7 articles on launch for app builders shipping to the App Store and Google Play.
App Store phased release rolls a version update out to a random sample of users with automatic updates on over 7 days: 1 percent on day one, then 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100. You can pause it for up to 30 days in total, or release to everyone with one button. Here is exactly what Apple says it does, what it does not do, and how I decide when an Expo app update should use it.
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App Store in-app events are event cards Apple shows on your product page, in search results and in its editorial tabs to promote a timely moment inside your app, such as a challenge, a competition or a major update. An event can run for up to 31 days, be promoted up to 14 days early, and be submitted for review without a new app version. Here is what Apple allows, what gets an event rejected, how to wire the deep link in an Expo app, and the Real Moment Test I use before creating one.
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An App Store pre-order publishes your product page before your release date so people can order the app, and on launch day it downloads to their device automatically. Apple only publishes the pre-order after the build has passed App Review, the release date has to sit two to 180 days out for a brand-new app, and you have to release the version manually. Here is how to set it up in App Store Connect for an Expo app, what Apple charges and when, and the three questions I use to decide whether a pre-order is worth the wait.
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Localization is usually sold as translating your whole app. The version that actually moves downloads is much smaller: translate the store listing first, and only localize the app itself once a language proves it earns users.
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App Store Connect is where most first-time developers lose a week to things nobody warned them about. Here is the order to do it in, the decisions that are hard to change later, and the fields that quietly block your submission.
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The first hundred users do not come from the App Store, and expecting them to is why most indie launches stall at eleven downloads. Here is where they actually come from, in the order that works.
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Shipping an app without analytics means guessing at what users do after they open it. Here is the simple analytics setup I add to every Expo app before launch, and the handful of events that actually matter.
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David