iOS application for the service "Cloud Storage"

On the evening of December 17, 2012, we finally got approve of our application for Cloud Storage in the AppStore and now it is available for download. Since this was our first experience in developing and distributing iOS applications, everything turned out to be not as trivial as we would like.

Problems

We encountered the very first problem before the completion of the registration process in the “iOS Developers Program”. When you register as a legal entity, you need to specify the DUNS number, which is assigned to the organization in the Dun & Bradstreet (D & B) database, which in turn Apple takes information about the company at the specified DUNS. Unfortunately, in this database we were recorded as “Selektel OOO”, and this is an incorrect name and does not look ugly.

After talking with Apple support, it became clear that to continue the registration process, you must somehow change the name of the company in the D & B database, otherwise the change procedure can be very painful. About 2-3 weeks, we wrote / called to various D & B offices to change the name of the company. After making changes to D & B, we had to wait about two weeks for Apple to make these changes in its base. As a result, it took us 4-5 weeks to register only (and this is not including waiting for confirmation of payment after sending a fax to Apple). Waiting for account activation after payment took another 5 days.

Attempt # 1

After we tested the application in the emulator, on several different versions of phones, as well as under different versions of iOS, it was time to download the application for review in the AppStore. When we first tried to download the application, we faced the problem of signing certificates, we had to reset all certificates and sign everything anew. After downloading the application in the AppStore, they immediately received a refusal, since the 3.5 ”screenshots were not optional, but mandatory. Added screenshots, the application has gone for review. After 4 days received a refusal, because on the login screen there was a link to the external registration page.

Attempts # 2 and # 3

On the same day, we removed the link to the registration page and sent the app again, but since the binary turned out to be new, we hit the end of the queue. After 6 days, the application has gone for review. A day later received the refusal "Metadata Rejected". Due to the lack of experience with the AppStore, we began to revise all the sources on the topic of external links, which were written in the refusal, but did not find a single link and did not understand the reasons for the refusal. As a result, it turned out that the refusal was due to the fact that the description of the application again had a link to our site. By removing the link from the description and clicking “Submit New Metadata”, the application became “Waiting For Review”, after half an hour it became “In Review”, after 4 hours “Processing for App Store” and after another 10 minutes “Ready for Sale”. Thus, it turned out that in case of an error in the Metadata, the binary does not go through the entire queue, but is sent immediately to the “preview”.

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Result

Cloud Storage - iOS application to work with our cloud storage.

The first version of the application has the following features:

• the creation of private and public containers;
• view a list of files in the container;
• create folders, upload, download, delete files;
• sharing files with friends on Twitter or by email.

Future plans

During the development process, we have formed the following list of tasks:

• photo synchronization;
• text file editing;
• Settings: “Exit” button;
• switch between accounts;
• iPad version;
• link management;
• PIN protection;
• statistics.

Note:
All new users of the Cloud Storage service after registering and filling in the payer's application form receive a bonus of 10 rubles to their account. This seemingly ridiculous amount is enough for full testing of the service.

For authorization in the application, you must use the data for access to the Cloud Storage service, and not to the account control panel.