Busy week for Apple’s developer team: following issues with XcodeGhost, App Slicing, and delays in processing app builds for third-party developers, the company has rolled out a brand new iTunes Connect.
iTunes Connect has been redesigned (again!): http://t.co/pMshhsmPhS
— Michael Simmons (@macguitar) September 24, 2015
Time Scheduled App releases! Thanks Apple! pic.twitter.com/O8kPJ6YGyc
— Denys Zhadanov (@DenZhadanov) September 24, 2015
iTunes Connect interface has changed and now has an option for tvOS apps. pic.twitter.com/ZPhnJCHl5X
— Aaron Stephenson (@iosaaron) September 24, 2015
The new iTunes Connect is nice. Though I accidentally created a tvOS version of @LaunchCenterPro and can’t delete it: pic.twitter.com/fxpydiv85V
— David Barnard (@drbarnard) September 24, 2015
Another great release for Apple today— iTunes Connect Help: https://t.co/aVCqTRMXpt
— Harold Emsheimer (@pws) September 24, 2015
As an app reviewer, the most notable change seems to be scheduled app releases that are automatically released to the App Store after App Review but no earlier than a specific date and time. If this works well with propagation on Apple’s servers (and that’s a big if), it could be a solution to the common dilemma of developers setting embargo times for their app launches. If I’m understanding this correctly, developers wouldn’t have to manually hold an app for release and push it live to the App Store and then wait for propagation – they’d just submit it for review (as usual) and pick the release time from iTunes Connect beforehand. I’m curious to see how this works in practice with iTunes’ servers.
A tour of what’s changed in iTunes Connect (and it sounds like a lot has changed) is available here.