(image via Pixabay.com)
People will cite several reasons for why you would want to design and publish a newly minted app for iOS. For us, the bottom line is about access to as much of the market as we possible can ensure for our clients. Whether you want it or not, your decision to go for Android or iOS exclusively will not benefit your customers’ long-term interests. That said, however, we have encountered significant problems and delays trying to publish on of our app on iOS App Store. Here is the summary of our "epic" struggle.
Rob applied for the DUNS number for CashDoctor.biz on the 15th of May and got it like clockwork on the 27th. We were trying to do our best to publish the Toynami app and make it available in time for our customer to make a big splash at the San Diego Comic Con 2015 (20-24 July). Google Play decided to let us play in about 24 hours; so, even though we knew from the get go that publishing on the iOS takes longer, it was difficult not to feel that things were running smoothly.
The iOS warns that app developers will have to wait for a confirmation - 14 business days - after signing up and submitting the aforementioned DUNS number (along with all the other information). Now, as you may know, if something were to happen to the Sun, we would know of it on Earth after 8 minutes - that’s how long it takes for the light to arrive to us. Analogically, in the case of iOS app store, we knew something was wrong with our DUNS number after 14 days: their system kept insisting the number didn’t match with what it got from the online DUNS numbers database.
All in all, it took Rob about 10 calls to the support team at the iOS store to find a solution to the problem To be fair, after the the guy at the other end of the support hotline was appraised of our persisting problem, he was doing his utmost to help us out. We did find a solution to this problem - and a few others, such as multiple multiple billings amounting to $500 due to our repeated efforts to introduce the DUNS number - after about another 24 days!
What was the problem?, you might ask. We can only suspect the answer and you will definitely not like it: Rob was submitting our request on Chromebook. Some time at the end of those frustrating 24 days, after repeatedly clearing the cache and the cookies on Chromebook, the support guy suggested to Rob that using Safari might be solution. On Safari everything went smoothly the first time Rob tried it.
Now, to our conclusions. First, using Safari might a solution if you are going through something similar. Secondly, whatever the advantages of iOS app may be, problems such as these will eat away at those advantages, unless serious effort goes into reducing the huge gap between 24 days to publish an iOS app and 24 hours to do the same for an Android app. Finally, that said, the end users don’t care at all (and neither should we expect them to care) about these behind-the-scenes struggles. Since at CashDoctor.biz our focus is customer satisfaction we take such things in stride.
If you want to work with us on your app, call us now!
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