deliver apps
today is within Xcode or with
Application Loader which is an
app that's installed with Xcode.
Beginning with the beta of Xcode
11, Application Loader will no
longer be included.
Instead, we've created a new
dedicated experience for
delivering apps that does not
require you to install Xcode.
It's called Transporter.
This is a dedicated Mac App
that's super easy to use and
it's a great way to deliver your
apps.
Transporter is also a localized
app.
So it's a great experience for
anyone on your team across many
languages.
So let's take a closer look at
how to use Transporter.
First you sign in with your
Apple ID.
Then if you belong to multiple
teams, you'll choose one from
the drop-down list.
Now it's time to select the
files that you want to deliver.
Transporter uses a simple
drag-and-drop interface.
You just take your IPA that
you've exported from Xcode, drag
it over Transporter and drop.
From there it's a simple click
to begin verifying the package.
Transporter will display
warnings and errors that occur
during validation so you can
find and fix them early.
Once errors have been addressed
you can click to deliver the
package.
Transporter will display
delivery progress and you have
the option to cancel or restart
deliveries that have not yet
completed.
You also have the option to
verify many packages at the same
time.
Simply drag all of them into
Transporter and click to begin
validation.
That's transporter for Mac.
It's really easy, and I know it
could be a great tool for your
team.
So once your app is uploaded, we
do some further validations and
some issues can only be
diagnosed after we've received
your app.
If we do find any issues, you'll
receive an email to let you
know, and we've recently made
some enhancements to these
emails.
First we added the version
number prominently in the
subject line.
We also added additional context
to help you quickly understand
the problem.
And finally we added numeric
codes for each error.
These will help you find more
details on each error type.
We've also introduced a new way
to view your builds after
they've been uploaded with the
new Build Activity View in App
Store Connect for iOS, where you
can see all of the recent builds
that you've uploaded along with
detailed information about each
build as well as the download
and install sizes for each
device model.
In addition to Build Activity,
there's a new notification type
that you can enable called Build
Processing Changes.
This is a great way to be
notified immediately as your
builds finish processing.
Now you've delivered your app
and you're moving from
development into the testing
phase.
The next step in the App
Lifecycle is TestFlight.
We've built some exciting new
features for TestFlight and to
tell you all about it I'd like
to invite Pyam on stage.
[ Applause ]
Hi everyone.
My name Pyam Yousofi [assumed
spelling], and I'm an engineer
on App Store Connect.
I'm really excited to be here
today to tell you all about
what's new with TestFlight, but
first let's reflect a little
bit.
Last year we introduced Public
Links.
This made it so much easier for
you to invite lots of new people
to test their apps.
All you needed to do is create a
unique URL, you can share it
with anyone, anywhere all
without an email address.
One of the first adopters of
Public Links was Snapchat and
they had some great things to
say.
I'd like to read it to you now.
TestFlight Public Links reduce
friction for our testers.
It increased our tester pool in
a way that's lightweight and
easier to maintain while
providing us with more than
twice the amount of useful
pre-release feedback.
It's that awesome?
And we've been working harder to
reduce friction for testers even
more.
This year we improved the
TestFlight app by localizing it
in dozens of additional
language.
That means that it's even more
effortless for testers worldwide
to start testing their apps.
And now that you have lots of
new testers, you're probably
eager to hear from them.
We know how important it is for
you to learn about new bugs and
crashes as soon as they happen
during the testing phase, and we
know that sometimes you don't
always get all the detail you
need from your testers when they
send you issues.
So today I'm really excited to
announce something completely
new for TestFlight.
We've printed features that will
improve the beta testing
experience, and we call it
TestFlight Feedback.
[ Applause ]
Yeah, these are some great
enhancements that help increase
the quality and quantity of
feedback you receive from your
beta testers.
So now when testers first start
testing your app, they're see a
new onboarding experience that
helps them get up to speed on
what to test and how to start
sending you feedback.
Now there's two new ways to
start sending feedback.
First, testers can send
screenshots to you without ever
leaving your app.
And second, testers are prompted
any time a crash occurs so they
can quickly send you feedback
about that crash.
And we'll also go over new
sections in App Store Connect
that let you manage all the
feedback you collect through
Test Flight, but first let's
take a closer look at how
testers can send you feedback in
a demo on my iPhone.
So, my team invited me to test a
beta version of their app called
Forest Explorer.
It's still early in development
and so there's lots for me to
give feedback on.
Let's start testing it together.
Now when you launch that first
version of an app, you see this
new onboarding screen.
It tells you everything you need
to know to get started and all
you have to do is enter test
notes on the builds in App Store
Connect and it will display
here.
So here I can see that my team
wants me to be on the lookout
for issues in layout and
usability.
Sounds good to me so I'll tap
next.
Here we see steps on how to
start giving feedback just by
taking a screenshot.
I'm excited to give it a try.
So let's start testing.
Here's Forest Explorer.
So you see my photo feed and
some trails on the feed, and
right off the bat I can see that
the Half Dome Trail, it's kind
of darker in text in comparison
to the other trails.
So this is a good opportunity
for me to send some feedback.
I'll take a screenshot, tap on
the preview, and here when you
tap done, there's a new Share
Beta Feedback Option.
This is available to all beta
apps that's feedback enabled.
Tap on that it opens up a
dialogue for me to enter more
information.
Because I'm a Public Link tester
I have the option to include an
email address with this piece of
feedback, but for now I'll just
add some comments.
The text should be more
consistent with the other trails
and I'll tap submit and that's
it.
I just sent some feedback.
[ Applause ]
Thank you.
Let's keep looking around.
On a trail, I see some trails
that I've saved on this app, and
I can see that the icons on the
lower left are kind of clipped
off-screen.
So this might be a good place
for me to send some more
feedback.
I'll take a screenshot and while
I'm at it I'll take a second
screenshot too and that way I
can crop the first one, but
leave the second one intact for
context.
I'll even mark it up just to
point out where the issue is
happening, and I'll tap done and
share beta feedback.
Again, I can include comments
about what the issue is, the
icons are clipped off-screen,
and I'll tap submit.
And that's it.
I've sent multiple screenshots.
Isn't that awesome?
[ Applause ]
Let's keep testing around.
I'll tap on nearby and see what
trails are around and let's find
a Half Dome Trail on the map.
Okay, Forest Explorer just
crashed and this is a new
feature that's a part of
feedback.
Now when your beta apps crash,
testers are prompted to share
feedback about the crash.
So I know my team will want to
know about this so I'll tap
share and here I can include
steps on what caused the crash.
Tapped on the Half Dome Trail
and the app crashed.
And that's it.
I've just sent some crash
feedback to my team and they'll
know where to start debugging
thanks to the feedback I sent.
So I think I'm done testing
Forest Explorer for now, but as
you can see, I've been able to
send a bunch of valuable
feedback in just a few minutes
of testing.
Isn't that exciting?
[ Applause ]
These are some really great
features and sending feedback
through TestFlight has never
been easier and as a developer,
you don't have to do any extra
work to get quality feedback
from your testers.
So finally, let's talk about
managing the feedback in App
Store Connect.
You'll be able to view feedback
submissions shortly after you
receive them and you'll have
helpful filters where you can
find feedback that's important
to you.
Each feedback submission will
include details about the tester
and their device and each
feedback will be available to
download in a zip file.
And in cases where you want to
stop receiving feedback, you can
disable it too.
So let's take a look at these in
more detail.
To manage your crash feedback
just select the Crashes tab in
TestFlight and from here you'll
view detailed information about
all the crashes you've received
from your testers.
You can filter crashes by things
like App Version, Build Version
or Device Model to help find
specific crashes you're looking
for, and each piece of feedback
contains useful details about
the tester and their device at
the time of the crash.
So you'll find things like
connection type and free disk
space available or even the
battery life of the device when
the app crashed.
And if you need to share
feedback with members of your
team outside of App Store
Connect, you can download a zip
file too and it'll include
everything you see plus the
crash log when the crash
happened.
Now it's even easier for you to
track down what caused your app
to crash.
So what about the screenshots
that your testers send you?
Those live in the Screenshots
Tab in TestFlight.
You'll be able to find a gallery
of screenshots feedback that
your testers have submitted.
Just like in crashes you can
filter screenshots by some
helpful filters.
For example, you may want to
look for some feedback from
testers using different devices
than the ones you normally build
with.
So you can select the device
like the iPhone SD, for example.
And now filtered you can
discover any issues on smaller
screens.
So here we see a couple of
screenshots testers have sent
about Forest Explorer.
Let's take a look at one more
detail.
This tester is reporting a major
layout issue similar to the one
we saw earlier.
Screenshot feedbacks contain the
same helpful details that you'll
find in crash feedback.
So you'll find things like
screen resolution, device model
or iOS version of the device.
So paired with screenshots
you'll be able to better
troubleshoot the testers
feedback.
You can also download a zip file
too and it'll include all the
screenshots you see in
TestFlight plus the details that
are in App Store Connect.
If at any point you want to stop
collecting feedback, you can
disable it at the tester group
level.
This means that your testers
will no longer see the
onboarding screen or be able to
send you feedback from directly
within your app, but you can
re-enable this at any time.
So these are some of the ways
you can manage feedback that you
receive through TestFlight and
App Store Connect.
With all these improvements,
you'll be able to receive more
effective feedback at any point
during the testing phase and
testers can start sending you
feedback today.
Anyone running iOS 13 will be
able to use all of these new
features in TestFlight.
We're really excited about
TestFlight feedback, and we want
to start receiving feedback from
you too.
So today we're announcing the
TestFlight Beta Program.
This means that you can get
early versions of TestFlight for
iOS, test the latest features
and give us feedback.
You can sign up for the beta on
a Developer Downloads Page.
We're excited to receive
feedback and help improve
TestFlight even more.
Thank you so much, and I'll give
the stage back to Tommy.
[ Applause ]
Thanks, Pyam.
Those are great new ways to
receive feedback about your beta
apps.
After you've received feedback
and you've iterated on your app,
it's time to transition to the
App Store, but first something
you'll likely think about is how
to price your app.
The App Store enables you to
generate sales globally to
millions of customers in 155
territories.
We ensure that you can do
business with as many customers
as possible by consistently
adding support for new payment
methods so customers can pay for
your app in whichever method
they prefer.
And with new support for the
Korean won, you can now generate
sales across 45 unique
currencies.
Although you can generate sales
across all currencies, your
business doesn't need to handle
payment for all them because we
consolidate all of your proceeds
into a single payment to your
bank account.
For those of you who offer
subscriptions you have 200
different price tiers to choose
from, and we recently released a
feature called Subscription
Offers.
These allow you to offer a
discount or free period of
service for subscriptions and
you decide which subscribers
qualify for the offer.
This is a great way to retain
existing subscribers or to win
back previous subscribers.
There's a lot of great ways to
utilize subscriptions, but I
won't go into detail here
because we have two sessions on
this tomorrow, and I encourage
you to check these out.
Now you've nailed down the
pricing strategy and next
there's something equally
important to think about and
that's how your app is
represented in the App Store
Product Page.
This involves app naming,
description and keywords which
make it easier for customers to
discover your app and when it
comes to reaching as many people
as possible, a key aspect is
localization.
If we take English as an
example, only about 5% of the
world speaks English as a first
language.
So when you localize your
product page there's a huge
opportunity to reach more
people.
We focus on supporting a lot of
languages, and we recently added
support for more.
To tell you more about these
languages and how you localize
your product page, I'd like to
invite Ethar [phonetic] on
stage.
[ Applause ]
>> Thanks Tommy.
Salam everyone.
My name is Ethar Elsaka [assumed
spelling], and I'm an engineer
on App Store Connect.
Today we will talk about a very
exciting feature related to your
apps metadata.
We believe that localization is
the key aspect for making your
apps more accessible to the
global audience.
We are always working hard to
introduce new language support
and just this past year we
introduced nine new languages
bringing the total number of
languages supported by the App
Store to 37 languages.
[ Applause ]
Actually let me pause here and
give you a pop quiz.
Who knows what does aikhtibar
[phonetic] mean?
And what about tatbiq?
So here is your first Arabic
lesson.
Aikhtibar means test and tatbiq
means app.
If you wonder why I give you
this Arabic quiz, this is
because Arabic is one of the
right to left languages and
today I'm very excited to share
that for the first time in the
App Store with iOS 13 we are
supporting Arabic and Hebrew.
[ Applause ]
So now these customers can set
their iPhone language to Arabic
or Hebrew and enjoy browsing our
App Store content in their
preferred language.
As you can imagine, this is not
a small effort and it requires
a rethink of almost every
aspect of display and
interaction, UI layout,
navigation controls, animation
and editorial artwork.
We believe that the presence of
localized app and editorial
content will lead to a deeper
and more integrated experience
for hundreds of millions of
customers on iOS and Mac, from
browse and purchase through App
Launch.
So to let these customers enjoy
our apps in their native
language, we need to localize
ours apps in App Store Connect
and now let me show you how we
can do that.
Once I'm at the home page, I
will click on my apps, which
contains all the apps under the
Nature Lab team.
I choose to localize the first
Explorer App to make it easier
for my friends and family in
Egypt to use it.
I don't know where because we
don't have forest in Egypt but
maybe when they come visit.
[ Laughter ]
Now I need to select the version
that I want to localize and
since this app has never been
released it has only one
version.
Let me add Arabic language from
the drop-down menu on the right
and now I'm ready to localize my
app.
I will need the promotional text
and since right to left is new
in the App Store Connect, I will
give the first Explorer for the
Arab people for one year for
free.
I also need the description
which has detailed information
about the Forest Explorer
functionalities and features.
I also need to add meaningful
keywords to make my app more
discovered.
I can save for now, but I still
need to add the screenshots and
the support URL to be able to
submit my app for review.
Now let me show you how the
Forest Explorer will look in the
App Store.
Here is how the Forest Explorer
will look in the App Store after
releasing it.
Awesome.
[ Applause ]
Also I'm super excited that now
TestFlight is available in
Arabic and Hebrew, which I
believe would provide a good
experience for Arabic and Hebrew
speaking tester while testing
apps.
To summarize, we believe that
localization is important to
provide the best possible app
experience for everyone.
We have embraced this and now
App Store supports 39 languages
including Arabic and Hebrew,
with right to left support for
the first time today your app
can reach over 250 million
potential customers.
And, finally, don't forget to
submit your Arabic and Hebrew
localization in App Store
Connect today.
Thank you and let me hand it
back to Tommy.
[ Applause ]
>> Thank you, Ethar.
Localizing your product page is
a great way to improve
discoverability and now you can
do that for more languages than
ever before.
Now you've built and iterated on
your app, you've set a pricing
strategy and you've localized
your product page.
The final step is submitting for
review.
To make sure that goes as smooth
as possible we have some
guidelines to keep in mind.
The first one, of course, is
please test your app on a device
before submitting it.
Ensure you fill out all app
information and metadata.
Keep your contact info up to
date so we can reach you if
there are any issues.
And if your app requires a
login, well, that's something
we're going to need in order to
review your app.
So, please add credentials for a
demo account to the review
notes.
Also explain any non-obvious
features and in-app purchases in
the review notes.
I also want to share some
frequent feedback that we give
developers during app review.
Provide accurate screenshots
that show your app in use and
make sure the UI corresponds to
the correct device type.
Only ask for login credentials
when it's necessary to core
functionality.
Apps cannot require personal
info in order to function.
When requesting access to user
data, you need to provide
purpose strings that clearly
describe how your app will use
the data.
Finally, if you offer
subscriptions, make sure they're
straight forward and very easy
to understand.
Now that your app has been
reviewed you're ready for the
App Store and after your app has
spent some time on the store,
you'll start to receive customer
ratings and reviews.
A great way to see and respond
to reviews is with App Store
Connect for iOS.
You can also enable
notifications for customer
reviews so you can see
immediately when your app
receives a new review.
It's also important to mention
that App Store Connect for iOS
is now a localized app with
support for 14 languages so you
can see that localization is an
important area of focus for all
the tools available to you and
your team.
In addition to customer reviews,
you have another important tool
that can help you decide where
to place your development
efforts and that's analytics.
With App Analytics you get a
wealth of information into how
your app is performing on the
App Store.
We recently added support for a
new platform and that's Mac OS.
So you can access powerful
insight into how your app
performs on the Mac App Store.
Some of the metrics available
for Mac will include
Impressions, which is the number
of times your app icon has been
viewed in the store.
Product Page Views is the number
of times your product page has
been viewed.
App Units shows how many times
your app was downloaded from the
store.
And Sales will capture the total
amount billed through purchases
and in-app purchases.
We're also introducing a
completely new metric for iOS
Apps called App Deletions.
this will allow you to see the
number of times your app is
uninstalled from customer's
devices.
You might use this to correlate
deletions with an issue in a
recent version of your app.
Or another interesting view is
Deletions by Source Type which
shows if a given source is
better able to retain customers
or what source is resulting in
the most deletions.
There's one more exciting
announcement about Sales Data.
This is an entirely new time
range and level of granularity
for your sales data, the 24-Hour
Dashboard.
This gives you an hour by hour
view into the last 24 hours of
sales performance.
[ Applause ]
That's right.
[ Applause ]
You no longer have to wait until
the next business day to view
your sales data.
Let's take a look at the new
dashboard.
Here we're looking at a sales
overview within Sales and
Trends, and we see sales data
for the last 7 days.
If you filter this view, you can
narrow it down to a handful of
specific in-app purchases.
At the bottom of the list we see
a new in-app purchase that is
just released today.
You see that it doesn't have any
sales data yet.
This is one case where you'll
want to use the 24-Hour
Dashboard.
So if you click on the calendar
picker, you see a new option for
Last 24 Hours.
That will take you to the
24-Hour Graph.
Now you can see sales data on an
hourly basis and you can track
the success of your brand new
in-app purchase as it rolls out
to customers.
You can see how this is a
powerful new way to view your
sales data.
Within the App Lifecycle that
brings us back to Xcode where we
can take everything we've
learned so far and continue
creating great apps.
We have some labs tomorrow at 9
and 3, where you can come ask us
questions about anything we've
talked about.
As always, I can't wait to see
what you do with these new
capabilities.
I hope all of you enjoy the rest
of your time here at WWDC.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]