Under the Radar

00:00:00 ◼   ► welcome to under the radar a show about

00:00:02 ◼   ► independent iOS app development I'm

00:00:04 ◼   ► Marco Arment and I'm David Smith under

00:00:06 ◼   ► the radar is never longer than 30

00:00:07 ◼   ► minutes so let's get started so today

00:00:11 ◼   ► we're going to continue from what we did

00:00:14 ◼   ► last week where we were talking a bit

00:00:15 ◼   ► about iTunes Connect and we thought it

00:00:18 ◼   ► would be kind of good to dive into the

00:00:20 ◼   ► specifics about setting up a app in

00:00:23 ◼   ► iTunes Connect and I think specifically

00:00:25 ◼   ► like not the actual like the practical

00:00:27 ◼   ► part of it setting it up in iTunes

00:00:28 ◼   ► Connect and like where the boxes are and

00:00:30 ◼   ► what to set up but there's a lot of

00:00:33 ◼   ► metadata that you have to set up when

00:00:36 ◼   ► you're creating a new app that I think

00:00:38 ◼   ► is something that is often hard it's

00:00:42 ◼   ► like a I always kind of don't I kind of

00:00:44 ◼   ► put it off doing it because I enjoy the

00:00:45 ◼   ► creation of the app part more than I do

00:00:47 ◼   ► like writing the app store description

00:00:49 ◼   ► or setting the keywords or creating

00:00:51 ◼   ► screenshots because that's often a

00:00:53 ◼   ► nightmare but it's an important part

00:00:56 ◼   ► like the reality is all of the work we

00:00:57 ◼   ► do in creating the app is going to be

00:01:00 ◼   ► completely wasted if we have a bad

00:01:03 ◼   ► presence in the app store and the way

00:01:04 ◼   ► that we control our presence in the app

00:01:06 ◼   ► store is by setting this stuff up and so

00:01:09 ◼   ► it seemed like maybe a worthwhile

00:01:10 ◼   ► episode to kind of go through all the

00:01:12 ◼   ► fields that iTunes Connect gives us to

00:01:15 ◼   ► set up and then you can kind of talk

00:01:17 ◼   ► about our experiences in creating in how

00:01:21 ◼   ► we set the stuff up the considerations

00:01:23 ◼   ► we have and kind of go from there sure

00:01:26 ◼   ► yeah absolutely

00:01:27 ◼   ► I love iTunes Connect yeah and so I

00:01:30 ◼   ► guess the first place maybe we'll start

00:01:31 ◼   ► with a prettiest thing is the icon or

00:01:34 ◼   ► now actually the icons plural for our

00:01:38 ◼   ► apps when we set them up because I

00:01:40 ◼   ► believe if you did like we're an app on

00:01:42 ◼   ► every platform possible you would have

00:01:44 ◼   ► to create I think it's four icons you'd

00:01:48 ◼   ► have the idea the iPhone iPad icon and

00:01:50 ◼   ► then you'd have the watch icon the high

00:01:52 ◼   ► message icon and I think Apple TV would

00:01:55 ◼   ► have a different app icon too and so you

00:01:58 ◼   ► have to create you know an icon that

00:02:01 ◼   ► works well for all of those they have to

00:02:04 ◼   ► all of slightly different constraints

00:02:05 ◼   ► and different sizes and different rules

00:02:08 ◼   ► like Apple watch icons for example

00:02:10 ◼   ► cannot have dark backgrounds it's one of

00:02:13 ◼   ► the rules

00:02:14 ◼   ► Apple watch icons also I didn't even

00:02:16 ◼   ► know about that I've been rejected for

00:02:18 ◼   ► it two or three times so I've learned

00:02:20 ◼   ► the hard way to not do that because

00:02:22 ◼   ► basically because the honeycomb is

00:02:23 ◼   ► screen on an Apple watch has a black

00:02:26 ◼   ► background that is always black they

00:02:29 ◼   ► don't want you to have a a pike on that

00:02:32 ◼   ► kind of blends into that and so you

00:02:34 ◼   ► can't have if you know if your icon was

00:02:36 ◼   ► a you know a white glyph on a black

00:02:38 ◼   ► background they were you could get

00:02:39 ◼   ► rejected and so I've had to go in and it

00:02:42 ◼   ► like for activity plus plus for example

00:02:44 ◼   ► which is on the iPhone version is

00:02:46 ◼   ► essentially a black icon with a you know

00:02:48 ◼   ► colourful glyph on it on the Apple watch

00:02:50 ◼   ► version it has a dark grey background

00:02:54 ◼   ► with the same glyph on it and just you

00:02:56 ◼   ► know but something to keep in mind that

00:02:57 ◼   ► when you're creating an icon there's

00:02:58 ◼   ► lots of these sort of little constraints

00:03:01 ◼   ► and details that you may have to think

00:03:02 ◼   ► through that it isn't just the you know

00:03:05 ◼   ► it isn't just the 120 pixel version that

00:03:10 ◼   ► you're going to show on the iPhone

00:03:11 ◼   ► screen like there's lots of other places

00:03:12 ◼   ► that it may show up and including the

00:03:15 ◼   ► iTunes Connect version like the big

00:03:16 ◼   ► version of it that you have to submit

00:03:18 ◼   ► that's you know ten hundred and twenty

00:03:19 ◼   ► eight hundred and twenty ten ten 1024 by

00:03:22 ◼   ► 1024 I think I think so yeah

00:03:24 ◼   ► and like you know so you have to have an

00:03:26 ◼   ► icon that scales well between all those

00:03:29 ◼   ► different sizes yeah that's it this is

00:03:31 ◼   ► one of those one of those areas where

00:03:33 ◼   ► like I think designers who were picky

00:03:36 ◼   ► about such things used to take great

00:03:39 ◼   ► care to custom scale every single little

00:03:42 ◼   ► icon and make sure that the pixels were

00:03:44 ◼   ► lined up properly in the lestrade ur and

00:03:45 ◼   ► everything else and custom tweak all the

00:03:47 ◼   ► different sizes and I think now more and

00:03:50 ◼   ► more people are just just like having a

00:03:52 ◼   ► batch script that just runs image magic

00:03:54 ◼   ► and just takes the big one and resized

00:03:56 ◼   ► it down to every size you need in a big

00:03:58 ◼   ► batch automatically because there's so

00:04:00 ◼   ► many now that doing anything custom is

00:04:01 ◼   ► kind of ridiculous yeah and I think it's

00:04:04 ◼   ► it's in reality is there's so many

00:04:06 ◼   ► different it's like the nature of the

00:04:09 ◼   ► displays we have a neck surgery is

00:04:10 ◼   ► probably a good segue into your screen

00:04:12 ◼   ► shots because screen shots used to be

00:04:15 ◼   ► something that I like I would go through

00:04:17 ◼   ► the process of setting up different

00:04:19 ◼   ► screen shots for every single device and

00:04:22 ◼   ► then if you localized like you can end

00:04:24 ◼   ► up you know there are times that I've

00:04:25 ◼   ► generated

00:04:27 ◼   ► you know it's like hundreds of

00:04:28 ◼   ► screenshots that I have to get set up in

00:04:30 ◼   ► iTunes Connect but last year I think it

00:04:33 ◼   ► was they changed the Meccan mechanism

00:04:35 ◼   ► and you can now specify you know a if

00:04:38 ◼   ► you just submit the plus-sized iPhone

00:04:42 ◼   ► screenshot for example you can then say

00:04:44 ◼   ► use this for all the other smaller sizes

00:04:48 ◼   ► which is something that I've definitely

00:04:51 ◼   ► taken advantage of in a lot of cases

00:04:53 ◼   ► because you know it get the impression

00:04:56 ◼   ► that these icons that they're never

00:04:57 ◼   ► these screenshots they're never

00:04:59 ◼   ► displayed like at their native

00:05:01 ◼   ► resolution they're always shrunk down

00:05:03 ◼   ► there always smooshed and so being too

00:05:07 ◼   ► precious about them kind of like we're

00:05:09 ◼   ► saying with icons where you know there's

00:05:12 ◼   ► some maybe some value if you can if you

00:05:14 ◼   ► have control over how that icon is going

00:05:16 ◼   ► to be displayed that being Precious

00:05:18 ◼   ► about making sure it's lined up

00:05:20 ◼   ► perfectly and exactly the right size

00:05:21 ◼   ► maybe is useful but I think the more

00:05:24 ◼   ► pragmatic solution for a lot of this

00:05:26 ◼   ► stuff is you know Apple has changes all

00:05:28 ◼   ► the time to say this you know the shape

00:05:32 ◼   ► and the size that a screenshot is shown

00:05:34 ◼   ► in I mean even just the same screenshot

00:05:37 ◼   ► will probably be shown at least three

00:05:38 ◼   ► different sizes to a user if they when

00:05:41 ◼   ► they're in the search area you know the

00:05:44 ◼   ► first two screenshots show up there and

00:05:45 ◼   ► they're really small and you tap on it

00:05:47 ◼   ► and then they get bigger and if you tap

00:05:49 ◼   ► on them again they'll go essentially

00:05:51 ◼   ► fullscreen and so there's no way that

00:05:53 ◼   ► you're going to have sort of pixel

00:05:56 ◼   ► perfect artwork there and so in the end

00:05:58 ◼   ► I've just kind of simplified and said

00:05:59 ◼   ► you know what I'm just going to use the

00:06:02 ◼   ► the ability to you know just give one

00:06:05 ◼   ► set of screenshots and then make my

00:06:07 ◼   ► screenshots yeah it's like spend more

00:06:10 ◼   ► time making my screenshots good rather

00:06:12 ◼   ► than spending that time just creating

00:06:15 ◼   ► dozens and dozens of screenshots for and

00:06:17 ◼   ► not really a huge payoff oh yeah yeah

00:06:20 ◼   ► I've found similar benefits of like like

00:06:23 ◼   ► I recently stopped doing separate screen

00:06:25 ◼   ► shots for the 4x phones the iPhone se 5s

00:06:29 ◼   ► because you know once they added the

00:06:31 ◼   ► ability for me to to have the 4.7 screen

00:06:34 ◼   ► shots apply to that I said that's fine

00:06:36 ◼   ► because if I look at my analytics I can

00:06:38 ◼   ► see like which screen sizes are peep

00:06:40 ◼   ► actually really using in large numbers

00:06:43 ◼   ► and yeah it doesn't the numbers aren't

00:06:45 ◼   ► that great for some of the edge cases

00:06:47 ◼   ► similarly with iPad because you can't I

00:06:49 ◼   ► forget you can't have just nine point

00:06:52 ◼   ► seven and have it show that's what to

00:06:53 ◼   ► the twelve point nine really will it

00:06:54 ◼   ► ever scale up or does it only scale down

00:06:56 ◼   ► it only ever scales down so you you have

00:06:58 ◼   ► to you have to specify the twelve inch

00:07:00 ◼   ► one at least yeah that's unfortunate

00:07:02 ◼   ► I wish they would change the head but uh

00:07:04 ◼   ► but I kind of understand why they don't

00:07:05 ◼   ► because it's easier for an app to to

00:07:07 ◼   ► scale down than up you know with you

00:07:09 ◼   ► know user expectation so anyway but yeah

00:07:11 ◼   ► like generally I found that like you

00:07:14 ◼   ► could now specify so much in you know in

00:07:18 ◼   ► in screenshots and everything else

00:07:19 ◼   ► descriptions localizations you can

00:07:21 ◼   ► specify so much that it in the early

00:07:25 ◼   ► days the the the standard wisdom was

00:07:27 ◼   ► well of course why wouldn't you just do

00:07:29 ◼   ► it all why wouldn't you give as much

00:07:31 ◼   ► information as many screen chives as

00:07:33 ◼   ► many assets as you possibly can but

00:07:35 ◼   ► these days there are just so many that

00:07:37 ◼   ► it's it's actually fairly prohibitive to

00:07:40 ◼   ► require that I also don't update them

00:07:43 ◼   ► unless the underlying interface changes

00:07:46 ◼   ► noticeably like if I change you know a

00:07:49 ◼   ► couple of pixels here there I want to

00:07:51 ◼   ► get the screenshots because it isn't

00:07:52 ◼   ► worth the time if I you know it has to

00:07:55 ◼   ► change a lot for me to actually get the

00:07:56 ◼   ► screenshots like it because it has to

00:07:57 ◼   ► basically be a change that people would

00:07:59 ◼   ► actually notice the difference between

00:08:01 ◼   ► the screenshots in the app and similarly

00:08:04 ◼   ► like you know I yeah there's all sorts

00:08:06 ◼   ► of things that you need to maybe do to

00:08:08 ◼   ► the screenshots cleaning them up if you

00:08:10 ◼   ► like do things like fishing the status

00:08:12 ◼   ► bar to make it you know it's a nice even

00:08:15 ◼   ► you know full battery no carrier you

00:08:18 ◼   ► know stuff like that basically what you

00:08:19 ◼   ► get when you when you toggle the when

00:08:21 ◼   ► you toggle it into QuickTime capture

00:08:23 ◼   ► mode do people know that you can do that

00:08:26 ◼   ► like this is a widely known thing I

00:08:27 ◼   ► don't know it's probably specifying here

00:08:28 ◼   ► yeah so so basically this is a thing

00:08:31 ◼   ► when Apple added the ability to do app

00:08:33 ◼   ► preview videos which will probably also

00:08:34 ◼   ► discuss they they added to QuickTime on

00:08:39 ◼   ► the Mac QuickTime Player on the Mac the

00:08:41 ◼   ► ability to use the iPhone as a screen

00:08:45 ◼   ► capture device and record screencast

00:08:47 ◼   ► movies onto the Mac of the iPhone screen

00:08:50 ◼   ► and so this is very useful for recording

00:08:54 ◼   ► one of the side effects of this is

00:08:55 ◼   ► whenever the iPhone is being captured by

00:08:58 ◼   ► QuickTime the iPhone goes into a special

00:09:00 ◼   ► mode where its status bar gets replaced

00:09:03 ◼   ► with this perfect version that's the

00:09:05 ◼   ► display the time is 942 now 41 I find 41

00:09:09 ◼   ► yeah 9:41 a.m. and displays its full

00:09:11 ◼   ► battery full reception no ugly carrier

00:09:14 ◼   ► name so it basically makes me perfect

00:09:16 ◼   ► pretty status bar and as long as the as

00:09:19 ◼   ► long as the phone is connected to

00:09:20 ◼   ► QuickTime in this way it stays that way

00:09:22 ◼   ► so what I usually do if I can't easily

00:09:25 ◼   ► like you know fake them with static

00:09:27 ◼   ► status bars that I've generated

00:09:29 ◼   ► elsewhere is I will take all of my

00:09:32 ◼   ► screenshots with the phone in this mode

00:09:34 ◼   ► with it connected to QuickTime so I have

00:09:36 ◼   ► perfect status bars on all of them it's

00:09:38 ◼   ► a neat little hack that you know you can

00:09:40 ◼   ► do I wish it was easier to do this there

00:09:42 ◼   ► are there are some hacks there's

00:09:43 ◼   ► something called status bar magic that

00:09:45 ◼   ► that at one time at least would change

00:09:50 ◼   ► the iOS simulator into this mode which

00:09:52 ◼   ► made it even easier but I believe that

00:09:53 ◼   ► that doesn't work anymore or

00:09:54 ◼   ► occasionally doesn't work with new

00:09:56 ◼   ► versions or whatever else but that's a

00:09:58 ◼   ► nice little way to get nice clean

00:09:59 ◼   ► screenshot satis bars yeah and I think

00:10:01 ◼   ► it's probably worth of us are just

00:10:02 ◼   ► talking briefly about what makes a good

00:10:04 ◼   ► screenshot yeah cuz I feel like there's

00:10:08 ◼   ► there's like these this this wide

00:10:09 ◼   ► spectrum of what you can do in a

00:10:11 ◼   ► screenshot like on the one extreme you

00:10:13 ◼   ► have the screenshots that are like like

00:10:19 ◼   ► illustrations or whatever where you have

00:10:21 ◼   ► like a 3d iPhone in space that's like I

00:10:25 ◼   ► said a lot of fun recently now where

00:10:26 ◼   ► they have an iPhone that's like tilted

00:10:29 ◼   ► to the side that spans two screenshots

00:10:32 ◼   ► so it's like taking advantage of the

00:10:34 ◼   ► fact that the first two screenshots are

00:10:36 ◼   ► shown next to each other in the search

00:10:38 ◼   ► area and so they'll like take an iPhone

00:10:41 ◼   ► and like turn it to the side and make it

00:10:42 ◼   ► sort of almost a landscape you know

00:10:45 ◼   ► thing across diagonally you can take

00:10:48 ◼   ► that's the one extreme where you have

00:10:49 ◼   ► that or you have lots of words in your

00:10:51 ◼   ► you know in your screenshots will be

00:10:53 ◼   ► like you know awesome amazing super

00:10:55 ◼   ► terrific app written in the screenshot

00:10:59 ◼   ► or on the other extreme you have the

00:11:02 ◼   ► screenshots that are just screenshots of

00:11:05 ◼   ► the app I suppose like things that are

00:11:07 ◼   ► less trying to explicitly tell you a

00:11:11 ◼   ► story and more just show you what the

00:11:13 ◼   ► app is like I've tried both I think in

00:11:17 ◼   ► general I've tended towards doing the

00:11:20 ◼   ► just screen shots of the app approach I

00:11:23 ◼   ► find that that I think is I'm better

00:11:26 ◼   ► able to execute it a in terms of I'm not

00:11:29 ◼   ► a great designer like coming up with

00:11:30 ◼   ► pretty clever things is not really my

00:11:33 ◼   ► you know my forte and I think I try and

00:11:37 ◼   ► typically in my screenshots I tell it's

00:11:39 ◼   ► probably like tell a story in the sense

00:11:42 ◼   ► of having them be consistent with each

00:11:44 ◼   ► other you know so I try not to have

00:11:46 ◼   ► showed the app like you know it depends

00:11:49 ◼   ► on the app but you know if I'm saying

00:11:51 ◼   ► sleepless Plus if I have a detailed view

00:11:54 ◼   ► of a night you know that same night will

00:11:57 ◼   ► also appear in the first screenshot

00:11:58 ◼   ► where it was like the the roll up view

00:12:01 ◼   ► and things like that just so that

00:12:02 ◼   ► there's some consistency across it that

00:12:04 ◼   ► you could kind of see how someone would

00:12:06 ◼   ► you be using the app you know but mostly

00:12:08 ◼   ► I think the purpose of these screenshots

00:12:09 ◼   ► is just to give someone a sense of what

00:12:12 ◼   ► the app is like and I think you in

00:12:15 ◼   ► generally do better doing it that way

00:12:17 ◼   ► then trying to be too cutesy with it but

00:12:20 ◼   ► maybe I'm just not artistic enough to

00:12:21 ◼   ► make a really good cutesy approach yeah

00:12:24 ◼   ► I feel like I've never actually tried

00:12:26 ◼   ► the whole like abstract version of

00:12:29 ◼   ► screenshots where you remove where it is

00:12:31 ◼   ► it's no longer actually a screenshot of

00:12:33 ◼   ► the app and you you add text around it

00:12:35 ◼   ► and you span it across multiple frames

00:12:37 ◼   ► I've I've never actually done this and

00:12:39 ◼   ► the main reason why similar to your

00:12:42 ◼   ► reasons is that a I don't think I would

00:12:43 ◼   ► be very good at it and be it feels like

00:12:46 ◼   ► that shouldn't be allowed it's it's one

00:12:48 ◼   ► of those things kind of like like adding

00:12:52 ◼   ► keywords after your app title which I

00:12:55 ◼   ► didn't do but now I do

00:12:57 ◼   ► in part because when I created overcast

00:12:59 ◼   ► the the strict name overcast was already

00:13:03 ◼   ► taken so I had to put something else

00:13:04 ◼   ► after it but I also not do it because I

00:13:08 ◼   ► think it benefits me in search we're now

00:13:10 ◼   ► you know the Anil IMAP officially is

00:13:12 ◼   ► overcast : podcasts player similarly I

00:13:14 ◼   ► think I think doing these these like

00:13:17 ◼   ► fancier non actually screenshot

00:13:19 ◼   ► screenshots

00:13:21 ◼   ► I think it it shouldn't be allowed I

00:13:24 ◼   ► honestly think it it that should be a

00:13:26 ◼   ► rule in the AppStore those should not be

00:13:27 ◼   ► allowed but it's so widespread I mean

00:13:30 ◼   ► almost every app with any budget at all

00:13:33 ◼   ► does that now it is it is almost

00:13:36 ◼   ► ridiculous how universal that is and how

00:13:39 ◼   ► incredibly perverted the concept of

00:13:41 ◼   ► screenshots have become like it there it

00:13:43 ◼   ► is nothing like actual screenshots for

00:13:45 ◼   ► most apps it there now they might as

00:13:47 ◼   ► well just say marketing image one

00:13:48 ◼   ► through five like that's because that's

00:13:49 ◼   ► really what they are now there's there

00:13:51 ◼   ► is no relevance to screenshots at all

00:13:53 ◼   ► ultimately I suspect that people like us

00:13:56 ◼   ► will probably have to do that at some

00:14:00 ◼   ► point maybe now maybe in the future just

00:14:02 ◼   ► because it probably does work better to

00:14:05 ◼   ► get because it does make your app look

00:14:06 ◼   ► fancier because you're able to show big

00:14:09 ◼   ► marketing text and and all these like

00:14:11 ◼   ► fancy things that that a standard screen

00:14:13 ◼   ► child would not show and again like I

00:14:16 ◼   ► wish it wasn't allowed but the fact is

00:14:18 ◼   ► it is allowed and everyone's doing it

00:14:21 ◼   ► and we might be at a disadvantage by not

00:14:23 ◼   ► doing it yeah and of course the funny

00:14:24 ◼   ► thing is it I believe it did use to not

00:14:26 ◼   ► be allowed you know like the advantage

00:14:28 ◼   ► of having been in the App Store since it

00:14:30 ◼   ► began I'm pretty sure it used to be a

00:14:32 ◼   ► strict rule that you couldn't do that

00:14:33 ◼   ► and then people started you know getting

00:14:36 ◼   ► a little bit more clever with it where

00:14:38 ◼   ► it used to be like some every now and

00:14:41 ◼   ► then you would have an app where it was

00:14:42 ◼   ► you wouldn't have any words but you

00:14:44 ◼   ► would put the a screenshot on an iPhone

00:14:48 ◼   ► so you just have a little border on the

00:14:49 ◼   ► outside and then they kind of that

00:14:51 ◼   ► border got smaller and then you'd pop

00:14:54 ◼   ► start putting separating words and then

00:14:55 ◼   ► I remember I think when I knew that like

00:14:58 ◼   ► whatever the war was over and it was now

00:15:00 ◼   ► gonna be allowed was when the Apple

00:15:02 ◼   ► Store app like the official Apple Apple

00:15:06 ◼   ► Store app for iPad was released and it's

00:15:09 ◼   ► screenshots included what you know like

00:15:12 ◼   ► a shrunk down version running on an iPad

00:15:14 ◼   ► with we no black text on a white

00:15:16 ◼   ► background you know on a white

00:15:17 ◼   ► background is there screenshot and it's

00:15:20 ◼   ► like all right well if Apple is doing it

00:15:21 ◼   ► in their own apps now I guess that war

00:15:24 ◼   ► is done and now it is allowed but yeah

00:15:26 ◼   ► it's it's a tricky thing because I feel

00:15:28 ◼   ► like I don't like it too much I mean I

00:15:32 ◼   ► can see why people use it but

00:15:34 ◼   ► if one thing anytime you put text in a

00:15:37 ◼   ► screenshot like that and it gets resized

00:15:39 ◼   ► so many different ways like text doesn't

00:15:42 ◼   ► resize very cleanly and nicely and I

00:15:44 ◼   ► think you can always look it off and

00:15:45 ◼   ► look a bit tricky you know look not as

00:15:48 ◼   ► nice as you might want it to be and I

00:15:51 ◼   ► think also it makes it less localized

00:15:53 ◼   ► murder makes localization much more

00:15:55 ◼   ► complicated because suddenly you know

00:15:59 ◼   ► there's a lot of apps the core of the

00:16:01 ◼   ► app doesn't need localization you know

00:16:03 ◼   ► it's like if I have a in an app that

00:16:06 ◼   ► displays your step count like your step

00:16:08 ◼   ► count is your step count and I mean

00:16:09 ◼   ► there's certainly some countries where

00:16:10 ◼   ► you would display you know there's

00:16:13 ◼   ► different small little texts that are

00:16:14 ◼   ► different but you can get a better sense

00:16:16 ◼   ► of the amp you know but if I have been

00:16:17 ◼   ► big letters above you know step count

00:16:19 ◼   ► like that only really works if you're

00:16:22 ◼   ► looking at the App Store in English and

00:16:25 ◼   ► so doing something more specific is a

00:16:27 ◼   ► little bit problematic in that regard as

00:16:29 ◼   ► well yeah and it's also interesting that

00:16:31 ◼   ► that the the watch and app preview

00:16:35 ◼   ► videos explicitly prohibit anything

00:16:38 ◼   ► beyond screen shot like of the actual

00:16:40 ◼   ► app running dim but like I know in

00:16:42 ◼   ► previous videos it seemed like that was

00:16:44 ◼   ► starts and maybe not get enforced as

00:16:46 ◼   ► strictly recently and that's probably

00:16:48 ◼   ► over - though it's important to remember

00:16:50 ◼   ► that with watch screenshots you want to

00:16:52 ◼   ► set the time to 1009 oh yeah that is the

00:16:57 ◼   ► official I don't know these things are

00:16:59 ◼   ► always kind of funny that they become

00:17:00 ◼   ► these these little traditions that you

00:17:03 ◼   ► know iPhone screenshots should be set at

00:17:05 ◼   ► 9:41 watch screenshots should be set at

00:17:07 ◼   ► ten or nine well that's that's not

00:17:09 ◼   ► because of the unveiling time but that's

00:17:11 ◼   ► a watch thing long story I mean because

00:17:13 ◼   ► it makes the watch look happy right yeah

00:17:14 ◼   ► pretty much

00:17:15 ◼   ► and it shows the logo and it frames it

00:17:16 ◼   ► nicely anyway we are sponsored this week

00:17:18 ◼   ► by Linode Linode gives you fast powerful

00:17:21 ◼   ► hosting for your projects you can set it

00:17:23 ◼   ► up in just seconds they've easy to

00:17:25 ◼   ► understand tools lets you choose your

00:17:27 ◼   ► resources and linux distro giving you

00:17:29 ◼   ► the power and flexibility that you need

00:17:30 ◼   ► and little plans now start at just five

00:17:33 ◼   ► dollars a month that's incredible for a

00:17:35 ◼   ► Linux server with 1 gig

00:17:37 ◼   ► in Linode cloud Linden has over 400,000

00:17:40 ◼   ► customers two of them are talking to you

00:17:42 ◼   ► right now who are all serviced by their

00:17:44 ◼   ► friendly 24/7 support team you can email

00:17:46 ◼   ► them call them or even chat over IR

00:17:48 ◼   ► see with Ulen owed community if you need

00:17:50 ◼   ► help they are there for you they have

00:17:52 ◼   ► comprehensive guides and support

00:17:54 ◼   ► documentation teach you everything you

00:17:55 ◼   ► need to know for setting up and managing

00:17:57 ◼   ► your own virtual servers in fact I would

00:17:59 ◼   ► say like a lot of times when whenever

00:18:01 ◼   ► I'm like searching for how to do

00:18:02 ◼   ► something online on a Linux server very

00:18:04 ◼   ► often the result I get from a web search

00:18:07 ◼   ► is Leonard's page and had a - have you

00:18:09 ◼   ► said you had that happen to you - oh

00:18:10 ◼   ► sure yeah and I mean they're very and I

00:18:14 ◼   ► think what I love too is they have very

00:18:15 ◼   ► good documentation across different

00:18:17 ◼   ► distributions yes and their control

00:18:19 ◼   ► panel is nicely designed with a focus on

00:18:21 ◼   ► ease and simplicity you can deploy boot

00:18:24 ◼   ► resize and clone your VPS in just a few

00:18:26 ◼   ► clicks they also have two-factor

00:18:28 ◼   ► authentication if you want it they are

00:18:30 ◼   ► the full package for your server

00:18:31 ◼   ► infrastructure needs Linode has the

00:18:33 ◼   ► power you require and the infrastructure

00:18:35 ◼   ► and assistance you want so they have

00:18:38 ◼   ► awesome new pricing options available

00:18:39 ◼   ► now you can get a new server with one

00:18:40 ◼   ► gigabyte up to 16 gigs of ram for only

00:18:47 ◼   ► 60 bucks a month their two gig plan now

00:18:49 ◼   ► includes 30 gigs of storage for 10 bucks

00:18:51 ◼   ► a month these are just some of the

00:18:53 ◼   ► amazing values at Linode I have a really

00:18:56 ◼   ► hard time finding a better value in the

00:18:58 ◼   ► hosting business than Linode and this is

00:19:00 ◼   ► not new this has been the case for a few

00:19:01 ◼   ► years now the value you get there is

00:19:04 ◼   ► just incredible the performance you get

00:19:05 ◼   ► it's it's awesome that's one of the

00:19:07 ◼   ► reasons one of the many reasons why I'm

00:19:08 ◼   ► so happy with Linode so as a listener of

00:19:11 ◼   ► this show go sign up at lynda.com slash

00:19:13 ◼   ► radar you will support us and you look

00:19:15 ◼   ► at $20 towards any Linode plan by doing

00:19:17 ◼   ► that once again lynda.com slash radar

00:19:20 ◼   ► for 20 bucks off any Leno to plan and

00:19:22 ◼   ► with a 7 day money back guarantee

00:19:24 ◼   ► there's nothing to lose so you can also

00:19:26 ◼   ► use promo code radar 2017 at checkout

00:19:28 ◼   ► for that 20 bucks off so once again

00:19:30 ◼   ► lynda.com slash a radar to learn more

00:19:32 ◼   ► and sign up thank you very much delito

00:19:34 ◼   ► for supporting this show so the next

00:19:37 ◼   ► kind of big area of setting up an app in

00:19:39 ◼   ► 19 Connect is probably writing the

00:19:41 ◼   ► description which is an area that I feel

00:19:44 ◼   ► like I have very mixed feelings about

00:19:45 ◼   ► because it's displayed very prominently

00:19:49 ◼   ► you know these the first two lines of it

00:19:52 ◼   ► or the first you know couple sentences

00:19:54 ◼   ► interpret displayed very prominently in

00:19:56 ◼   ► the app store but I know for myself that

00:19:59 ◼   ► I never basically read them

00:20:02 ◼   ► for any app that I've ever downloaded

00:20:04 ◼   ► like I mostly just look at screenshots

00:20:07 ◼   ► and based my decisions of if I want to

00:20:09 ◼   ► download the app from that and so I try

00:20:12 ◼   ► kind of go back and forth when I'm

00:20:13 ◼   ► writing these or how important they are

00:20:15 ◼   ► how you know how much information I want

00:20:16 ◼   ► to put in there do I want to do it as

00:20:18 ◼   ► kind of like a wall of text or should I

00:20:20 ◼   ► do a bulleted list I think there's

00:20:23 ◼   ► definitely this this weird tension there

00:20:25 ◼   ► because it is one of the few

00:20:26 ◼   ► opportunities this this this opportunity

00:20:28 ◼   ► to reach out to our customers and you

00:20:30 ◼   ► know talk to them directly but I think

00:20:32 ◼   ► in recent years but I had tended towards

00:20:35 ◼   ► is you know the app store description is

00:20:37 ◼   ► as short as I can write it like I tend

00:20:39 ◼   ► to write one paragraph like maybe four

00:20:42 ◼   ► or five sentences at most that describes

00:20:45 ◼   ► the app and its core functionality and

00:20:46 ◼   ► then below that I tend to do a bulleted

00:20:48 ◼   ► list of kind of like the checklist

00:20:50 ◼   ► features that someone might be wondering

00:20:53 ◼   ► about you know it's like does this

00:20:55 ◼   ► integrate with this does this use this

00:20:57 ◼   ► that kind of thing and then I just like

00:20:59 ◼   ► that is my description so that the

00:21:00 ◼   ► top-level thing and especially that

00:21:02 ◼   ► first sentence has to be as good as I

00:21:04 ◼   ► can make it because for most users

00:21:06 ◼   ► that's all they'll ever see and so I

00:21:08 ◼   ► want to make like describe the app in

00:21:10 ◼   ► it's like the elevator pitch for the app

00:21:11 ◼   ► it's like in that first you know maybe

00:21:14 ◼   ► 120 characters or so like you really

00:21:16 ◼   ► need to be able to dial in exactly what

00:21:18 ◼   ► the app does and why someone might want

00:21:20 ◼   ► it anything beyond that first couple of

00:21:23 ◼   ► sentences I find not to have much effect

00:21:25 ◼   ► at all and this is yet another field of

00:21:28 ◼   ► the app store just like screenshot so

00:21:30 ◼   ► we're like you know abuse was pretty

00:21:31 ◼   ► rampant from day one and so it stopped

00:21:34 ◼   ► very quickly it's not being used for any

00:21:36 ◼   ► kind of search relevance as far as we

00:21:37 ◼   ► can tell and it's you know most a

00:21:41 ◼   ► prescriptions are filled with like you

00:21:44 ◼   ► know star star star on sale now star

00:21:46 ◼   ► star star or a list of apps that it's

00:21:49 ◼   ► similar to or a list of like you know

00:21:52 ◼   ► websites that might have said something

00:21:54 ◼   ► about it once 10 years ago or something

00:21:56 ◼   ► like they're fairly low value as a

00:21:59 ◼   ► reader and I find that as far as we can

00:22:04 ◼   ► kind of guess or figure it doesn't seem

00:22:07 ◼   ► like people read them very closely this

00:22:09 ◼   ► is one area though where like and this

00:22:11 ◼   ► applies to a lot of these metadata

00:22:13 ◼   ► things that if you have a free app

00:22:15 ◼   ► you're at a serious advantage because if

00:22:18 ◼   ► you have a paid app I feel like people

00:22:20 ◼   ► people probably give these things more

00:22:22 ◼   ► scrutiny description and screenshots

00:22:24 ◼   ► everything else whereas if you have a

00:22:25 ◼   ► free app it's so easy to just tap that

00:22:28 ◼   ► get button and just try it for yourself

00:22:30 ◼   ► looks is way better than trying to spend

00:22:33 ◼   ► 15 minutes waffling over you know four

00:22:35 ◼   ► different app descriptions figuring out

00:22:36 ◼   ► which ones like if it's free you can

00:22:38 ◼   ► just get it and see and see for yourself

00:22:39 ◼   ► whether it's for you or not and so I

00:22:41 ◼   ► think for free apps these things matter

00:22:43 ◼   ► a lot less but for you know for paid

00:22:46 ◼   ► apps it's obviously probably a different

00:22:48 ◼   ► story because the buyer behavior is

00:22:50 ◼   ► different but this is kind of yet

00:22:52 ◼   ► another area where if you have a free

00:22:53 ◼   ► app you do have some advantages that

00:22:54 ◼   ► like you can put pretty much anything or

00:22:57 ◼   ► nothing in the screenshot in description

00:22:58 ◼   ► and as long as it's like slightly

00:23:00 ◼   ► relevant to get people downloading it

00:23:02 ◼   ► yeah and I think it's nicer probably

00:23:04 ◼   ► there's some weird things that you may

00:23:05 ◼   ► also have to include in your description

00:23:07 ◼   ► yeah like I know for myself I do a lot a

00:23:10 ◼   ► bunch of apps that integrate with

00:23:12 ◼   ► healthkit and I need to include in the

00:23:15 ◼   ► app store description a little side

00:23:18 ◼   ► little sentence that says you know this

00:23:19 ◼   ► app integrates with the health database

00:23:22 ◼   ► on your iPhone you know you'll be given

00:23:24 ◼   ► the option to grant or deny access to

00:23:27 ◼   ► this or something like that like I and

00:23:29 ◼   ► if I don't if I don't have that in my

00:23:31 ◼   ► app store description my app will be

00:23:32 ◼   ► rejected and so it's something to keep

00:23:35 ◼   ► in mind that image varies based on the

00:23:37 ◼   ► category but like for example that's

00:23:39 ◼   ► something that you may need to do and so

00:23:41 ◼   ► in a weird way this is the place where

00:23:43 ◼   ► you put like the small print you know

00:23:44 ◼   ► this is the I feel like the legal

00:23:46 ◼   ► disclaimers and things like you may need

00:23:48 ◼   ► to also just put those at the bottom of

00:23:49 ◼   ► your description field to cover yourself

00:23:52 ◼   ► there as well yeah same thing with Auto

00:23:54 ◼   ► renewal subscriptions also have one of

00:23:56 ◼   ► those required blurbs and this really

00:23:59 ◼   ► isn't documented anywhere so you just

00:24:00 ◼   ► have to basically submit an app without

00:24:02 ◼   ► knowing that get rejected have the

00:24:04 ◼   ► rejection tell you what the description

00:24:06 ◼   ► needs to include and then resubmit that

00:24:07 ◼   ► a lot of people have to go through that

00:24:09 ◼   ► thank you very special thanks to Curtis

00:24:11 ◼   ► Herbert of Coca love Fame for saving me

00:24:14 ◼   ► that rejection loop on overcast

00:24:15 ◼   ► subscription last fall he reminded me of

00:24:17 ◼   ► it like right before I submit it it was

00:24:19 ◼   ► it it was right after I submitted before

00:24:21 ◼   ► it was reviewed so I could still go and

00:24:22 ◼   ► edit description yeah I mean if the

00:24:25 ◼   ► reality is though yeah I don't worry

00:24:27 ◼   ► about descriptions as much

00:24:28 ◼   ► used to I worry I may be over the first

00:24:32 ◼   ► two or three sentences and then beyond

00:24:34 ◼   ► that I'm just trying to be plain and

00:24:36 ◼   ► simple and like straight forward and I

00:24:38 ◼   ► feel like that accomplishes most of what

00:24:40 ◼   ► a description is you know trying to do

00:24:44 ◼   ► so I think the other areas that are you

00:24:46 ◼   ► go through you set the ratings for the

00:24:47 ◼   ► app I think that's fairly

00:24:48 ◼   ► straightforward like you just kind of

00:24:50 ◼   ► think about your app and like does it

00:24:51 ◼   ► include this does it include that and

00:24:54 ◼   ► you just kind of check the box and you

00:24:56 ◼   ► know it's the nice thing about that

00:24:58 ◼   ► section is that as you're just you know

00:25:00 ◼   ► saying does it do this does it do that

00:25:02 ◼   ► you'll the update the rating that your

00:25:04 ◼   ► app would get as a result will update in

00:25:06 ◼   ► real time and so you can get a sense of

00:25:07 ◼   ► you know like why is my app 13 plus or

00:25:10 ◼   ► whatever then you can work out we know

00:25:13 ◼   ► which of those criteria is doing that

00:25:15 ◼   ► and then you know decide I've obviously

00:25:17 ◼   ► if for whatever reason that would be

00:25:19 ◼   ► problematic for your application then

00:25:21 ◼   ► you can make the appropriate changes and

00:25:24 ◼   ► the keywords for it I think is the next

00:25:26 ◼   ► area that is basically you're just

00:25:29 ◼   ► trying this is important like dark magic

00:25:33 ◼   ► about this where people go into great

00:25:35 ◼   ► did you know Drake depths have tried to

00:25:37 ◼   ► work out what the optimum keywords are

00:25:39 ◼   ► for an app and I used to go down that

00:25:41 ◼   ► road a bit more I mean I try and be

00:25:43 ◼   ► thoughtful about it now and I always

00:25:44 ◼   ► make sure that I fill out my keywords

00:25:46 ◼   ► field because in theory these are the

00:25:48 ◼   ► you know these are the keywords that are

00:25:49 ◼   ► used in search to determine if your app

00:25:52 ◼   ► is going to show up or not but I mean

00:25:54 ◼   ► the weird thing about it is unless your

00:25:57 ◼   ► app is showing up very highly for one of

00:25:59 ◼   ► these terms it doesn't really matter if

00:26:03 ◼   ► you show up on the search you know so if

00:26:05 ◼   ► you include a term that you're gonna you

00:26:08 ◼   ► know be the hundredth search result for

00:26:11 ◼   ► it's as though you didn't include that

00:26:13 ◼   ► keyword in some ways as well

00:26:15 ◼   ► so mostly this is just trying to sort of

00:26:17 ◼   ► cover your bases B and just put things

00:26:21 ◼   ► in there that will help the app I guess

00:26:23 ◼   ► you know whatever the app store search

00:26:25 ◼   ► engine understand your app it better you

00:26:28 ◼   ► know give it a lot of words and then

00:26:29 ◼   ► hopefully you know sometimes it's

00:26:31 ◼   ► probably useful like if your app does

00:26:32 ◼   ► you know it has a petunia it has a has a

00:26:37 ◼   ► couple of you know branches a couple of

00:26:38 ◼   ► different genres of app or does a couple

00:26:40 ◼   ► of different things then like maybe I

00:26:42 ◼   ► make

00:26:42 ◼   ► to be crazy thoughtful and like dive

00:26:45 ◼   ► into it but beyond just that basic stuff

00:26:47 ◼   ► I kind of just sit down think for 10

00:26:50 ◼   ► minutes and then move on yeah and you

00:26:52 ◼   ► know and there are services and stuff

00:26:54 ◼   ► that will help you allegedly optimize

00:26:56 ◼   ► keyboards and stuff like that and

00:26:57 ◼   ► honestly I've never found their high

00:27:00 ◼   ► prices worth the risk of even trying

00:27:01 ◼   ► them because it's it seems like it's

00:27:03 ◼   ► very much like SEO tactics of like this

00:27:06 ◼   ► might work but you also are probably

00:27:08 ◼   ► just getting ripped off yeah and one

00:27:11 ◼   ► thing I will say that's probably worth

00:27:12 ◼   ► thinking about is using the new search

00:27:14 ◼   ► ads interface in that we got with the

00:27:17 ◼   ► search ads stuff you can there you can

00:27:21 ◼   ► specify one of the things you can see is

00:27:24 ◼   ► what keywords are showing up our shark

00:27:27 ◼   ► converting well against your app and

00:27:31 ◼   ► these can be ones that Apple is

00:27:32 ◼   ► generating not necessarily you're

00:27:34 ◼   ► generating yourself and so one thing I

00:27:36 ◼   ► have done subsequently this when I'll

00:27:38 ◼   ► run in a search campaign for an app and

00:27:40 ◼   ► they'll go in and make sure that there

00:27:41 ◼   ► aren't any keywords that are doing well

00:27:44 ◼   ► in the search ad thing that are for

00:27:46 ◼   ► whatever reason not showing up I didn't

00:27:49 ◼   ► include in my keywords and so it's just

00:27:51 ◼   ► a good little like check to be like huh

00:27:52 ◼   ► is there something here that I need to

00:27:54 ◼   ► you know that I should include in my

00:27:56 ◼   ► keywords or alternatively you can see

00:27:59 ◼   ► sometimes there's keywords that seem

00:28:01 ◼   ► like they would be good keywords for

00:28:02 ◼   ► your app but when I run a search

00:28:04 ◼   ► campaign against them they perform

00:28:06 ◼   ► really poorly and so it's probably like

00:28:08 ◼   ► actually maybe I don't want to show up

00:28:09 ◼   ► in that area like there's a better

00:28:11 ◼   ► keyword that I can you know that could I

00:28:12 ◼   ► could put it in place of that one so

00:28:15 ◼   ► that's another little tool that we have

00:28:16 ◼   ► is we're trying to hone those in yeah

00:28:18 ◼   ► and the last area is probably the app

00:28:21 ◼   ► review notes area which in some ways is

00:28:25 ◼   ► some that you may not think you know I

00:28:26 ◼   ► never really need to use but I will say

00:28:27 ◼   ► it's always a good idea to try and think

00:28:30 ◼   ► of it is there anything that you want to

00:28:32 ◼   ► communicate to the app reviewer about

00:28:33 ◼   ► your app and if so put it in that field

00:28:36 ◼   ► anything you've been rejected for in the

00:28:37 ◼   ► past that have seen that you've since

00:28:39 ◼   ► fixed like I have a whole list of these

00:28:41 ◼   ► for all my different apps that I'll you

00:28:42 ◼   ► know like things that they they you know

00:28:46 ◼   ► they I was rejected for and I have since

00:28:47 ◼   ► fixed I will indicate that and write

00:28:50 ◼   ► that out in the app review notes and

00:28:51 ◼   ► just say hey you know I'd like this was

00:28:53 ◼   ► in the year there was one there used to

00:28:54 ◼   ► be a problem with this

00:28:56 ◼   ► it was innocence been resolved because

00:28:57 ◼   ► sometimes the a per viewer will miss

00:29:00 ◼   ► something and it just saves a bunch of

00:29:01 ◼   ► time to just be very upfront and

00:29:03 ◼   ► explicit and say like you used to

00:29:05 ◼   ► you know there used to not have a

00:29:07 ◼   ► restorer purchases button I do now

00:29:09 ◼   ► it works it's great and it just has

00:29:11 ◼   ► saved me I think time over is pricey

00:29:13 ◼   ► saving our viewers time in my time just

00:29:15 ◼   ► be clear about these things so you know

00:29:18 ◼   ► take advantage of that field if it's

00:29:20 ◼   ► something that you can think about and

00:29:22 ◼   ► with that route of time this week thanks

00:29:24 ◼   ► listening everybody and we'll talk to

00:29:25 ◼   ► you next week bye