This article covers the content to confirm prior to requesting an App Submission, how to request an App Submission, and expectations for how long the app approval process typically takes. Requesting a new app submission is an internal-only process. Clients do not have access to request their own app submission in the Touchpoint CMS. Typically, the app submission is requested in the Touchpoint CMS by the Certain staff member who is working with the client on Touchpoint implementation.

Before Requesting an App Submission

Before you request an app submission, please confirm with the client that they have an Apple Developer Account, and that they have invited our team as an admin on their account. See this article for more info: Developer Account Setup. Then, review the following areas in the client's dashboard and make sure everything looks correct:

1. 1. From the client's organization homepage, click Manage Icon/Store Details under the title of the app.
      
      
      • Rights Letter: Check that the client has uploaded a Content Rights Letter document on this page. If not, let them know they can use the suggested text from this page to draft a Content Rights Letter and upload their document here.
      • Icon/Images: Check that there is an app icon uploaded, and make sure it looks OK. For example, if the client has uploaded an app icon image with a transparent background, you will need to let them know that this cannot be used, and they need to replace their icon with an image that has a solid background.
      • Store Details: Check that all titles and descriptions are filled in correctly. Make sure that the iTunes Description text, First Short Description on Google Play text, and 'Read More' Longer Google Play Description do not reference a specific date and that they are a description of the app overall, not a description of the event. This is one of the areas the app reviewers at Apple and Google will be checking, and if the app appears to be intended for a "one-time use", as indicated by a specific date or year included in the app title or description, they may reject the app initially, which will delay the process of getting the app approved.
      • Store Details: Check that there is a Welcome Header Image uploaded. While this is not required for the app submission, we will generate a screenshot of the event list screen where the Welcome Header Image appears to submit with the app. 
      • GatherNow: This setting is not required for app submission.
   2. On the client's organization homepage, check that there is an Event Icon uploaded next to the first event. While this is not required for the app submission, we will generate a screenshot of the event list screen where the Welcome Header Image appears to submit with the app. 
   3. In the client's event dashboard, check that the Phone Homescreen Design and iPad Homescreen Design have been completed. There will be screenshots generated of both of these homescreens for the app store listing, so if something looks "off" that will make the screenshot of the homescreen look less than ideal, please let the client know to fix that before you request the app submission.
   4. In the client's event dashboard, check there are at least 1-2 items of content under each navigation menu button. This is so that the app reviewers at Apple and Google can see that this is a real app during the app review process.
   5. Make sure that at least one event is unhidden on the app. This is so that the app reviewers at Apple and Google can view the event during the app review process. If the client would like to hide their event again later, after the app has been reviewed and approved, they can do that, but the event will need to be unhidden when we submit the app to the stores for approval so that it can be viewed by the app reviewer.

What content cannot be changed after app submission? (After app submission, changing the content listed below requires submitting an app update and waiting for it to be approved.)

1. App Icon
2. Name under App Icon
3. App Launch Image
4. App Title
5. App Store Description Text
6. Keyword Search Terms
7. App Store Screenshots

**A Note on App Store Screenshots: Along with the app build, we will submit 4-5 screenshots of the app to Apple and Google Play to be displayed on the app store listing. These screenshots are generated when the development team builds the app. Typically, we include the following screenshots with an app submission: 

1. App Launch Screen
2. Event List Screen
3. Home Screen
4. Home Screen with Navigation Menu pulled over
5. An Info item, Map, other piece of content (without proprietary information displaying)

After the app has been submitted to the stores for approval, updating the screenshots requires submitting an app update and waiting for it to be approved, which can delay the anticipated app launch date for the client. This is why it is so important to make sure that all of the above items are in place before requesting the app submission - because the content and design of the app, as it stands when we submit the app to the stores, is what will be reflected in the screenshots on the app store listing.

Requesting an App Submission

1. After you have checked all of the content listed above on the client's Touchpoint dashboard, on the client's organization homepage, click Manage Icon/Store Details under the title of the app.
   
   
   
   
2. In the red App Management box on the right side of the page, click Submissions.
   
   
   
   
3. Under App Submission Requests, click Request App Submission.
   
   
   
   
4. Check the box(es) for an iOS and/or Android app submission request. (Note: For most clients, you will check both iOS and Android. If the client is going to utilize the GatherNow app for their iOS app, you will only check Android.) 
5. In the Notes field, write a brief description of the request. These are simply notes to pass on to the Touchpoint development team member who will complete the app submission. Most of the time, you can simply enter: Please submit this new app to the iOS and Google Play stores for approval. Or, if the client is going to utilize the GatherNow app for their iOS app, you can enter: Please submit this new app to the Google Play store for approval. The client will be using GatherNow for their iOS app. There are some cases when the client wants to request specific screenshots to be included on their app store listing, which are different than our typical screenshots (listed above). In this case you can enter: Please submit this new app to the iOS and Google Play store for approval. The client has requested the following screenshots: [Please include detailed instructions for which screenshots to include].
6. Click Create App submission request to submit the request. After the app submission is requested, the status of the app submission can be found at https://cms.certaintouchpoint.com/app_submissions 
   
   

How long will the app approval take? 

App approval is completely managed by Apple and Google's app reviewers. We do not have control over how long this process takes. We typically see apps get reviewed and approved within 3-5 business days. However, Google is often even quicker than this, and we have also seen Apple take up to 2 weeks to review and approve an app submission before.

Once Apple has reviewed and approved the iOS app, the owner of the Apple Developer Account (someone on the client side) will receive an automated email from Apple that the status of the app has changed to "Ready for Sale", which means that the update is ready to be downloaded from the app store (sometimes it takes an hour or so after this message is received for the app to be searchable on the iOS App Store).