Beyond the tips we emailed those with rejected apps
February 6, 2010
If you feel you are doing all the right things for your app, but are faced with a rejection notice after the second ‘final’ review pick your chin up. The review process is not an exact science. And a resubmit process is available. Meanwhile, continue to add more quality content that will appeal to current fans and new potential users too.
Questionable apps sometimes feel like they are merely promotional. Content with that goal can foster increased community and bring new business, but the pattern of rejections suggest that apps for iTunes need to have more utility. iSites has always been imagined as a system that can weave rich content from all your online content sources. Your app proposal can improve if you consider tips we offer for improving the potential impact of your content.
Although it will help your app if you already have the professionalism suggested by a polished website, your app should strive to go farther and provide other sources of useful content that couldn’t easily be found by simply visiting a mobile version of the website. As you brainstorm, consider how your blog, videos and twitter streams can evolve. Think of communicating helpful tips for app users through each of these.
App store review has been hard to figure out in these early stages. All of us involved are transitioning ourselves and our processes to help serve the many who want apps. Don’t despair if you feel your content is limited to those with specific interests or confined to those interested in a specific geography. Niche interests are already served by the app store. Having those apps, in our opinion, helps increase both the accessible diversity of useful apps. It also increases the awareness in the mass market of what people in other locations, those who hold differing philosophies, or who face different challenges might be thinking. These are positive trends for app store users.
If first rejected, all we can suggest is that you keep updating and improving your app while you resubmit. Your app will not have these approval challenges in Android App Market and others we hope to offer later.
The “spinning wheel” you see occasionally during downloads
February 5, 2010
Many of you have noticed that your app is disconnecting in the middle of a download a showing a frustrating ’spinning wheel’.
We are actively working to solve this problem. The bug is a symptom that is sporadic and locating the exact database search problem depends on us replicating the problem during the exploration. It is as if your car only made that funny noise when you weren’t at the mechanic’s shop.
If your app needs a rework for iTunes
February 5, 2010
We received App Store notification of many iSites made app proposals last night. Most were accepted, but there were also many rejected. We now need a couple of days to investigate the reasons why these apps were rejected. We will send each representative of a rejected app an email detailing our suggestions for your app design. We will likely make recommendations for improving it so you can try for iTunes app store again. Some apps; however, may for the foreseeable future only have a home in Android (coming as soon as possible next week) as they are not of the character currently welcome in Apple’s App Store.
How to build your iSites App!
Although this can be a quick setup one of the major advantages to using iSites to self-manage your apps is the ability to mix and match the content in your tabbed categories any way you like. Each category can shuffle several syndicated feeds. No other system offers this.
As well, you can change your app designs or the organization from our system instantly. You don’t need to wait for us or wait on a resubmit process to the App Store.
By late next week, when our new content management system (CMS) goes live, we’ll also make your app package available for Google’s Android enabled smartphones too. There is much excitement about the Nexus One debut. Your apps will be ready in time for the large number that will be sold.
We offer tips for using RSS and our CMS below. Grab your graphics files to add flash to your app’s branding (or use the many hues in our color painter). When you are ready get started easily http://iSites.us
Content
After providing your app title, descriptions, and optional ‘tags’ (these make your app easier to locate in searches), the screen that follows allows you to add and update any content sources for your app. Add as many as you like.
(You are not limited as you are with our competitors. These can also be mixed and matched within and among your categories at anytime in the future. You may even decide you want to name your categories differently. You can do this quickly, only on the system at iSites.us.)
1. Adjust or serve new content via subscriptions. RSS is content that is already serialized on the web. iSites allows you to hook those you own or maintain and add them to your app! RSS 2.0, iTunes RSS, or Media RSS are each easy to add.
(As apps take the shape of branded identities we insist you use only content you own or are responsible for. That will keep them unique! According to our Terms of Service you are responsible for the content you add into your app. We will reject the app if you input feeds that you do not own. Please ensure you own the content or are responsible for handling it.)
If you haven’t used RSS it’s much easier than ordering a magazine to arrive at your door. Some also call these ‘content feeds’ because once you have subscribed they come to you automatically. We use them to help any of your desirable content that is updated on the web coming to your app audience at the same time.
You can subscribe to RSS within iSites content management system. There are two icons to look for. If browsing in Safari, simply hit the RSS button to the right of the URL (address display in the browser) of the selected webpage. If you don’t see the grey icon, one can’t subscribe to that webpage’s content.
Using other browsers? Look for the colored (any color!) icons that look sort of like a broadcast wave. These buttons are often also visibly promoted on the webpage itself. See an example below.
RSS button
RSS icon can be any color. Find them to the right in the browser address line. Often they are clickable within a page too. Select one and you will be offered the url address to place in your account at iSites.
A video tutorial on RSS
2. The second way to add content? Connect with your other social web services. It’s the final step on our ‘Content’ page. Select any of the featured icons from the social web, type in the essential info, and you’ll have your twitter stream lists and your YouTube videos added in no time.
(Once these are entered into your account updates will flow to your app automatically.
All your content, from RSS and social web services, is downloaded into your app and available offline. Soon we will have a form to upload new content and upload files directly from iSites. )
Design
You’ll be prompted to design both the appearance of your app and how app stores showcase your newly packaged content. You’ll see the opportunity to paint colors to your app or to upload your own graphics files.
It is important to remember that anytime you revise your app the changes in your app are not reflected in the appearance of the app as it is merchandised in the respective stores. These ‘creatives’ are updated in separate locations in our system. Be certain to update both if you want both to change.
After you decide how you want to organize all your content we let you select the order of categories to display on your app’s menu. The mockup of an iPhone screen will reveal the order you have chosen and as it will appear on the app’s Menu.
Be sure to revisit our blog (or hit the RSS icon to subscribe!) to see newest public announcements.
After your App is in iTunes: Resubmitting Images that require formal Quality Reviews
February 4, 2010
We discovered we haven’t provided a direct way to revise those images that require a re-review by Apple. It’s a good thing as such re-reviews would slow down the progress for those apps that haven’t obtained Apple’s first seal of approval. However, changes you have made within our system have been saved as your latest desired app.
Now that we all understand the slower pace required for final approval to iTunes application store, those items (splash, app icon, and store banner images) which one cannot ‘revise on the fly’ through iSites will not be available without a significant wait.
Employees at two companies will have to review these changes; therefore, we will have to implement a policy (sometime next week) to discourage frequent changes.
In summary, no changes to these quality review images are available now. To bring efficiency to the system we will develop a policy (sometime next week) to encourage iSites partners to get these images as they hope to have them for the long term. If an update is required it will likely take some time (especially while iSites is so popular) to implementand will likely incur a charge to pay for the added administrative expense of another review.
Tips for great Apps
January 24, 2010
Please proactively review your apps in iSites to minimize our correction requests:
1.) Is your App title unique? Check the name you hope to use against what is already available in iTunes.
2.) Are your images properly branded with a distinctive logo or image? The App Icon logo must appear prominently somewhere in you Store Banner. All three images should reveal a consistent theme. Think of the “Store Banner” more as a Store Icon. App store shoppers need to recognize it as very similar to the icon they saw on your friend’s iPhone. More importantly, they need to recognize a familiar icon on their phone after downloading your App from the store.
3.) Are your images the specified sizes? Some too short in one dimension slipped through our auto-check. Double check your pixels counts for app phone icon (57×57), the splash screen (320X480), and the store banner (512×512) – a larger version your app’s phone icon
4.) Is there any Illegal or inappropriate content? This includes images and content that resemble anything you do not own or do not have the right to manage.
5.) Finally, your app stands a much better chance of getting accepted if it is obvious your app will appeal to more than a handful of users. An app limited to images from a trip taken five years ago is one extreme example of the app that would likely not get accepted. Although our system allows you to add and change content at a later date; you will stand a better chance of initial approval if you add content that would appeal to many. It should be obvious tat you will update regularly. A gallery of photos that does not appear to evolve over time may very likely get rejected.
Paced submission while expediting the highest quality Apps
January 23, 2010
Apps that are properly put together and published will be in our earliest batches of submissions for Apple’s final approval. For those quality-approved by GENWI’s review will be immediately compiled and the approximate order the app was originally published will determine which batch your app is placed for submission with Apple. However, particularly outstanding apps may jump to the head of the queue.
Also to set a an example for what types of apps that succeed through iSites we will also expedite those that are properly organized with content of broad appeal (an obvious and large audience) and which are also most likely designed with regular updates (as opposed to a likely static future). These will have the highest rate of approval.
Anticipation is ripe for us all. Any revisions you make will save into our system. Go ahead and make your app the best it can be. Therefore, we will also have the batching system arranged and can tell you both if your app looks good to GENWI staff and when exactly your app will be forwarded on to Apple for final app store approval.
We will not send all apps Monday as we do not want to overwhelm Apple’s staff or reviewers with GENWI submission in this first week. We have also decided to allow you to continue accessing iSites to work on your apps, but have disabled the payment system until we have the traffic controlled.
FAQ
January 21, 2010
iSites FAQs
What exactly is iSites?
iSites is GENWI’s system for self-managing branded apps. It enables you to create an iPhone application to publish information to your audience. Once the iPhone app has been approved by Apple’s iTunes store, it will be displayed for free download by your audience. Genwi’s content management system automatically crawls feeds that you upload to your website and updates your iPhone app so that your audience has only the most updated version of your app. Full RSS history back to the date the App went live is available. This is significant advantage we offer over other app making systems.
Why should I get my iPhone app from GENWI?
Apple reinvented the way the world thinks about apps—it’s no longer a search and browse world to find content on the Internet. With the explosion of iPhone and other smart phone apps, viewers are accessing data through a new portal. We offer a fast, simple and affordable way for you to create your iPhone app. We want to help you deliver your content faster, more effectively and more affordably to your intended audience.
How affordable?
Yes, for $25, you can create your app, get it approved through the Apple App Store, support (live whenever possible), and automatic upgrades of any system or feature updates. This includes a version of your app to run on the Android platform and any future device stores we enable. We also ‘host’ your content – providing the bandwidth to support your app.
Why are you charging $25 after I submit the app when the app will not be immediately available for download through the Apple app store?
We allow people to sample our system. If your app cannot be approved by Apple and you don’t want to have it displayed in Android, your money can be refunded. We are not charging a separate development fee for your app, but we need to crawl and host feeds. We do this for paid published apps to maximize the speed content is delivered to apps. While we cannot guarantee the exact time that your app will be available through Apple’s app store, we estimate that the app should be available within 30 days of your submission. Typically much faster; average wait is four to six business days.
Why do I need my own smart phone app?
If you have a website and want to get that information into the hands of your audience more quickly & you want to facilitate mobile access for your audience, an app is a great solution to mere mobile web pages. Creative presentation and user friendly features are highly valued by many for increasing access to media and information.
Who are the best candidates for a smart phone app?
We think the best candidate for our iSites platform needs to publish information to his or her audience on a continuous basis, like bloggers, newsletter publishers, authors, and newspapers and other publishers. While we like a lot of the clever apps showing up in the Apple app store, studies have shown that apps which convey content on a regular basis are more “sticky” and have a better history of retaining their users. For example, the iPhone app is particularly well-suited for web authors, news/feature story publishers, musicians, artists, performers, nonprofit organizations—anyone who has a compelling need to ‘push’ content automatically to their respective audiences. In short, we enable the transformation of your website into a more pleasurable package than a a mobile website offers. That app package also allow unique functionality that takes advantages of unique feature of the device it appears on. Our apps also permit sharing of your content via email, Facebook and Twitter. This disperses awareness of both your content and the availability of your app.
How simple is it to create a smart phone app?
Using iSites self-serve model, all you need to do is log on to iSites, open the app template and begin populating the data fields with your information. You will be asked to make selections on how your app will look. When you are done, hit “publish” and Genwi takes it from there. Genwi will compile the app and submit it to Apple for approval. Scroll down to the January 4th post on this blog for more details.
How do I distribute my iPhone app?
You can distribute your app by posting a link to your app on your website, by getting others to post your app on their websites and by putting it in the iTunes store for download. All downloads are handled through Apple’s app store.
How long does it take to create an iPhone app?
You can create an iPhone app really fast—the most time is dedicated to planning. Laying out the organization you like best and formatting your graphics (try out Skitch) take some time. Uploading content feeds and graphics to your app usually is quite simple and fast. We can compile your app within 48 hours and submit it immediately for approval in Apple’s app store. Currently, Apple app store has been reviewing and approving apps within two weeks – four to six days is typical.
What happens if my iPhone app is not approved?
GENWI will follow up with the Apple app store reviewer to determine what problem exists. Since the main focus of the app store is to ensure that the app functions properly on the iPhone, there is less attention focused on the content that you submit, so long as it is not inappropriate. However, quality content and a professional appearance to your image graphics will help you promote your app.
Do I have to charge users of my iPhone app?
No. Some industry watchers speculate that the vast majority of iPhone apps are free. If you want to charge for your app, you will need to pay Apple 30% of the fees charged for your app when it is downloaded from the App Store. We will need to charge $499 to set you up as a separate authorized publisher. If you already have publisher rights you can write sales@genwi.com for custom pricing.
Will my app run on other smart phones besides the iPhone?
Yes—GENWI is currently working on porting the iSites platform to Google’s Android operating system. We are testing it now and expect those will be ready within two weeks. We anticipate adding other platforms (Blackberry, tablet readers, etc.) over time. The architecture of the iSites platform makes it easy to
Will there be advertising on my app?
Yes—the iSites platform is designed to permit the delivery of advertising, which helps underwrite the costs of the iSites service, upgrades and hosting – keeping your app updated with best features and functioning reliably and fast. GENWI has contracted with Google’s AdMob to provide such advertising. If you want to control the advertising on your app and retain advertising revenues directly, GENWI can allow you to serve your own ads for an additional charge of $99 per year. That same subscription price let’s you choose not to have any ads displayed. Simply leave the ad ID field blank.
Thanks, everyone, for interest & patience. High demand! Compile of apps brisk.
iSites functioning again (down a couple of hours ago.)
Also, we are making GENWI page on Get Satisfaction another place for final answers to common questions. Also, that is accessible within iSites. Unfortunately, no twitter replies until 5pm PST.
Olark Live online chat is working very well for help to, if your question is not in the FAQ list above, don’t be shy.
Great response! An update…
January 20, 2010
Social Share category “favicons”
added!
YouTube, Twitter, etc
Blue Nation Blog – recent iSites partner
January 19, 2010
Want to stay up-to-the-minute on the roar surrounding the undefeated Kentucky Wildcats’ basketball program?
Live blogs from one of iSites newest partners are available minutes before tipoff from both the iPhone app and the website of the Blue Nation Blog.
Content also includes game, season and conference opinion and analysis for other sports including football, baseball, volleyball and Women’s Basketball. Photo archives are abundant and video interviews including those with UK sports celebrities are regular as well.
Produced by the University of Kentucky’s very own student newspaper sports staff the app will also be available on Android enabled phones in a matter of days. Both Apps will serve the thirst for the latest University of Kentucky sports updates. Students will be loyal readers, but the and the University of Kentucky rich history in basketball ensures a broad base of fans within and beyond the shadows of Rupp Arena in Lexington.
The Kentucky Kernal also has an app for the student newspaper itself. A move to brand two separate apps may signal a new trend and an opportunity for other organizations with both general and fanatically specific audiences to partner with GENWI’s iSites to promote distinctly marketed smartphone apps.
This week is certainly a big one on the Lexington, KY campus as the Wildcats anticipate moving up to the top of the rankings if they can defeat Arkansas at home this Saturday. Kernal sports staff and their Blue Nation Blog iPhone app will be with you every step, all the way to tipoff, with their in-depth coverage and pre-game live blogging. Have your iPhone app ready to keep neighbors gathered around any TV up to the minute on news related to the game with the rival Razorbacks.
Will other schools follow suit as the Basketball season leads up to March Madness? The Blue Nation Blog hints it may:
“Want more than just the daily newspaper coverage of UK Athletics? Need more John Wall, Randall Cobb and John Calipari? Then look no further.
Blue Nation Blog, written and maintained by the sports staff of the Kentucky Kernel, provides video, updates, stories and personality that can only be found by writers who walk the same stairs, take the same classes and live in the same areas as the players they cover.
From the people with the best seat in the house, Blue Nation Blog will run with the same integrity, credibility and good overall writing that you’ve come to expect from the writers of the Kentucky Kernel over the last 38 years.
So take a look around and enjoy all the coverage of the Big Blue Nation that you can find.”
