You’re launching your first app, or maybe it’s been a while since the last time. Submitting an app to the App Store isn’t as simple as pushing a launch button, but it’s not as complicated as it may seem either.

Once you have developed an iOS app, you need to publish it to Apple’s App Store for mass distribution. This step-by-step guide will show you how to prepare your app for publication and submit the app for Apple’s review while avoiding the pitfalls that can lead to rejection.

Wll, there are certain steps that you need to do before building your app.(ignore these if you have did it)

1. First, add your Developer Program account to Xcode if you haven’t already. From the top menu, select Xcode, then choose Preferences.

2. Click on Accounts. In the bottom left corner of the window, press the + sign, then Add Apple ID.

3. Enter the Apple ID and password you use for the Apple Developer Program, then click Sign In.

4. Next, enable automatic signing. From the Project Editor, choose a target and select General.

5. Scroll down to the “Signing” section and click on the triangle icon to expand the settings.

6. Click on the box to Automatically manage signing. Select your team.

Then start with some new stuff that you are never gone through.

In the App Store Connect dashboard, select My Apps.

Click on the + sign in the upper left-hand corner, then New App.

To create a new App Store Connect record, you’ll need these details: platform, app name, default language, bundle ID, and SKU. You can’t really change these details later, so be sure of what you enter.

Select platform as ios.

Use keywords in your app name to optimize for discovery.

The bundle ID must be an exact match of the bundle identifier in your Xcode project Info.plist file (in the target’s General > Identity section).

The SKU is not visible to users and is up to you to set. It can be an identifier you use in your company

After creating app, your app will appear in My Apps section in Dashboard. The version number should exactly match the one in Xcode.

Fill all these fields accorfing to your app.

App Pricing

Decide on the pricing of your app on this screen:

At this stage, your app is marked with a yellow dot and the status “Prepare for Submission” in the left-hand panel under “App Store”. Select the build you want to configure. This is where you will add the information for your product page on the App Store.

Use this link to go read more about the screenshots needed by the App Store, especially if you have multiples sizes to cover like iPad, Apple Watch, etc.

1. Your app’s description and keywords are critical. Make sure you optimize them for discovery.

2. The support URL can be as simple as a landing page with a contact form.

3. The marketing URL can be your app’s website and is optional.

Click on Edit next to “Rating” and select the applicable options for your app. Be honest — your app can be rejected during review if it doesn’t match its rating.

Now, You need to do some steps from Xcode IDE.

First, your app needs to run properly and be clean of errors (the red warnings).

Second, you should have your Signing and Team information set up in Xcode.

Don’t forget you should have your app version set to 1.0 if you are publishing a new app (or remember to increment the build version if you are publishing an update).

Publishing:

Publishing an app with Xcode 11 is really simple. Where it used to take multiple steps, certificates, profiles, etc. now Xcode is smart enough to enable or create all of those by itself.

To create the full app archive, you first need to select the Generic iOS Device from the list of simulators.

Now go to Product >> Archive and let it bundle your app. This can be a pretty lengthy process depending on the size of your app.

Once this is done, the Archive window will open and this is where you can manage all the archives generated by Xcode.

Every time you select Archive in the menu, Xcode will bundle a new archive for App Store Connect.

If you have duplicates or older ones, just delete them from this list or Make sure the current build is selected and click on Upload to App Store in the right-hand panel.

Now select the archive and choose Distribute App. You’ll be prompted to select the method of distribution:

Once you have selected iOS App Store, it will go over a couple of checks and validations to make sure you are not uploading a broken app.

If something happens, there is a great chance Xcode will stop you here and you’ll have to go back to coding or adding missing assets like icons.

If Xcode doesn’t find anything wrong with the archive, the upload process will follow. Once again the upload time will vary depending on the archive size and your internet connection.

Now it is time to add the build you exported from Xcode. The archive was sent via Xcode but App Store Connect needs some time to process it.

In my case, since I was publishing an app update, I was faster and had to wait about 10 minutes. (Tip: you also get an email when your archive has been processed and is ready to use.)

Scroll to the “Build” section in your app’s App Store Connect record.

Click on “Select a build before you submit your app.”

Choose the build that you uploaded through Xcode. Click Done in the bottom right-hand corner, then Save in the top-right hand corner, then Submit for Review.

Finally, answer the Export Compliance, Content Rights, and Advertising Identifier questions and click Submit.

Check on the status of your app

This option is available if you are submitting an iOS version update and your app has one of the following statuses.

• Prepare for Submission

• Waiting for Review

• In Review

• Waiting for Export Compliance

• Pending Developer Release

• Developer Rejected

• Rejected

• Metadata Rejected