Setting up the Stores - App Store and Play Store

Setting up your 'presence' online is one of the key things that you need to do so you can start to get a consistent 'branding' into the market.  It kind of becomes the persona you want to create.  For me, it was Anasoft Gaming.  We have had the Anasoft Consulting company for some time now, and this would be a brand extension to what we have done in the past.  We are an extremely small company, but we are (just) keeping our head above water.

In other words we have almost no money for marketing!

Setting accounts on the Play and App Stores are not free once you want to submit an App.  At the time of writing of this blog entry, September 2014, the prices were:

• App Store: USD$99 per year
• Play Store: USD$25

 As a general comment, for a noob, setting up these stores is like chalk and cheese.  They are so very different it was quite amazing.

Setting up the Play Store is a dream.  You have your account, you set up the store, pay your money and you are good to go.

The interface is pretty clean, and the data is OK.  It seems that (once your app is live) that the Install count is only updated once a day, but the ratings are live and easy to access and respond to.

Google have done a good job here, and with many tens of millions more Android device in the market, I was definitely undecided about whether I needed to even both with the App Store.  There are less i-Devices out there, so perhaps...maybe Android will be enough.

Still, it was then that I listened to the voice of reason.  My graphic artist insisted that we do both. As he is an artist, I thought it was just his leaning towards the Apple advantage here, but, as you will see, this was good advice.

Setting up the App Store is a pain in the butt. Given how elegant most Apple things are, this was a surprise / shock and was actually very frustrating. Again, I had considerable reservations about whether I would even both with the process.

You know, Apple get money from us adding apps to their store, and the continued development for this platform is grea for Apple...so why make it so hard?

I didn't know what iTunes Connect was, I only knew of iTunes and the App Store (yes, I don't have an Apple device myself!), but for a budding developer, most of the Apple things are a distraction.  http://itunesconnect.apple.com is the site you need to know about.  Don't worry about any existing Apple profile you might have, go here, set up an account and you are on your way.

There are a bunch of contracts that you will have to approve, and these are updated from time to time and need continued approval.

If you are planning on having an App that costs money, or if you use in-Game purchases, or even if you use iAd (Apple's internal Ad network) then you also need to supply company details.  Here in Australia, that means you need an ABN.  The good news is, if you don't set your business up, it doesn't stop your app being listed, but it does mean that you cannot get access to your money from Apple!!

Once you have jumped through all of these hoops, you are ready to go with both Stores.

Maybe my Apple experience was unique...but all I know is, it was painful.

How did you go with setting up the different stores?  Any tips you want to share?

The journey continues...

AG

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