
Documentació general
We are going to show you how Appily App Builder works and go through the entire process of creating an application.
First, you have to log in to the platform: Appily App Builder
Enter your Email, your Password and click on Log in. You can now create your first application:
Enter an Application Name (here, we will use My First App) and click on Create:
That’s what we call, the Editor. At the left, you have five menus. At the right, you have a phone simulator, called Overview. It’s not a real phone, so some features are disabled, but you will be able to see and test your changes.
Then, in the middle, you have five tabs:
Let’s discuss them one by one in detail:
First, you have the “Your Design” section:
Here you can change your template:
It will change the background of the app, some colors, the homepage images and fill the app with some features.
You can also change the layout:
The layout is the way the menu will behave. For example, if you want your features displayed in a “grid” with round icons, then this can be set by choosing a Layout
Finally, you have “Homepage Options” and “Layout Options“:
It’s customisation options for the layout, so it will be different depending on the layout you choose. That’s it for the “Your design” section.
Below, you will have the “Unified Homepage” section. If you want to have a custom homepage image, then you will have to upload your image here.
Then, you have three options:
“Use the homepage image as background in all features“: Self-explanatory
“Hide iOS status bar“: Check this if you want to hide the status bar at the top of the device when using the app
“Hide Android Status bar“: Check this if you want to hide the status bar at the top of the device when using the app
You will have to choose your currency and default locale:
And a default Font Family for your App.
You can select your Font from a readily available Google Fonts set, or if you don’t find one that suits your needs, you can use any Google Font available just with its name.
Colors:
The Colors section is where you will customize every colors in your app. There is also a custom SCSS fields to modify the CSS in your app.
This menu is pretty straight forward, you click on the color, you change it, as well as its opacity. Best school here is to play with it, you can see your changes live in the overview.
You can also use the “Demo” mode. This mode will display every item that can be customized in the app according to the section. Here is an example with the “Card” section:
Features:
Here is the biggest part of the Editor, that’s where you will add/remove features on your app:
You have two sections, “Your pages” and “Add pages“:
“Your pages” is where you will manage your features. You can modify the order, you can delete the features, or you can edit them.
“Add pages” is where you will add features to your app by simply clicking on the feature you want.
Application:
Here you have four sections: “General information“, “Dashboard icon / Back Button icon“, “Android Push” and “Unified Splashscreen“:
In General information, you can find the Url of your webapp, the Application ID and you can change the name of your app.
In Dashboard Icon / Back Button Icon, you can change the app icon, the icon displayed on the home of your device. You can also choose the appearance of the back button.
Android Push:
We uploaded it on both sizes (128 and 512), and I changed the background color to purple. On the right you have a live preview of your new push icon.
“Unified Splashscreen” is where you will upload a custom startup image. You will be able to see it when you click on the app icon in the home of your device. It’s a loading screen.
Publication:
Finally, you have the Publication section, where everything related to publication is displayed. The screen content will differ depending on your plan and permissions.
Below is the Publication section when a user has access to the general information and not source codes:
In the “General information” tab, you have to fill five fields:
“Application name“: It’s filled automatically, it’s the app name.
“Description“: Give a description of your app, the clearer the better.
“Keywords“: Think of it like hashtags, if your app is a jewelry shop, type “shop, jewelry”.
“Main category“: Select the main category of your app.
“Secondary category“: It’s optional, you can select a secondary category.
Stores information sections are self-explanatory, it will depend on your way to handle users publication.
Here is the Publication section when a user has access to the source codes:
You can use Admob by checking the box “Monetize my app using AdMob?“. To generate the sources, click on “Generate source“. Now you can publish iOS and Android apps.
In this article, we will learn how it is possible to integrate your playlists or one of your favorite artists songs into your app.
To create a Music page in your app click on
Click on + to create a new playlist:
Click on "ok" to save your choice:
You have three possibilities to add songs and albums to your playlist:
iTunes
SoundCloud
Podcast
Custom
iTunes:
Click on the iTunes icon
You have three possibilities to search the songs you want to add to your playlist:
Artist
Album
Track
Enter your research in the field, then click on "Search"
Click on the album, the track or the artist you want to add to your playlist. Once everything you want is selected, click on "Add" to create the playlist.
Soundcloud:
Click on
Click on "Search", select “Playlist” or “Title” and type your keyword in the field. Select the Title/Playlist you want and click on "Add" to create the Playlist.
Podcast:
Click on
We will use this URL (http://radiofrance-podcast.net/podcast09/rss_14879.xml) as example:
Click on "Add" to create the Playlist.
Custom:
Click on
Enter the details of your track, click "ok" and "Save" .
With this feature you will be able to launch a “Uber-like service” with your app.
This module is provided with a Template & a Layout, these are both designed to play nicely with the CabRide feature, however the module is useable with any other Layout.
Note: To use this feature, you have to create a Google Maps JavaScript API key.
Google Maps API requires the following APIs:
Also, remember that after the free amount offered by google for your API usage, requests to the API will be charged by google.
To create your Google Maps API keys:
Go to https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript
Then click on
Create or select a project:
Create a billing account if you don’t have one (this is mandatory):
The account is automatically restreint to the free trial 300$ limit:
Once you have filled the billing form, hit the “Start my free trial” button.
Select the 3 options and click on Next:
Answer the questions and click on Next:
Copy your API key and click on API Console to set the restrictions:
In Key Restrictions > API restrictions, select “Restrict key” and select the following APIs:
Save and you’re all set!
Now you just have to copy and paste your API key in your editor in Settings > APIs:
(this one is used by the app):
How to set up:
1) First, in the Add pages section, click on the app icon:
You’ll see this page:
There are only shortcuts to the main Extended dashboard & menu now available on the left sidebar:
When you use the taxi template, whatever the Cabride module position is, it will be shown at the top of list:
Open the Settings page to start with your module:
Description of the options:
When you are done with the settings, you will have to create at least one vehicle type.
4) The CabRide > DashboardOn the dashboard, you have access to a synthetic view of the latest 100 payments, and cumulative boards for daily, weekly, monthly & yearly earnings:
5) CabRide > Form
From this section you can create a custom form that will be displayed to the passengers when they request for a ride.
The answers will appear to the Driver in the detail of the ride request.
Fields are grouped in two sections: Formatting elements and Input elements.
Let’s introduce the different fields.
Formatting elements
Title (divider): use it to create contrasting title/label elements.
White space (spacer): adds a 20px space between any other field.
Input elements
Number: adds a number input with options, minimum, maximum & step increment.
Dropdown select: adds a select element with multiple options.
Dropdown select: adds a select element with multiple options.
Password: adds a password text element, input text is not readable.
Text: a single line text input.
Textarea: a multiline text input.
Date: simple date field, with format options.
Date & time: simple date & time field, with format options.
In Manage fields section you can edit the fields, change their order and delete them:
Here is an example of form in the app:
6) Open the page CabRide > Vehicle types
Then edit a vehicle type:
› Vehicle types require at least a Name & an Illustration. › Fares are required only when Pricing mode is set to Fixed by vehicle type.
7) Then from CabRide > Drivers, you can manage & delete your drivers:
8) The page CabRide > Rides offers an overview of all the rides & requests, with their information and statuses.
9) From CabRide > Accountancy, you can manage your commissions payout & cash return requests:
Cash return requests: All rides paid with cash will be aggregated by drivers, grouping all payments with the sum of commissions to be returned:
You can send cash requests to your drivers: › Without date filters: all pending cash return will be aggregated regardless of the time period. › With period filter: only rides paid by cash within the time period will be aggregated and asked for a return.When requesting a cash return, the line will be added to the Archived requests with the status REQUESTED, when the cash is returned, you can call the action MARK AS RETURNED to validate it.
Payouts
On the other hand, for payments done via credit card you’ll be able to create individual or bulk payout requests.
You can inform your drivers they will have their payouts processed: › Without date filters: all pending payouts will be aggregated regardless of the time period and drivers will be notified. › With period filter: only rides paid by credit card within the time period will be aggregated and notified as payout in progress to the drivers. › The "payout" action will create a pending payout for the given driver payouts.
The "generate bulk payout" action will create a bulk csv export for all the pending payouts (filtered by time period, or not).
When the bulk report generation is done, you’ll see the report, and will be able to download it as CSV:
How to use the feature in App:
When opening the App for the first time, passengers and/or drivers will be asked to select a role.
› If the setting Driver can register is not enabled, all new customers will be marked as passenger. It’s then up to the app admin to grant customers as drivers from the page CabRide > Passengers with the action "set as driver"
1) Passenger UI
The passenger homepage with a nearby online driver (yellow cab on the map).
The homepage when the passenger defined a route, with estimated distance & duration.› At this step, the passenger can now start a search request for available drivers.
› When the search is successful, the passenger will have to choose between the available vehicle types, If multiple drivers are available, a price range is shown to inform the passenger. When only one driver is available for a vehicle type, a single cost is shown. › After the passenger selected a vehicle type, he will have to select a payment method › Passengers can securely vault one or more credit card to be used later easily.
After selecting a payment method, the passenger will be directed to the page My Rides› The ride is Pending while waiting for drivers to accept, the expiration delay is shown. › While the request is in Pending state, passenger can still cancel it.
If a driver accepts the ride, passenger will receive a push notification and the ride state will change to accepted› › At this step, the passenger can make a phone call to the driver if needed, or see more details
about the ride.
2) Driver UI
Driver nav & waiting homepage, next to each section, a counter shows how many requests or actions are yet active.
Vehicle information.
› The driver will have to select a vehicle type, and fill information before going online.
› The section Custom fares is only visible & editable when the setting Pricing mode is set to drivers.
› With this pricing mode, drivers will fix their fares individually.
While waiting for rides, drivers will receive push if they match any request, the push will open the Pending page:
› Here the driver can review the ride request while pending, and Decline or Accept.
› When the driver Decline a ride, the ride will be moved to the Declined page, the driver can still accept it, if it’s not expired or accepted by another driver.
› When the driver accepts the ride, the passenger will receive a push, and the driver will get more information.
After the driver has Accepted a ride, he will have new actions
› Drive to client: The driver will inform the client he is on his way, the passenger will be informed of the estimated time of arrival of the driver.
› Drive to destination: The passenger is now on-board, and the driver starts the ride.
› Call client: The driver can call the client for more information.
Both Drive actions will open a navigation intent to choose between Waze, Google directions, or Apple maps for iOS devices.
When the ride is done and the passenger arrived at destination, the driver will be able to mark the ride as completed.
› If the passenger is paying by card, the card will be charged the course total.
› If the passenger is paying with cash, he pays the driver directly.
After rides are done, the driver can review his payment history:› The Payment history page is split in two sections:
Credit card
Pending payouts: When the app admin mark payouts as pending, the driver will see his incoming payouts, with the total amount due, and the period covered.
The latest 100 payments are displayed with their respective statuses:
UNPAID = The payout is due to the driver.
IN PROGRESS = The app admin marked this payment for an incoming payout.
PAID = The payout is paid.
Cash
Pending cash return: When the app admin mark cash payments to be returned, the driver will be notified he has pending cash return requests, with the covered period and the total amount to return
The latest 100 payments are displayed with their respective statuses:
UNRETURNED = The cash is pending.
REQUESTED = The app admin requested a cash return for this payment.
RETURNED = The commission for this payment is marked as returned.
With this feature, you will be able to create a list of job offers.
Click on
in the “Add pages” section, to add the feature to your app:
(Please note that the tab “Positions” is available after you have created one company at least)
In “General” you can manage general settings for the Job feature:
“Display search“: display the search bar on the main page of the feature
“Display place icon“: display the logo of the company next to the job offer
“Display income“: display the position’s income on the job offer page
“Display contact“: you can select which type of contact you want to display on the position page
“Default search distance“: The default max distance between the users and the offers displayed on the feature
“Distance unit“: Choose between Kilometers or Miles
Companies:
In this section you can add the companies which offer positions:
Click on + to add a company:
“Name“: It’s the name of the company
“Description“: It’s the description of your company’s field/projects/objectives/etc…
“E-mail“: It’s the mail that will receive all the job applies
“Administrators“: It’s a user(s) who can manage the job offers and the company’s info directly from the app.
“Display contact“: It’s the same settings from the General tab. “Use global configuration” will use the settings from the General tab.
Positions:
In this section you can add the job offers:
Complete the position information and choose the company that offer this job from the list of the companies you have created.
Categories:
In this section you can create categories for the positions offered:
Click on + to create a category:
The feature in the application
The job offers are displayed on the main page of the feature.
On the position page, you can see the localisation of the position, contact the company and look at the company’s info.
On the company page you can see a description of the company and all the positions offered by this company.
Important: if the user has admin access, he will be able to edit the job offer by clicking on
on the position page:
He can also edit the company info by clicking on
and create a job offer by clicking on :
With the Commerce feature you will be able to sell your products from one or several stores. Users will be able to pay online via Paypal or Stripe, to pay at your store or at the delivery.
Note: Every stores you will create, will have the same catalog, see it like a “franchise”.
Let’s go! To add “Commerce” feature in your app,
click on
in the “Add pages” section:
1. Create Store:
Click on + to add a store and fill out your store’s info:
Then add your delivery options:
You can choose from:
“In store”: Your clients will have to come to the store
“Carry out”: Your clients will have to come to the store to get the product and then leave the store with the product
“Delivery”: You can deliver your goods to your clients
If you choose “Delivery”, some other options are displayed:
“Delivery fees”: The cost of the delivery
“Free delivery starting from”: If you want the delivery to be free when the order reaches a certain price
“The clients calculate the change”: Add a field at the end of the order where the client will specify the type of cash he will use. For example, if he uses a 50$ bill, you will be notified
“Delivery radius”: Indicate the area you deliver from your store address, in km
“Delivery time”: The average time of delivery, between the order and the start of the delivery, in minutes
“Minimum order”: Set the minimum price for a delivery
Then add your payment options. If you choose Paypal, you’ll need to do some mandatory operations in your Paypal account, click here to see how you have to set up your Paypal account to enable it in your app. You can also pay by credit card when you pick up your order / upon delivery or you can directly pay by credit card online. To do that you just have to select the option “credit card (online payment)” and fill out the two sections “Secret Key” and “Publishable key” you obtained on Stripe. If you don’t know these keys, just check out this page to know how to get them.
Then, create a Tax for your Store:
Save by clicking on "Save"
2. Create catagories for your products:
Go to “Catalog” and click on “My categories“:
Click on + to add your categories:
A first one is automatically created but won’t be shown to users. It’s your root category but once again it will not be shown to users so you can leave it like that. Select it and click on “+” to add a subcategory (in fact, as the root category is not shown, this new category will be a main category). Add as many categories and subcategories as you need:
3. Create products:
Click on “My products” from the main menu in “Catalog”:
Click on + to add a product:
You can add some sizes/variants to your product. Switch on Product Formats and then fill out sizes/variants information of your product, with a price for each. Note that if you activate this function, you won’t be able to change the price of your product in the main menu as you did just before. The price displayed in the app will be the smallest one (“from 0.30€” for example).
You can add some sizes/variants to your product. Switch on Product Formats and then fill out sizes/variants information of your product, with a price for each. Note that if you activate this function, you won’t be able to change the price of your product in the main menu as you did just before. The price displayed in the app will be the smallest one (“from 0.30€” for example).
If you check “at least one option is required” the user will have to choose from the sauces you offer when he orders the product. He will not be able to order without choosing one of these options (that’s useful when you have many sizes for a product, as we will see next).
Don’t click on "ok" yet, click on + next to “Add options” and add the name of the options you want.
Click on "ok" to save.
Now, in your product details page you can see your options below:
You can also choose to create an option list, for example you are selling sandwiches, and you want your clients to pick one sauce from a list:
Then check the categories for your product:
And click on "ok" at the top of the page to save your product.
You can also duplicate a product if you want to create a new product that doesn’t have many differences from another one:
If you have many products in the feature, it can be difficult to scroll to find the one you are looking for. That’s why we implemented a search bar, where you can type its name and find it easily.
4. Manage:
In the “Orders” menu, you will be able to see and manage the orders you receive.
In the “Settings” menu, you will able to manage the fields required during the order. You can either choose to make a field mandatory, hidden, or simply hide it from the form. Let’s look at an example:
And let’s see the result inside the app when ordering:
Furthermore, if the user has already created an account in the app and is logged in, some information will automatically be retrieved by the MCommerce feature to fill parts of the form, as you can see in the example above.
Then, you will be able to create discounts:
“Enabled“: You can enable it right away or disable it for now. You will be able to enable it whenever you want after the creation
“Label“: It’s the name of the Discount
“Code“: Your client will use this code to activate the Discount
“Minimum amount“: Set a minimum amount on the checkout to activate the discount. Leave it blank if there is no minimum amount
“Discount type“: “Fixed” for fixed discount, for example 10€, “Percentage” if you want to deduct a percentage
“Deductable“: It’s the amount you want to deduct, in your currency if you chose “fixed“, in percentage if you chose “percentage“
“Validity date“: Fix a validity date if you want one, leave blank if not
“Usable once“: Check this if you want your Discount to be used only once
You can then manage them in the “Manage Discounts” tab:
You will also be able to link, for each store, a connected printer to your app to print orders when they arrive. Make sure your printer is compatible, it will need an address mail:
You can also setup more taxes if your products don’t use the same taxes:
5.Troubleshoot:
I can’t add a product to the cart:
You have not created a category (other than the root one)
or you have not associated the product to a category
or you have not associated the product to a tax.
With WordPress v2 you can integrate your posts & pages.
This new version doesn’t require you to install a plugin and works with all WordPress versions via the native JSON API.
General settings
1. First you will add the WordPress Feature to your Application.
2. After what you will see the following configuration page
WordPress URL: This is the WordPress you want to fetch posts & pages from.
Group all queries into a single list: This one is a display option, in WordPress v2 you can build what we call “queries”.
They are collection of posts and/or pages, choosing this option will group all the queries into a single list page like the picture below
Otherwise, when not checked, queries will be displayed like “categories/folders”
Show cover: this option applies only when the queries are not grouped, and will toggle the Cover display on the homepage.
Login / Password: If you want to access posts & pages secured by an account, input your credentials, otherwise leave them blank.
Query builder
Let’s build our first query, here named
The query builder fetched all available categories & pages from our previously configured WordPress, we selected “Tech” which contains 76 posts for our query.
And a page query (here Contact)
Design
In the design section you can upload backgrounds for the feature.
Settings
The settings section offer two options, the first is the card design alternative
The second is related to the cache lifetime, to improve loading times and reduce load on the WordPress server, all queries are cached, however the in-app function “Pull to refresh” automatically rebuilds the cache to fetch fresh content.
Default cache lifetime is set to 1 hour.
And you’re done!
The Folder feature allows to create an arborescence inside your app.
The creation of a Folder
To create a folder, click on
in the “add pages” part:
Give the folder a name and a subtitle.
Override layout: It’s a setting useful for the subfolders. You can set a general design on the “design” tab, for all the subfolders, but if you want to use a specific design for a subfolder, you can set it with this setting.
To create a subfolder, you have to click on +. If you want to change the name, the subtitle or the cover/thumbnail image, you only have to click on
Add features to your Folders
Note: You can ONLY add to your folders the features you have already created.
Adding a feature to one of your folders is very easy. First: select the folder in which you want to add a feature. Then click on the feature you want to add to this folder.
Here we are. We have added our first feature to a folder. Do the same for each feature you want to add.
Editing your features
You will see that, once you have added a feature to a folder, this feature will not appear anymore in the main feature slider. To manage the features you have added on some folders, you have to open the Folders page. Then select the folder or the subfolder in which the feature you want to manage is.
Click on the feature you want to edit.
To go back to the home of your app, click on this icon
Removing a feature from a folder
Once you have moved a feature into a folder, you still have the possibility to remove it from it.To do this click on the cross:
Costimize your Folder
You can customize the appearance of the folder and subfolders with the design tab:
In the “Settings” tab, you can add a Search bar, and the “card” design:
Without card design:
With card design:
This functionality allows you to create links to a feature in your app from another feature.
From the feature places , custom page :
In CK editor (text editor) there is a new button :
To open the menu from source code , click on the insert in-app link button :
Once you have clicked this button , a new menu pops up :
With this feature, you will be able to create a list of geolocated places.
It will display all the places on a map, or, if the user opens the sheet of a particular location, he will be able to get the path and directions to this location, by walking or driving. The listing of the locations is sort according to the distance between the locations and the user, from closest to farthest.
Click on
on the “Add Pages” section to add the feature to your app:
Note: If you want the “Around you” Search Settings, you have to setup it before adding places to the feature.
Add Places
Click on + to add a Place:
Then, you have to enter an address for this location, or its coordinates:
If you check the “Display address” checkbox, the address will be shown in the sheet of the location. If you check the “display location button” checkbox, it will display a button that will allow the user to see the path to this location.
Be sure you have your Google Maps API Keys set. You can also add other Sections (see Custom Page for more information).
When you are done, click on "Save" to add the place.
Once you have set up the list, it could look like that:
Add Search tabs
You can also add a search tab in the feature. You can search your different points of interest based on four types of search:
Just check the search filters which should be displayed in your app.
“Text” allows you to make a classic search by text (for example, you can search for a “park”)
“Type” allows you to search by tags
“Address” allows you to search by address
“Around you” allows you to only display places in the radius you set up (in km)
Finally, here is the result inside the app:
The Offline Mode is not really a feature, but it allows your users to download the contents of the app in their phones so that they can access it later, even if they have no connection. Let’s see how this works.
When the users download the app and open it for the first time, they will be asked if they want to download the contents to access it when they are offline. If they do it, they will be able to access all the contents that are in the app even when there is no connection.
To enable the Offline mode, go in Settings > Advanced:
and check “Enable offline content?”:
But you have to know that everything that is linked to an external website will not be downloaded, like for example Youtube videos, Instagram galleries, or Facebook pages. As you have to get the content from outside the app, you need an internet connection to access it.
Available features:
Custom page
Push notifications
Set meal
Folder
Contact
Newswall
Places
Code scan
Images
RSS Feed
Tips calculator
Topics
Thanks to this feature you will be able to lock your app wholly or partly. The locked content will be accessible for authorized users only. We are going to see how to set up this feature.
First, you have to add the Padlock feature to your app, click on "PADLOCK" from “Add pages” to add this feature to your app:
Unlock by:
“QRCode“: Generate a QRCode that, once scanned, will unlock the padlock:
“Account“: Unlock the padlock to some accounts. You have to allow accounts manually in the “Users” tab:
“Allow all the users by default“: If you select “yes”, all users who have already an account on your app, or users who create an account on your app, will have access to the locked content. If you let on “no”, that means you will have to authorize your users manually from the “Users” menu.
“Lock the entire application?“: If you choose “yes”, your whole app will be blocked. With this option you can create a private app. It’s useful, for example, to force your users to create accounts, if you set “Allow all the users by default” and “Lock the entire application” to “yes”. If you choose “no”, you will just block some pages of your app.
“Choose the features to lock“: Here you can check the features you want to lock with Padlock, if you set “Lock the entire application?” to “no”.
WARNING: Before submitting an app, create a user (without mentioning “test” or “demo”) with authorized access. Then, when you publish your app on iTunes Connect just fill out these info in the user demo fields to let Apple reviews what is behind the padlock feature.
You can change the background of this feature in the “Background” tab:
Thanks to this feature, your customers can schedule an appointment at your business(es).
If you want to add this feature to your application, that is very easy. First of all, you have to click on the Booking feature:
Then, you have to click on + and to enter the location of your business and the email address of the manager:
If you have several businesses, you can add these businesses to your Booking feature. To do that, you only have to click on + . Then, you just have to enter the location of this business and the email address of your manager. You can do this process, as many time as you want in order to reference all your businesses.
Why this information ? The location of your business(es) is important for your customers, so that they know exactly where they schedule their appointments. Thanks to the email address of your manager, the application will send him an email to validate the appointment.
And the result:
Just fill out the different cases you need and your appointment is done!
This feature will allow you to create discount coupons that will be unlocked by scanning a specific QR Code. Once unlocked, the customer can use the discount when they want.
That means the coupon will not appear in the app for the user until he scans the QR Code. As a business owner you create a QR coupon, and you obtain a QR Code. You can distribute this QR code on your website or in a newsletter, etc… to reward specific actions, or just show it to premium clients so that they can flash it. Once scanned the coupon will appear in their apps.
To add it to your app, just click on "QR Coupons" from “Add pages”.
Then let’s create a QR Coupon:
“Picture”: You can add a picture to illustrate your special offer.
“Thumbnail”: Add a thumbnail so your coupon will be more recognizable.
“Title”: It’s the name of your coupon.
“Description”: Describe it, so there can be no misunderstanding.
“Conditions”: The conditions of use.
“Use only once?”: Check this if you want your coupon to be a one time use only.
“End at”: Specify the end date of your coupon, if not unlimited.
“or unlimited?”: Check this if there is no time limit.
Once you’ve set your coupon as you want, click on “OK” at the top of the page. It will create a QR Code that you can print and display anywhere you want to allow the users of the app to scan it to benefit from your QR Coupon!. Note that you don’t have to add the Code Scan feature to your app because your QR coupon will be scanned from the scanner which is in the feature QR Coupon directly (do not scan from the Code Scan feature as it will not work from this feature).
You can customize the design of this feature in the “Design” tab:
This feature offers a weather widget in your app to display the forecasts for a particular city or for your users location.
First, click on "WEATHER" in the “Add Pages” section to add the feature to your app:
You just have to choose a country and a city, then save.
This is how it looks like in your app:
Your users will be able to change the location to their own, if they click/tap on “Change location“.
This article will explain how to use the Editor’s Messages feature.
Sometimes, multiple users want to work on the same app. Appily gives you the ability to share an app between multiple users in order they work together on the same project.
But how can they talk to each other about modifications they make, share ideas about the great app they are building?
The Editor’s Messages feature comes to answer to these needs.
From this feature, directly inside your app Editor, you are now able to share your ideas and tell to the others what you are doing. You can also share images/photos:
In the Editor of your app, click on Settings then Messages.
Type your message then click on “Send”:
The other users will be able to see that message from their Editor and answer you following the same process:
This feature will allow your customers to use their camera to flash a QR Code and to access specific content.
To add this feature to your app, just click on "Code Scan" in “Add Pages”.
Basically, a QR code is data encrypted as an image. When you use your QR Code Scan, it will get you to the content it is linked to. It can be a specific url outside the app, an image, text or anything.
For those who don’t know what is a QR Code, it looks like this:
Note that each and every QR Code is related to a specific content.
(Warning: When you add the QR Code Scan feature, the icon will not be displayed in the Editor Previewer on the right. It is normal, and it will be displayed once the app is published)
The QR Code Scan will allow your users to:
unlock discount QR coupons
unlock the Padlock
This feature allows you to create a news page with a photo and comments from users. It works like a news wall, users are able to find all the posts you wrote on it.
Click on + to create your news:
“Title”: Here is the title of your News”
“Date”: Schedule the publication date of your news.
“Subtitle”: It’s a summary of the description of the news.
Describe your news in the text editor.
“Insert a picture”: Chose a picture to illustrate your news.
Here is what it looks like in the app:
Click on the news:
Your users will be able to comment and like the news:
Back to the editor ! You can manage your news via the “Manage content” tab:
“Magnifying glass”: Display a summary of the news.
“Pen”: Edit the news.
“Speech bubble”: Display the comments of the news.
“Eye”: Hide the news.
“Cross”: Delete the news.
You can choose another design for this page in the “Design” tab:
Finally, you can add a Background image for the feature in the “Background” tab:
With the Twitter feature you will be able to include your Twitter account in your application.
Create yout Twitter API Keys
To get Twitter Access keys, you need to create a Twitter Application which is mandatory to access Twitter.
Go to https://apps.twitter.com/app/new and log in, if necessary
Enter your Application Name, Description and your website address. You can leave the callback URL empty.
Accept the TOS, and click on “Create your Twitter Application“
Save the consumer key (API key) and consumer secret somewhere, in order to use them later in Appily App Builder. After creating your Twitter Application, you have to give the access to your Twitter Account to use this Application. To do this, click the Create my Access Token.
In order to access the Twitter, that is to say get recent tweets and Twitter followers count, you need the four keys such as Consumer Key, Consumer Secret, Access token and Access Token Secret:
Before using the Twitter feature in Appily App Builder, it is necessary to define the Twitter API keys in your editor.
So in the editor, click on the menu Settings > APIs:
Add the feature Twitter
Click on "TWITTER" in the “Add pages” section:
The twitter handle is your personal id on twitter, it starts with the @ symbol.
You can check the integrity of your Twitter handle by clicking on: Verify
The following error message will appear if you haven’t entered your Twitter API key :
The following error message will appear if you have entered a wrong Twitter handle :
Otherwise, you will have a confirmation message on your screen like the message below:
Then save your changes by clicking on: OK
You have now finished to set up your Twitter account in Appily!
The Fan Wall feature allows users of your app to post comments and photos, and engage in discussions. To add a Fan Wall, click on "FAN WALL" in the “Add Pages” section. You can enable the “Near me” settings to display comments/photos from users within a specified radius. To add posts, click on “Add Content” in the Editor. Enter the title, subtitle, and body of your post, and insert a picture if desired. Create an account or log in, then type your message or upload a picture. To manage content, go to the “Manage content” tab in the editor. You can view, edit, hide, or delete posts, and display comments. Customize the design and background image in the “Design” and “Background” tabs.
We are going to learn how to import your data from a Facebook Fan Page into your application with Appily App Builder
With this feature, you’ll be able to import from your Facebook Fan Page into your app in a few seconds your :
Images
Contact Information
Calendar
Places
Facebook Wall
You will need to create a Facebook API key to connect import your datas from your page to your app.
As the Facebook page feature, the Facebook import feature can only uses Facebook fan page (the page you can like), not a Facebook user account (the one you can add as friend).
When you Create a new App
When you create a new app, a window appears asking you to connect your Facebook Page. Just enter your Facebook Page URL or your Facebook Page ID to connect it automatically like this:
Your Facebook Page is now imported to your app! Once you’ve imported your data, Images and calendar will automatically be updated when you add something in your Facebook Page. Places and Contact will not be automatically updated, you have do to it manually.
When you already have an app
If you already have an app, click on the “Features button” on the top of the screen:
You just have to click on the “Facebook Import” button on the top right of the screen:
Then, enter your Facebook Page URL or your Facebook Page ID in the window above like this:
Now another window appears to inform you which features will be imported from your Facebook Page:
Click on “Next”. Your Facebook Page is now imported and you can access it from the Appily App Builder's features in your application. This importation will also automatically create new features in your app even if you already have these features:
Facebook
Images
Contact
Places
Calendar
Once you’ve imported your data, Images and calendar will automatically be updated when you add something in your Facebook Page. Places and Contact will not be automatically updated, you have do to it manually.
1. Create an adwords account
To login to AdMob you need a Google Adwords account. Create one first at http://adwords.google.com
2. Create your AdMob account
Login to AdMob at https://www.google.com/ads/admob/ and create your account after choosing your Adwords account
3. Create your ad
Once logged in Admob, you reach this page:
Click on “Apps” and on “ADD APP“:
Next, if you published your app, click on “YES“, you will have to search for your app on the stores. If “NO“, enter an “App name” and select the platform on which you want to publish your app:
Click on "NEXT: CREATE AD UNIT" and choose from interstitial or banner (rewarded is not supported). Give a name to the Ad and click on “CREATE AD UNIT“:
Note down the ad unit ID:
You can repeat the same process to create another kind of ad, or the same kind of ad but for another kind of system/device.
4. Add your ad unit ID to your app
Go to your Editor, in the Publication tab of your app.
Check “Monetize my app using AdMob?” and enter the ad unit ID you just created:
With the discount feature you’ll be able to create as many discounts as you want and display them in the application.
Here are the various parts of a discount:
Picture: you can add a picture that illustrates your coupon
Thumbnail: you can add an “icon” next to the name of your coupon
Name: for example “One free coffee”, keep it short and simple
Description: for example : “One free coffee among classical L and XL coffees”
Conditions: for example : “Available for a $10 order”
Can only be used once: check this box if you want the discount to be available for the client only once. A “use this discount” button will appear in the application and the client will have to press it to use the discount.
End date or unlimited: choose if you want your discount to have a due date or if you want it to be unlimited and to stop it when you want.
Here is what it looks like:
To enter a new discount, click on "OK" and repeat the process.
After having created some coupons, you can also change the design of the page from the different page designs which are available from the “Design” section at the top of the feature:
Then, you will be able to edit your Discounts at the bottom of the feature:
Let’s check it out in the phone:
When we click on the Discount:
Once your application is published on the App Store and Google Play, you’ll be able to send push notifications.
Then, from the app editor, it is quite simple. You have to click on the Push feature. This will appear:
Then, you have to click on the +, to create a new Push message. This will appear:
“Open a feature or a custom url” allows you to redirect your users to a specific url or a specific page of your app when they open the push notification.
“Insert a cover image” will insert a cover image
Now, choose your message an click on + Once you have clicked, this will appear:
If you want to send your push to a specific location, check the box “Send to a specific location”, enter a location and a radius. If not, check the box “Send to no specific locations”.
Then, click on >
“Target specific devices”: You can choose to send to iOS & Android devices, Android only or iOS only.
“Send to all my users”: Will send to all of your users, including unregistered ones.
“Send to specific users”: Will send to specific users, with the module “Individual Push Notifications” bought and installed. A list of your users will appear. You will be able to check the users you want to send this push notification to.
“Send to specific topics”: How to create topics and send topic based push notifications:
Then, click on >
You can send your notification now, or on a specific date:
You are done ! Click on "OK" to send the push notification.
Send Push Notification from the Dashboard of the Editor
You can now send Push Notifications directly from the Dashboard of the Editor. This will allow you to send a notification to multiple apps on your account.
First, click on the Push Notification button
on the top of the screen. This page will appear :
“Title”: Enter the title of your push notification.
“Message”: The message of the notification.
“Send to all applications”: This checkbox will send this notification to all of your apps.
“Target devices”: You can chose to send to iOS & Android devices, Android only or iOS only.
“Open custom URL”: allows you to redirect your users to a specific url when they open the push notification.
“URL”: Enter here the custom URL if the previous checkbox is checked.
“Select target applications”: If the checkbox “Send to all applications” is not checked, you can chose the apps you want your push notification to be sent on.
Once everything is setup, you are done ! You can click on "Send"
This feature allows you to integrate feeds from blogs or news websites either from the business for which you’re creating the application or other sources in relation with the business or both. You can create as many feeds as you want.
Here is how it works: It doesn’t matter if you know or not the feed link you want to integrate. Just enter a title for your feed and then the url of the website from which you want to extract the feed. Click ok. If there are some feeds for this website, Appily will display them and let you choose the one you want.
In a second case, you can just enter the name of the site you want to extract the RSS feed. Appily will automatically scan this website to find the RSS feeds on this one.
Then just choose the feed you want to display and save. You obtain this:
You can choose a different design for your page, from the design section at the bottom of the feature:
Here is the feature for creating menus or bundles for a business. You’ll be able to create as many menus as you want.
Here is what it looks like:
“Title”: for example: “Kid’s menu” or “Brunch”.
“Price”: This field isn’t mandatory, as you can enter the price in the menu description, but it’s recommended.
“Description”: Describe your menu here.
“Rules”: This field isn’t mandatory. You will be able to use it to specify some conditions, for example “only available on mondays”.
“Picture”: Add a picture to describe your menu.
It will look like this on the phone:
With the Topics and Notifications feature, you can create specific topics that your users can subscribe to. This allows you to send targeted Push Notifications and In-App Messages only to those who have subscribed to a particular topic. It's a great way to ensure your messages reach the right audience!
With the Loyalty card feature you’ll be able to create a loyalty’s punch or stamp card. It means there will be a reward after a number of purchases. For example “one burger for ten bought”.
To validate a loyalty point the business owner will have to enter a four-digit password. As with loyalty stamp card, the client has to show his card to the retailer for stamping it, with our digital loyalty card, the client has to show his smartphone and the retailer has to enter his four-digit password to validate a point.
1. Loyalty card creation
Here are the things required to create a loyalty card:
the total number of points
the reward
what’s the condition to validate a point
Here is an example:
You can also add your own pictures to illustrate the points of the card with the buttons “Point inactive” and “Point active”.
2. Four-digit passwords and QRcode creation :
It is possible to create a password and QRcode for each employee.
To create a password, you just have to click on the “My passwords” button:
By clicking on the QRCode logo you can download a QRCode that can be used instead of the password.
3. The loyalty card in the application:
To validate a point, the client “touches” a point and shows his smartphone to the retailer:
The retailer chooses the number of points and enters his password.
Note: It is not possible to edit or delete a loyalty card. Why? Because it works like a real punch card, when a user gets a punch card with a particular offer and begins to validate some points on it, it can’t be changed (meaning that it would be too easy to attract customers with a big offer and then to change it for a lower one while they already have some points validated on it). But it’s possible to create a new card with a new offer. All the customers who have already validated points on the old card, will keep using this card until it is completely validated, and then they will get the new card. The customers who haven’t validated points yet on the old card, will get the new one instead.
The Calendar feature will allow you to share with your users the place and date of your events and the ones you will be present to.
To create a Calendar feature, click on “Calendar”
Click on + to add a calendar. You have 3 options:
iCal:
Click on iCal:
– Create your event:
– Find the agenda’s URL. To do this, click on “Share this calendar”:
– Click on “Calendar Details”:
– Click on “ICAL” in the Calendar Address:
– Copy this address and paste it in the “Calendar’s URL” field:
Facebook:
Click on Facebook:
– First enter the name of your Calendar:
– Then, enter your Facebook fan page ID :
Finally click on OK to validate your event.
Custom
Click on custom:
Enter the name of your Calendar and then click on OK:
To create a new event click on "Evenet" :
Thus, you have to enter all the required information for your event and an illustration picture.
With Appily App Builder you’ll be able to integrate videos from Youtube galleries, Podcast and Vimeo. If you want to integrate a business video gallery, the best is, if not already done, to create a Youtube or Vimeo channel in which you’ll upload all the business’s videos.
You can also create a thematic gallery from other sources than the store itself (for example a fashion video gallery for a trendy bar).
Note: Keep in mind the Videos feature is used to display galleries only. If you want to add a single specific video, please use the Custom Page feature.
Here is how it works, it’s quite simple:
YouTube:
Start by naming your gallery, so that if you create several galleries, users will be able to select the one they want to watch. Then, in the “search” field, what you’re are going to enter depends on what type of search you’re are going to select:
Create a gallery with only the store videos:
You already have created the store channel on Youtube and uploaded the videos to this channel. Here is how you create the gallery:
Enter the name you want for your video gallery and then the name of your Youtube Channel in the “search” field. Then choose “Channel” for “Type”:
or the ID of the Youtube channel in the “search” field. Then choose “Channel” for “Type”:
Example: for the Youtube User https://www.youtube.com/user/username the user ID is “username“.
Create a thematic video gallery:
Enter the name you want for your video gallery, the keyword you want to search for in the “search” field, and choose “Search” in “Type”.
Here is the result:
If you want to add another gallery, just click on + and repeat the above process.
Podcast:
You can also integrate videos from podcasts. To do this, you have to enter the name of your video gallery and the URL address of your podcast.
Vimeo:
If you want to add a channel you have to enter the ID of the channel in the “search” field and select “Channel” in the “type” select box. You can find the ID of the channel at the end of the channel URL. For example, for this channel: https://vimeo.com/channels/585799 you just have to enter “316799”.
For the other types of choices (User, Group, Album), it is the same process than for Channel. Just enter the ID that appears at the end of the URL. For example, to import all the videos of this user: https://vimeo.com/user23045856
enter “user23045856” in the “search” field and select “user” for type.
This feature allows you to create a contact page for your business. To add this feature to your app, click on "CONTACT" in the “Add Pages” section.
Here is what it looks like in the app:
The Social Sharing function allows you to share info about your app with your customers, contacts and friends, via your social networks or messages applications.
To enable the function for a feature, you just need to switch the Social Sharing button in this feature.
For example, here in NewsWall feature:
Enabled:
Disabled:
Note: You will not see a difference or any icon in the Editor’s previewer. The Social Sharing function icon only appears in your app.
Now, open your app on your device. As you can see, the Social Sharing function icon appeared in the top right corner of the screen:
Now, you are able to share the articles, posts and other informations about your app with the people you like.
This feature allows you to create Product pages.
Note: if you have menus, don’t create them with this feature but use the “Menu” feature instead which is more appropriate.
Let’s check out how to setup this feature:
First, create a main category click on “Add a category” :
Then you’ll see your first category, the category name can be changed live by typing directly inside the input,
Hit enter to save!
After that, you’ll have two choices
First you can create another category by clicking on the top button “Add a category”
Or you can add a Product to one of the existing categories
To add a new Product you will have to click on the shopping cart icon, below is the Product form, when filled, just click Save, the form will collapse, and the new product will be added in the list.
Below an example with some categories, sub-categories & products
Notes
You can drag & drop all your categories, sub-categories & products by using the drag icon .
Only two levels of Categories are allowed: Categories & Sub-Categories
Products can only be inside a Category or a Sub-Category.
Design & Backgrounds
You can setup background images for this feature via the tab “Design“:
And a design, via the tab “Design“:
You can obtain this on the phone:
This feature allows you to create image galleries. You’ve got five options:
from Picasa
from Instagram
from Flickr
with your own photos
from Facebook
First of all, check that you have created and filled all the corresponding API keys.
Create a gallery from Picassa:
The “Gallery Name” field allows you to give a name to your gallery. If you have several galleries, users will thus be able to choose the gallery they want to take a look at.
With the “Search” field you’ll be able to retrieve all photos from Picasa that are relevant to this search.
And the result is:
You can also retrieve all photos from a specific Picasa album or Picasa account:
Fill in the Search field with your Picasa account email.
Select the album you want to add to your app (Your Picasa album must be public).
You’re done.
Note: unfortunately it is no longer possible to create Picasa account, however old Picasa accounts can still be used.
Create a gallery from Instagram:
Since Instagram has changed their API policies, now you must use your own Instagram keys in order to create an Instagram gallery.
The gallery name is only the name displayed on your Appily App, and is not related to the Instagram gallery .
If you have an error about the name, check your API keys.
And the result is:
Create a gallery from Flickr:
To create a Flickr gallery, you have to create Flickr API keys.
The “Gallery name” field allows you to give a name to your gallery.
With the “Search” field you’ll be able to retrieve all photos from Flickr that are relevant to this search.
Create a gallery from you own photos
Name your gallery, and click on “Send your pictures”.
Then click on “Browse” to upload photos from your computer.
You can upload several photos in the same time, just select from one folder all the photos you want to upload.
It’s not mandatory, but you can enter a title and a description for all your photos.
Click on “Save” to save your gallery.
Create a gallery from Facebook:
Enter the Facebook ID of your Facebook Fan page and choose which images you want to show in the “Search” field:
Please note that only Facebook Fan page will works (not personal Facebook page).
To create a new gallery, click on + and repeat the above process.
The Links feature allows you to create links, that will open in the app, or in the device browser, depending on your preferences.
For example, you can create pages like this one with this feature:
If you want to create a Links page, click on "LINKS" . It will open this window:
First of all, you have to work on the content, then you can work on the design.
1. The content
To add a new link, click on + Add a Link:
Now, you just have to write the name of your link in “Title” and the url address in “link”. You can also add a logo if you click on +
You have two options:
“Without navbar”: Hide the navigation bar.
“Use external application”: Open the link in the device browser.
You can create as many links as you want, you just have to do this process again.
2. Design
In order to make this page unique, you can insert a cover image.
Then, you can change the background:
Here is a list of the features that require the user login:
Booking
Commerce
Contest
Discount
Fanwall
In-App Messages
Inbox
Job
Loyalty Card
Newswall
Padlock/Padlock pro
Profile
Progressive Loyalty Card
Push Notifications
QR Coupons
Scratch Card
If you have this error message :
Not logged In: You are not logged in. Please login and try again.
You have to update your Facebook APi settings and turn the Web OAuth Login to yes
and you have to add http://localhost/ , http://localhost/callback/
You may also add those url with https (duplicate them and add https)
We are going to see how to use the Facebook feature to integrate your Facebook fan page into your app with the design of your app.
First you have to add a Facebook page in your app by clicking "Facebook" from “Add pages” to add it in the carrousel of your pages.
Then just enter the ID of your Facebook Fan Page in the appropriate field, for example for our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/appily, it will be “appily”:
Please note that only facebook Fan page can be used , personal Facebook pages won’t work.
Then press “ok” to import your Facebook Fan Page.
Here is the result:
To have your API keys from Stripe, just create your account at http://stripe.com and once your business account is validated by Stripe you will be able to get your API keys:
and in API settings, use “the live API keys”:
Appily gives you a wide choice of features to put your products and activity forward. Custom page allows you to enlighten your business by numerous ways. You can write an article with a picture or not, you can publish a photo gallery, you can publish a video directly on this page, and you can add “one touch call” buttons or link to any external website.
For instance, custom page gives you the opportunity to create pages like these ones:
Let’s see, how to create a page such as these ones. First, you need to create a new Custom page:
Then you must name your new page (here it will be Our Activities).
A custom page is made up of independent blocks. Thus you can realize as many blocks as you want in the same page (in the example page “Our Activities” there are three blocks: one about golf, one about tennis – which are both text sections – and one about the lake which is an image section).
Text
Picture
Video
Address
Buttons
Attachments
Slider
Cover
1.Text
Here, we will create the first section, which is dealing with golf. To do this, click on “Text” . A new text document appears and you can write your article in it.
Then, insert the picture we want in this section. To do that, click on the icon which is circled in red. This icon appears "Add a picture" and allows you to insert your picture.
When this one has been inserted, you can act on its alignment and its size:
Thus you obtain this result:
To obtain a section like “The vines”, click again "Text" on and follow the process we have seen. But you must act on the alignment which must be on the left and not on the right. You can realize as many sections as you want (custom pages are made up of independent blocks).
More:
You can also add in your text element a link to a website or an e-mail address.
This appears:
You have to choose the link type you want to integrate, “URL” if you want to integrate a website or “E-mail” if you want to integrate an e-mail address. Then write in the URL case the link.
ex:
Website:
Source mode, HTML Tags :
You can also insert HTML TAGS by selecting the “source mode” with the “source button”.
The HTML tags allowed are a , img and iframe. Every other html tags will be automatically removed.
2. Picture
Creating a photo gallery is as easy as realizing a text section. To do that, click on "Image" and then on “Add pictures”.
You obtain this:
You can add a description of your picture if you want. Here again you can realize as many sections as you want, you just have to click on "Image"
3. Video
The creation of a video section is as easy as the creation of text sections and picture sections. To do that, you must create a new section, click on "Video" . This appears:
Here you have to choose the kind of video you want to integrate into your custom page: YouTube videos, Podcast videos or your own videos.
YouTube:
Click on "YOUTUBE". This appears:
Enter your research or your YouTube URL in the field. Here I enter “Freeride in Sweden” and then click on OK. This appears:
Select the video you want to integrate and then click on “Save” to save your video.
Podcast:
Click on "PODCAST" . This appears:
Enter your video podcast address ( .xml format) in the appropriate field. Then click on "OK".
Select the video you want to integrate to your custom page. Then click on “Save”.
My video:
Click on "MY VIDEO". This appears:
Thus, to include a video, you have to write the URL address of your video in “Video URL”.
Once you have written the URL address of your video, you can write a little description of it and add a loading picture. To add a loading picture, click on "Loading picture" . You obtain this:
4. Address
Thanks to this section you can add a button to locate any place from the user device.
5. Buttons
You can add a button to make a call, or a button to open a website.
6. Attachment
Thanks to this section you can add files to this page (e.g: PDF files, etc…)
7. Slider
You can create a slider by adding several pictures.
8. Cover
Thanks to this section you can add cover to this page.
To set up your White Label Editor, you'll need a domain name. If you don't have one, you can purchase it from providers like ovh.com or namecheap.com. A .com domain typically costs around €5/year. You don't need to buy hosting services with your domain name. Next, access the DNS zones in your domain management interface, usually found in the Domain section of your admin panel. Create a CNAME record with the following details: domain name (your subdomain) and address (your editor's address, e.g., myappvault.co). You can use your domain name exclusively or choose a subdomain (e.g., subdomain.mydomain.com). Enter the domain or subdomain name and set the TTL to the minimum value if possible. Notify us of your changes, and we'll connect your account on the platform. Enter your domain name in the “Hostname” field. If using a subdomain, enter that name. If the CNAME isn't configured correctly, you'll get an error message. Also, enter a name for your white label and the Application base Package Name (Android) and Application base Bundle ID (iOS). Customize your admin panel by clicking the icon on the right of the general menu at the top. If the TTL is set to the minimum, you can access your white-label interface immediately by typing your domain or subdomain into your web browser. Otherwise, it should be accessible within 24 hours. Once you've built your first client's application, create access for the client and provide the link to your white label panel. This way, your client can manage their app on your admin without knowing they're using our platform.
In your App Dashboard, you can enter a custom domain for an app in Settings > Domain.
Be careful this operation may have an impact on your app if it is already published, therefore do it only if you really want a custom url for your mobile website (i.e. allowing people to open the HTML5 version of your app in their browser).
Creat a CNAME Record:
The best method on Appily is to use a CNAME record. If you have a domain like mydomain.com, it is possible to create a CNAME like mobile.mydomain.com that will open the app in the browser of the device.
To create the CNAME you must, connect to your domain name panel and create a CNAME record named “mobile” which will have the myappvault.co URL as its destination. Thus to keep the example above, the destination of the CNAME “mobile” will be “myappvault.yourdomain.com”. Then the complete CNAME must be entered in the domain field in your Appily editor (Settings > Domain) In the domain name panel, a CNAME record can be created from the DNS zone section (most often from a link “Add a new record”).
If it is not well configured, a message saying “your CNAME is not properly set” will be displayed. It can happen even if you have well configured your CNAME because of DNS propagation delay. Wait a little bit and enter the CNAME url in your browser, if it displays the app, the CNAME is well configured. If not, you should take a look at your CNAME configuration, or remove this custom domain.
If you want to be sure your CNAME is properly set, just check your CNAME record with this tool:
https://www.whatsmydns.net
Enter the chosen URL of your mobile version, in our example mobile.yourdomain.com, then choose CNAME, and click “search”, if it doesn’t show the address of your myappvault.co as the result, that means you haven’t well created your CNAME or you are not creating its CNAME at the right place (your domain name may be managed by another panel).
WARNING: if you, have entered a custom domain for your app, be sure this custom domain works. If not, the app will never open, because the content is based on this URL and it will try to reach this URL and it will fail.
Note: If you can’t see it working in your web browser, that means you have cache in it. Flush your web browser’s cache or try with another web browser.
1. Create an adwords account
To login to AdMob you need a Google Adwords account. Create one first at http://adwords.google.com
2. Create your AdMob account
Login to AdMob at https://www.google.com/ads/admob/ and create your account after choosing your Adwords account
3. Create your ad
Once logged in Admob, you reach this page:
Click on “Apps” and on “ADD YOUR FIRST APP“:
Next, select the platform on which you want to publish your app. If your app is already published, click on “Yes, the app is listed on a supported app store“, you will have to search for your app on the stores:
Enter an “App name”. You can choose to enable “User metrics” or not. Then click on ADD APP:
Click on “CREATE AD UNIT”:
Choose from Interstitial or Banner (Rewarded is not supported). Give a name to the Ad and click on “CREATE AD UNIT“:
Note down the App ID and Ad unit ID:
You can repeat the same process to create the same kind of ad but for another kind of system/device (iOS for example).
To create another kind of ad (Interstitial for example), go to the app you have created and in Ad Units menu click on ADD AD UNIT:
If you have already created an Ad unit ID and want to find the App ID, on your Admob account go to your app, in App settings:
4. Add your App ID and Ad unit ID to your app
Go to your Editor, in the Publication tab of your app.
Check “Monetize my app using AdMob?” and enter the App ID and Ad unit ID you just created:
You can upload and change the icons of the features in the Editor, in the features tab. Edit a random feature on your app (for example here “Discount”) and click on the icon:
Click on
to import your icons. Now you can click on the grey icons to change the feature icon.
General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, is the new regulation in European law regarding data protection and privacy for individuals within the European Union. Even though it is related to the European Union citizens, it is a regulation that seems to be followed by other states outside the Union, and, that’s also something that can be reassuring for your users even if you are not concerned by GDPR.
More info about what is GDPR here.
Editor admins
In the “My account” page, the admins will find a new section named “Privacy” where they can consult & download their personal data.
Application users
The users will be able to request a token from “My Account” to access their data on the platform, they will receive an e-mail with the token, and a link to the page.
Then the user will receive an e-mail like below
To have your API keys from Stripe, just create your account at http://stripe.com and once your business account is validated by Stripe you will be able to get your API keys:
click on API on the left menu:
and in API settings, use “the live API keys”:
In this tutorial we are going to see how to set up your Paypal account to enable online payments in the M-Commerce feature and receive payments on your Paypal account.
Important : your app must use a currency supported by paypal. You can find the list here.
You can set your app currency at the bottom of the design tab of your app editor.
FIRST, If you don’t have a Paypal account, you need to create one. Please go to paypal.com and sign up for free.
Your Paypal account must be “premium” or “business”.
Here is what you need to set up Paypal in your mobile app:
Paypal API username
Paypal API password
Paypal signature
The process is simple but need some requirements. First open paypal.com and log-in.
Under your name make sure your status reads: Verified. If your account isn’t verified you have to verify it by Paypal.
Then, from the Paypal menu, go to profile:
and select profile and settings:
From the next page, select “my settings tools:
Then, find the “api access” line and click update:
On the next screen, choose “Manage API credentials”:
Then select “request API signature and hit “agree and submit”:
Greetings, you have created your API credentials, click show and paste them:
Then go to Appily App Builder, in the store of your M-Commerce feature or CommercePro feature, after enabling Paypal for your payment methods, just enter the credentials you just got from Paypal:
That’s all! Your app is ready to receive payments with Paypal.
The form feature offers you to build your own forms within your apps.
Various formatting & input elements allows you to build completely custom & efficient forms.
To create a form click on
in the “Add pages” part.
This window will appear:
Settings:
In Recipient emails field, you can enter multiple recipients, separate e-mails with a coma :
mail1@domain.com,mail2@domain.com,mail3@domain.com
Enable in-app-history: with the history, logged-in users will be able to see (read-only) their submissions, sorted by date.
Note: the history is only available for logged-in users and when the option is enabled, all submissions made when the setting is off are not saved in the user history, however they are saved in the admin results tab & sent by e-mail when configured
Design: choose between list & card to fit your application design.
Fields:
To build your form, you will have to choose from all the field types available
Fields are grouped in two sections: Formatting elements & Input elements
Let’s check below how each field work:
Formatting elements:
Title (section, divider): use it to create contrasting title/label elements
White space (spacer): adds a 20px space between any other field
Illustration: adds an image in the form
Richtext (block): creates a rich text (wysiwyg) block anywhere in the form
Clickwrap (action, agreement): adds a checkbox which when clicked opens a modal with either a custom agreement, or the application privacy policy
Input elements
Number: adds a number input with options, minimum, maximum & step increment
Dropdown select: adds a select element with multiple options
Radio choice: adds a radio input choice
Checkbox: adds a simple checkbox element
Password: adds a password text element, input text is not readable
Text input: a single line text input
Textarea: a multiline text input
Pictures (images): allows user to send up to 10 images, the limit can be configured individually for each picture input, as long as the placeholder texts
Date: simple date field, with format options & weekdays restriction
Date & time: simple date & time field, with format options & weekdays restriction
Geolocation (GPS, georeverse): a clickwrap action, when the users check the box, it’s location is saved and georeversed (the georeverse api requires a google maps api key)
Results:
In Results tab you can see the answers of the users.
You can also export the results as .CSV file and choose to exclude anonymous results and/or keep only last entry for identified customer.
Email Preview:
1. Create an adwords account
To login to AdMob you need a Google Adwords account. Create one first at http://adwords.google.com
2. Create your AdMob account
Login to AdMob at https://www.google.com/ads/admob/ and create your account after choosing your Adwords account
3. Create your ad
Once logged in Admob, you reach this page:
Click on “Apps” and on “ADD YOUR FIRST APP“:
Next, select the platform on which you want to publish your app. If your app is already published, click on “Yes, the app is listed on a supported app store“, you will have to search for your app on the stores:
Enter an “App name”. You can choose to enable “User metrics” or not. Then click on ADD APP:
Click on “CREATE AD UNIT”:
Choose from Interstitial or Banner (Rewarded is not supported). Give a name to the Ad and click on “CREATE AD UNIT“:
Note down the App ID and Ad unit ID:
You can repeat the same process to create the same kind of ad but for another kind of system/device (iOS for example).
To create another kind of ad (Interstitial for example), go to the app you have created and in Ad Units menu click on ADD AD UNIT:
If you have already created an Ad unit ID and want to find the App ID, on your Admob account go to your app, in App settings:
4. Add your App ID and Ad unit ID to your app
Go to your Editor, in the Publication tab of your app.
Check “Monetize my app using AdMob?” and enter the App ID and Ad unit ID you just created:
The Inbox feature allows you to send messages to users in your application. Your users will then be able to respond to the messages.
Send a message:
First, click on
to add the feature in your app:
Click on + to send a message:
Then click on "OK" to continue the process:
You can send it on a specific date, send to all your users, or check the boxes if you want to send the message to some specific users. You also can send a push notification with the message.
Click on "SEND MESSAGE" to send it.
Manage Messages:
In the App:
Here is how you receive it in the app:
Options:
Global recipient e-mail: It’s an alternative to the Admin mail. When, as a user, you receive an Inbox message, you can reply to it. With the default settings, your reply is sent to the Admin mail but if you want the reply to be sent to others, you can add more e-mail in this field (separate multiple by a “;”).
Send answer e-mail to: You can choose to send replies to the Admin, to the Global recipient(s) or both.
New message limit: Limit the number of messages displayed.
Display type: It’s an esthetic setting, choose what you prefer.
Display answers from: When you receive an Inbox message, you will receive it from the Application name. You can choose to receive it from the Admin name who sent it.
The Places feature allows you to create a list of geolocated places displayed on a map. Users can get directions to a location by walking or driving. Locations are listed by distance from the user. To add this feature, click on “Add Pages” and select Places. Click on + to add a place, then enter the address or coordinates. Check the “Display address” box to show the address, and the “Display location button” box to allow users to see the path. Ensure your Google Maps API Keys are set. You can add other sections as needed. Once set up, the list will display places and categories. Assign categories to optimize search and organization. In the settings tab, choose options for default page, distance unit, and layout (list, two columns, or three columns).
Google Developer Program
Go to http://play.google.com/apps/publish/ and log in with an existing Google account. If you do not yet have a Google account, please create one by clicking on the "Create account"-button.
Once you've logged in, you're asked by Google whether you're creating a developer account for personal use, or whether you're creating a developer account for an organisation or business. Select the option that fits the app(s) that you're planning to publish.
Once you've logged in, you're asked by Google whether you're creating a developer account for personal use, or whether you're creating a developer account for an organisation or business. Select the option that fits the app(s) that you're planning to publish.
Payment for the account is next, and can only be completed via credit card. Please make sure that the cardholder name mentioned on the credit card is equal to the contact information that you've provided in the previous step.
After completing your registration for a Google Developer Account you will automatically be redirected to Google's Developer Console. Once you see an interface similar to the screen shown below, your Google Developer account is ready for use.
To submit apps to the iTunes Store/App Store you need an iOS Developer Account. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to set up this account.
Please note that with Apple’s recent change to its App Review Guidelines, it is key that apps are submitted directly by the provider of the app’s content using their own Apple Developer Account. If the app and the developer account do not match, Apple will potentially reject the app.
According to Apple, what you need before you enrol is:
Enrolling as an Individual If you are an individual or sole proprietor/single person business, sign in with your Apple ID to get started. You’ll need to provide basic personal information, including your legal name and address.
Enrolling as an Organisation If you’re enrolling your organisation, you’ll need an Apple ID as well as the following to get started:
A D-U-N-S® Number Your organisation must have a D-U-N-S Number so that we can verify your organisation’s identity and legal entity status. These unique nine-digit numbers are assigned by Dun & Bradstreet and are widely used as standard business identifiers. You can check to see if your organisation already has a D-U-N-S Number and request one if necessary. They are free in most jurisdictions.
Legal Entity Status Your organisation must be a legal entity so that it can enter into contracts with Apple. We do not accept DBAs, fictitious businesses, trade names, or branches.
Legal Binding Authority As the person enrolling your organisation in the Apple Developer Program, you must have the legal authority to bind your organisation to legal agreements. You must be the organisation’s owner/founder, executive team member, senior project lead, or have legal authority granted to you by a senior employee.
Creating an iOS Developer account
1. First go to: https://developer.apple.com/enroll and click "Start your Enrolment'. Sign in using your Apple ID (or create an Apple ID if you do not have one yet).
2. Go over the Apple Developer Agreement, check the box confirming that you have read it and click on 'Submit'.
3. Confirm that all your information is correct (email, name, location), then choose an entity. Please read Apple's explanation of entities below before you make a choice.
Explanation from Apple: The Developer name listed on the App Store is based on the type of account selected from the options below. Apps published to Individual Developer Accounts will display the name listed on the iOS Developer Account. Apps published to Company/Organisation Developer Accounts will display the Company Name entered within the iOS Developer Account.
Entities:
Individual/Sole Proprietor/Single Person Business: Individuals or companies without an officially recognised business (company without a Dun and Bradstreet number). This account only allows for a single primary login to be created to the iOS Developer Account.
Company/Organisation: Legally recognised Companies with a Dun and Bradstreet number can select this option. This will allow multiple user logins to be created and managed with varying permissions capabilities for each login. See here to check if your company is a legal recognised company with a Dun and Bradstreet (DUNS) number.
4. Fill in all the contact details for your Developer Account.
5. Read the Apple Developer Program License Agreement, check the box confirming you have read the agreement and click ‘Continue'.
6. Confirm that all the previously entered information is correct en click continue.
7. Click ‘Purchase’ to enrol and pay for your yearly iOS Developer Account. Don't forget to check the Automatic Renewal box if you want you membership to be automatically renewed.
8. Sign in with your Apple ID and fill in your billing information. Then click continue to complete the setup of your iOS Developer Account.
10. Once your iOS Developer Account is fully setup, enter your iOS developer account information in the CMS under Publication tab in the App Editor:
Frequently Asked Questions
If a client adds me to their iOS Developer Account as an Admin would my ‘admin’ login information suffice for Appily’s requirement for iOS publication?
Yes this is possible, but only when your client is able to grant you 'Access to Certificates, Identifiers, and Profiles'. This is an extra option in the Users & Access section of App Store Connect, and is required by our system in order to create the required certificates for the app. Your client will only be able to invite you with this permission enabled if they have registered their developer license as a company/organisation type account.
Would it be best if my client also purchased their own Google Play developers account?
Yes, we always advise to publish apps on their own accounts. This is to prevent apps from being removed from the store when an account gets terminated by Google for whatever reason. Spreading the apps on multiple accounts, also spreads the risk.
Apple Developer Portal issues:
What if I’m not enrolled in the iOS Developer Program?
Navigate to https://developer.apple.com/programs/enroll/ and click the “Start Your Enrollment” button. Log in with your Apple ID, and follow the steps on the screen.
What if I don’t have the right user role in the Apple Developer Portal?
Contact your Apple Developer team Agent and ask him to assign you with the “Admin” role. You can find out who your team Agent is on the following page: https://developer.apple.com/account/#/membership
Where do I accept the Apple Developer Program License Agreement?
If an Apple Developer Program License Agreement has to be accepted, you will notice a banner in the Apple Developer Portal after logging in on https://developer.apple.com/account
What if I have access to multiple Apple Developer teams?
If you have access to multiple Apple Developer teams, you can do one of two things:
You can leave the team(s) on which the app should not be published, leaving single access to the account on which the app has to be published.
You can create a new Apple ID on https://appleid.apple.com. Have this Apple ID invited to both the iTunes Connect Portal as well as the Apple Developer Portal. Note: This is not possible for individual Apple Developer accounts.
iTunes Connect Portal issues:
What if my account does not have the correct role?
Contact your Apple Developer team Agent to provide you with at least the “App Manager” or “Technical” role. You can find out who your team Agent is on the following page: https://developer.apple.com/account/#/membership
Where do I accept pending iTunes Connect license agreements?
You can find any pending contracts in the “Agreements, Tax, and Banking” section of iTunes Connect.
What if I have access to multiple iTunes Connect teams?
If you have access to multiple iTunes Connect teams, you can do one of two things:
You can have yourself removed from the team(s) on which the app should not be published, leaving single access to the account on which the app has to be published. Your team Agent will be able to remove you from the team. You can find out who your team Agent is on the following page: https://developer.apple.com/account/#/membership
You can create a new Apple ID on https://appleid.apple.com. Have this Apple ID invited to both the iTunes Connect Portal as well as the Apple Developer Portal. Note: This is not possible for individual Apple Developer accounts.
How do I disable 2-step login verification from my account?
You can disable 2-step login verification in the security settings of your Apple ID, located on https://appleid.apple.com/account/manage
If you have an Apple Developer account then you're on the right track to getting your app published. If not, please visit Creating an iOS Developer Account to learn more about getting one.
To enter your developer account credentials, please follow these steps:
Open the Publication tab of the app you'd like to publish.
This article provides information on how to publish an Appily App Builder app to the App Store as a private Apple Business Manager app. Apple Business Manager apps are delivered privately through the Apple Business Manager Program.
Publishing an app via Apple Business Manager is only possible if:
You've signed a Paid Applications agreement on your Apple Developer account.
The app is created for the first time and hasn't been approved into the App Store yet.
The process to publish an app via Apple Business Manager consist of four phases:
Creating an Apple ID which is enrolled in the Apple Business Manager Program.
Publishing your app via Appily App Builder.
Customising the publication in App Store Connect.
Installing an Apple Business Manager app.
Creating an Apple ID which is enrolled in the Apple Business Manager Program.
Apple Business Manager (ABM) apps are distributed privately. During phase 3 of the ABM app publication process, in which you customise the app in App Store Connect, you will be required to provide an Apple ID to which your app will be distributed. In preparation of this phase, this Apple ID will have to be created.
Note that this concerns the Apple ID which will be used to download the app. In other words, this Apple ID will be registered to your app user (your client) instead of yourself. If you use an account which is registered to yourself, Apple will reject the app.
The Apple ID that needs to be created is dependant of the type of business to which your app is distributed:
For schools: https://school.apple.com/#enrollment For businesses: https://business.apple.com/#enrollment
Follow all the steps to complete the enrollment of your Apple ID into one of these programs. The Apple ID which has been created and enrolled into one of these programs will be used again in phase 3 of the ABM app publishing process.
Publishing your app via Appily App Builder.
The second phase of the process is very straight-forward and involves completing the normal steps within Appily App Builder to publish your app. In order to publish an ABM app, an Apple Developer license enrolled in the iOS Developer Program is required.
During the publishing process your Apple Developer license will be checked, and your app will be submitted into a 'Waiting for Review' state with Apple. See through the publication process of your app until all steps are completed, and your app is awaiting review by Apple.
Once the publishing process is completed, take the following steps:
Log in to App Store Connect (https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/) with your Apple Developer account.
Open the 'My Apps' section.
Open your app.
From the left-side menu, select the version which is 'Waiting for Review'.
Remove this version from review.
After completing the steps, the state of your app in App Store Connect will be 'Developer Rejected'.
Customising the publication in App Store Connect.
Now that your app is 'Developer Rejected' you can start configuring it to be published as an ABM app.
ABM apps are distributed through the Apple Business Manager Program (ABMP - formerly known as the Volume Purchase Program or VPP). In order to be able to distribute apps through the ABMP, the iOS Paid Applications agreement must be in effect. Take the following steps if the iOS Paid Applications agreement is not yet in effect on your Apple Developer account:
Log in to App Store Connect (https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/) with your Apple Developer account.
Open the 'Agreements, Tax, and Banking' section.
Request the iOS Paid Applications Agreements.
When the iOS Paid Applications agreement is in effect on your Apple Developer account, you can continue with the configuration of the app as an ABM app. To configure the app as an ABM app, take the following steps:
Log in to App Store Connect (https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/) with your Apple Developer account.
Open the 'My Apps' section.
Open your app.
From the left-side menu, open the 'Pricing and Availability' page.
On the bottom of this page, in the 'Distribution for Business and Education' section, select the option 'Available for private distribution to specific organizations on Apple Business Manager'.
Provide the Apple ID which you've created in phase 1 of the ABM app publishing process.
After you've configured the app for ABM app publishing, open the 'Developer Rejected' version of your app from the left-side menu. Click the 'Submit for Review' button in the top-right corner of the page. Answer all questions with 'No' and complete the process by clicking the 'Submit' button.
Your app status should now be back to 'Waiting for Review', which means it is time for Apple to get to work on your app.
Installing an ABM app.
Once the app is approved by Apple, your app will be available through the Apple Business Manager Program (https://business.apple.com/). The app will only be visible to the Apple ID(s) you've provided during the configuration of your app.
In order to install the app, take the following steps:
Log in on https://business.apple.com/ with the Apple ID created in phase 1.
Search and select your app.
Enter amount of copies (quantity) of the app you wish to purchase.
Select 'Redeemable Codes', and review and complete your order.
After completing the order, you will receive a list of redeemable codes/links. These codes can be used to download and install the app onto iOS devices.
For more information please view the following article:
This article explains:
How to enable two-factor authentication on your Apple Developer account.
How to setup your Apple device to receive authentication codes.
Before you will be able to enable two-factor authentication in your Apple ID settings, you will first have to login to your Apple Developer account on your Apple device and enable two-factor authentication.
If you're already using two-step verification and want to switch to two-factor authentication, then turn off two-step verification before continuing. View the link at the bottom of this article for more information on how to switch between these two verification options.
On your iPhone or iPad:
Go to Settings.
Tap Sign in to your [device].*
Enter your Apple Developer account username and password.
Complete the sign in.
Tap Password & Security.
Tap Turn On Two-Factor Authentication.
Tap Continue.
On your iMac or MacBook:
Go to the Apple Menu.
Open System Preferences.
Click on iCloud.
Enter your Apple Developer account username and password.*
Complete the sign in.
Click Account Details.
Click Security.
Click Turn On Two-Factor Authentication.
* If you're already signed in with another Apple ID, sign out of this Apple ID in order to be able to sign in with your Apple Developer account.
Once you're logged in on your Apple device, follow these steps to enable two-factor authentication on your Apple Developer account.
Login with your Apple Developer account on https://appleid.apple.com/.
In the Security section, locate the 'Two-Factor Authentication' and click 'Get started'. Note: Two-Step Verification is not the same as Two-Factor Authentication. If Two-Factor Authentication is not available, you do not have a linked Apple device. You will have to make sure that you're logged in on an Apple device with your Apple Developer account.
Follow the steps to enable two-factor authentication.
After completing the steps, two-factor authentication should be enabled on your Apple Developer account. You can confirm this by attempting to login on https://developer.apple.com/account/. After entering your credentials you will be prompted for a 6-digit verification code. This code will be sent to the Apple device on which you're logged in with the Apple Developer account.
For more information and troubleshooting, please view the following articles by Apple:
This article shows you how to check on the status of an app in the Apple App Store. Is it possible for you, as Developer, to log in and check the status? Yes, you can, but it might not be necessary. Whenever the status changes, the Developer of the app will be notified via email.
Here is an overview of the status an app can have within AppStore Connect:
A change in status will be accompanied by a comment if needed. For instance when an app is rejected, then the reason why will be added.
This article explains how to create a new app record in the App Store Connect portal. After following the steps in this article, you'll be able to select the app record during the publishing process as the app record in which your Appily App Builder app will be uploaded. In that sense, the app that you're creating through these steps is the 'shell' in which your Appily App Builder app will be 'nested'.
Before you continue with the steps to create a new app record in the App Store Connect portal, please make sure that a Bundle ID has been created for your app in the Apple Developer Portal. Creating a Bundle ID is either done automatically via Appily App Builder during the publish process of your iOS app, or manually via the steps in this help center article: How to: Create a custom Bundle ID for your iOS app
When a bundle ID has been created for your app, either automatically or manually, then you're able to create a new app record for your app in App Store Connect. To do this, please follow the steps listed below:
Login with your Apple developer account on https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/..
Once logged in, open the My Apps section. * If you're a member of multiple developer teams, then make sure that you've switched to the correct developer team via the account menu in the top-right corner of the screen.
3. On the My Apps page, click the blue + button and select the option 'New App' to create a new app.
4. The 'New App' modal will be displayed in which you'll have to specify information about your app. Below we'll go through all of the requested information in order to explain what Apple is asking, and which value(s) you will have to enter or select.
When you've provided all the information, the form should look something like the image below.
5. Use the blue 'Create' button to finish creating your App Store Connect app record. Sometimes this screen hangs. We advice you to refresh the browser manually, so you will something like this:
After creating the app you will be re-directed to the versions page of your app. All the information on this page will be filled out automatically by Appily App Builder. However, there is some information for your app that Appily App Builder is not able or not allowed to fill out on your behalf. Please continue following the steps below to get your app ready for publication through Appily App Builder.
From the left-side menu, open the Pricing and Availability page. On this page you will be able to select a price tier for your app, as well as specify the countries or regions in which your app will become available once published. We advice you to choose: * If you don't plan to sell your app in the Apple App Store choose 0,00(Free) * choose "all countries or regions selected" Use the Save button in the top-right corner of the screen to save your changes.
From the left-side menu, open the App Privacy page. On this page you will have to specify your app's data collection practices. We as Apily App Builder are not allowed to do this for you, but this process contains quite some technical terms. To assist you with the process of entering your app's App Privacy details we've created a separate help center article with a step-by-step guide on how and what to enter: App privacy details on the App Store.
Please follow the steps in the aforementioned help center article concerning the App Privacy details of your app. Once completed, you can return to the publishing process in Appily App Builder and publish your app to the Apple App Store.
Apple states all apps must be submitted by the provider of the app’s content using their own, unique Apple Developer Account, this also applies to existing, already published apps. If you currently have one or more apps published on your developer account, the Apple review will now include this check when you submit a store update. In order to avoid any disruptions in the availability of your app in the iOS store, please make sure all your apps are published on a matching developer account. If the app and the developer account do not match, Apple will potentially reject the update. Your older version of the app will remain available. Fortunately it is possible, and relatively simple, to transfer the ownership of an app to another developer without removing the app from the App Store. When an app is transferred it will keep its reviews and ratings and users will still have access to future updates. You can transfer multiple apps, without limit, but all apps have to be transferred individually.
Step 1: Verify that the app can be transferred
The app must meet specific criteria to be transferable.
App transfer criteria
Before an app can be transferred it has to meet the following criteria:
Both accounts can’t be in a pending or changing state, and the latest version of the agreements in the Agreements, Tax, and Banking section must be accepted.
No version of the app can use an iCloud entitlement.
No version of the app can use a Passbook entitlement.
The App must have had at least one version that has been released to the App Store.
In-app purchase product IDs on the app can’t be the same as product IDs on any apps in the recipient’s account.
TestFlight beta testing should be turned off for all beta versions of the app.
Sandboxed Mac apps that share the Application Group Container Directory with other Mac apps cannot be transferred.
Step 2: Initiate the app transfer
The team agent in your organisation initiates the app transfer.
Step 3: Accept the app transfer
The team agent in the recipient organisation accepts the app transfer.
Initiate an app transfer
Required role: Team Agent / Account Holder.
Log in to https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/ and click "My Apps" on the homepage. A list of all apps will display. Select the app you want to transfer and scroll to the 'Additional Information' section, click "Transfer App,' then click "Done."
2. If your app meets all the criteria mentioned in the start of this article, click "Continue." If the app doesn't meet all criteria you should resolve the issues.
3. Enter the Apple ID and Team ID for the recipient’s team agent, and click "Continue."
4. Read the terms, select “I have read and agree to the agreement presented above,” and click "Request Transfer."
5. Click "Done" to return to the App Information page.
After you initiate the transfer, the app stays in its previous status, with the Pending App Transfer status added, until the recipient accepts it.
Accept an app transfer
1. Sign in to https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/ as the Team Agent. A notice indicates that an app transfer is ready to be accepted.
2. Click "Agreements, Tax, and Banking."
3. Below "App Transfers" click "Review" next to the app.
4. Enter the new metadata.
Support URL
Atom feed URL (required if the app previously had an atom feed URL)
Marketing URL (required if the app previously had a marketing URL)
Privacy policy URL (required if the app previously had a privacy policy URL)
CCATS (a new CCATS form is required for apps that use export compliance)
App Review contact information
App Store contact information
5. Read the terms, select “I have read and agree to the agreement presented above,” and click "Accept."
It can take up to two business days for the app transfer to complete, during which the app status is "Processing App Transfer."
Frequently Asked Questions
If a client adds me to their iOS Developer Account as an Admin would my ‘admin’ login information suffice for Appily App Builder’s requirement for iOS publication?
No, unfortunately this is not possible. This would mean your own developer account would have access to multiple developer teams. Our publishing process does not support this, as it will not be able to determine on which of the available accounts to publish the app. The client’s own developer account information is needed for a successful App Store submission.
Would it be best if my client also purchased their own Google Play developers account?
Yes, we always advise to publish apps on their own accounts. This is to prevent apps from being removed from the store when an account gets terminated by Google for whatever reason. Spreading the apps on multiple accounts, also spreads the risk.
This article provides steps on how to invite a new user to your Apple Developer account. Please note that inviting a new user is only available for Apple Developer accounts of the company/organisation type.
Login to App Store Connect (https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/).
Open the Users and Access section.
Click the '+' button in the top-left corner of the page.
Enter the new users details.
Grant the user with at least the Admin or App Manager role.
Enable 'Access to Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles'.
Click Invite to send an invite to the new users email address.
Have the new user accept the invite in their mailbox to finish the process.
You will now be able to login to the Apple Developer Portal with the newly invited user account.
In order to help users understand an app’s privacy practices before they download the app on any Apple platform, app owners must enter privacy details of their app within App Store Connect prior to being able to publish.
With this information, users will be able to learn about some of the data types the app may collect, and whether that data is linked to them or used to track them. You’ll need to provide information about your app’s privacy practices, including the practices of third-party partners whose code you integrate into your app, in App Store Connect.
While answering the questions posed by Apple, please keep in mind that you are (or your client is) seen as the owner of the app, and that in that sense, Appily App Builder is seen as a third-party partner.
The app privacy details can be provided through App Store Connect.
Login on https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/ with your Apple Developer account. Please make sure that the account you're logging in with has the Account Owner or Admin role. Any other role is insufficient to perform the required actions.
When logged in, open your app via the My Apps section. Once opened, you'll find the App Privacy page listed in the left-side menu.
Note: you don't need to fill in the Privacy Policy URL here. You can enter that data in Appily App Builder.
3. Open this page and click the 'Get Started' button to start the app privacy questionnaire. You will then be shown the following screen:
Select the option 'Yes, we collect data from this app' and continue by clicking the Next button.
4. On the next page, you will see this page:
You're prompted by Apple to check the boxes for all data types that the app collects.We'll go over these one by one:
Contact Info
Whether or not you enable the checkboxes in this section depends on the functionality you've added to the app. For example, if your app contains a Contact Form through which personal information is provided, then enable the boxes for the information that the user can provide within the app.
Health & Fitness
Links to this API are not supported within the Appily App Builder platform. However, if you've created a custom (Pro) block which uses these APIs, then enable the checkboxes that apply.
Financial Info
The 'Payment Info' option in this section concerns payments which are handled through means other than a payment service.
For example, if your app contains a manual payment option, then the 'Payment Info' option has to be checked. If your app uses PayPal checkouts, then you do not have to check this box, because these payments are handled by PayPal without you ever seeing the users payment information.
If your app collects any other type of financial information from its users, then check the appropriate box(es) accordingly.
Location
You need to enable the 'Precise Location' in order to show the location of a user on a map within your app.
Sensitive Info Enable this option if your app collects data such as racial or ethnic data, sexual orientation, pregnancy or childbirth information, disability, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, political opinion, genetic information, or biometric data.
Contacts
User Content
The 'Customer Support' option is present within every Appily App Builder app by default due to the 'I need support' email option on the App Information page. Therefore, the Customer support option has to be enabled. Other options are enabled depending on the content that has been added to the app.
Browsing History There is no module available in Appily App Builder that allows you to collect data related to the users' browsing history.
Search History There is no module available in Appily App Builder that allows you to collect data related to the users' search history.
Identifiers
Enable both the User ID as well as the Device ID, as they are both collected by Appily App Builder. These IDs are used to be able to send push notifications to the app.
Purchases Enable this option if your app collects data related to a users' purchases or purchase tendencies.
Usage Data
All Appily App Builder apps collect analytical data which can be viewed via their respective Analyze pages within Appily App Builder.
If you have enabled the Analytics tracking in your app, your app will collect analytical information.
Therefore, the 'Product Interaction' option must be enabled. Other options can be enabled if applicable through the app's custom content.
Diagnostics
All Appily App Builder apps collect various diagnostics data. Enable All options in this section.
Other Data
Enable this option if you collect any other types of data through your app that has not been mentioned. This only applies if you have a PRO app and collect other data types not mentioned.
Click Save
You will see this screen:
For each of the enabled options, you'll have to indicate how the collected data is used by you or your third-party partner(s), as displayed in the example screenshot below.
Click on each Set Up tile and answer three questions for each tile.
The app privacy options which are present in all Appily App Builder apps are listed in the table below. For each of the options, we've indicated how the collected data is used by Appily App Builder. Indications for any other options that you may have enabled due to the functionality used in your app, will have to be provided by yourself.
After indicating the way the collected data is used, Apple will ask whether the collected data is linked to the user's identity. This question can be answered with 'No' for each item.
Next, Apple will ask you to indicate whether the data will be used for tracking purposes. This question can be answered with 'No' for each item.
The GIF below is an example of how you can set each one of the categories:
Don't forget to hit the 'Publish' button to submit the app privacy settings in App Store Connect <
When you've provided the app privacy information for all of the data types that your app collects, your app can be updated with new store versions once again.
If you are publishing with the NEW June/July Publishing flow 1. Go back to you Appily App Builder Publication tab in App Editor 2. Validate your App Store Connect Connection
3. click Continue on this page
If you are publishing via the old 2021 flow:
Since all technical details of the app have now been uploaded to Apple, you can submit the app into review with Apple by following these steps:
Login on https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/ with your Apple Developer account.
Open the 'My Apps' section and select your app.
From the left side menu, select the latest version of the app. This will be displayed as the version number '1.x' followed by the state of the app 'Prepare for Submission'.
Scroll down the page to the section that says 'Build'.
Click the + icon next to Build. If the + icon is not available then hover over the currently selected build (hyperlink) and remove it using the - button. After removing the currently selected build, the + icon should re-appear.
Select the latest build, which corresponds with the version number entered for the app. (this should be version 1.x.0.0)
Save the changes. (if required)
Click Submit for Review.
Answer all questions with 'No'. (if required)
Complete the process.
If you run into any errors during the process, please contact support@appilyappbuilder.com. Providing screenshots of the error or flagged fields will be very helpful.
Please note: When you add or remove content from your app which is defined within the app privacy settings, you will also have to update your app privacy settings in App Store Connect to reflect these changes.
Yes, Apple will review your app and take a real close look at your app. Yes, it is true, your app can be rejected.
In many ways, an app from Appily App Builder will keep you from doing the wrong things. There are a lot of requirements in Apple's Guidelines that are automatically filled in by Appily App Builder. So you can't go wrong there. But there are still things that you, as an app maker, can do wrong. So be prepared and read the following, because it can save you annoyances.
As a Developer, you can access these Guidelines directly in AppStore Connect. As Apple emphasises, this is a 'living document'. So for the latest version of the Guidelines, check out the original in iTunes Connect.
Here are some basics that you have to keep in mind:
Use your common sense. Yes, there can be sex in an app, but Apple wants to protect kids that install apps, so you know there are limits (so no porn). No, don't try to cheat the system (quote: "for example, by trying to trick the review process, steal data from users, copy another developer's work, or manipulate the ratings"). Your apps can be removed from the store and you can even be expelled from the developer program.
Your app should add something to the App Store. Don't try to be a copycat, your app will be rejected.
Apple has standards of aesthetics - if your app doesn't live up to these standards, it will be rejected. So your app has to look good.
Functionality
On to the functionality of the app. What can it do and what isn't allowed?
First, you must be honest about what your app can do; quote: "Apps that do not perform as advertised by the developer will be rejected."
Then, the app must be complete: "Apps that are "beta", "demo", "trial", or "test" versions will be rejected."
As mentioned before, your app should add something to the Store. Don't submit something that's already there: "particularly if there are many of them, such as fart, burp, flashlight, and Kama Sutra Apps."
Your app must be useful: "Apps that [..] are simply web sites bundled as Apps, or do not provide any lasting entertainment value may be rejected."
Your app should be intended for a bigger set of users. An app can be rejected because it is "only intended for a very limited, or niche, set of users - the App Store is not the correct forum for personal apps, portfolio and photo galleries. (..) The App Store was designed for a broad consumer market so apps that appeal to only a small portion of that market affect the overall App Store experience for the broader market. However, your app is appropriate for only a select, or niche, group of users. While it may be useful or provide value to that group, it is too specific to be appropriate for the App Store."
Your app can't be just for marketing purposes: "Apps that are primarily marketing materials or advertisements will be rejected."
Apps can't encourage unhealthy lifestyles: "Apps that encourage excessive consumption of alcohol or illegal substances, or encourage minors to consume alcohol or smoke cigarettes, will be rejected."
Don't spam: "Developers "spamming" the App Store with many versions of similar Apps will be removed from the iOS Developer Program."
Don't make an app around one movie, song, or book: "Apps that are simply a song or movie should be submitted to the iTunes store. Apps that are simply a book should be submitted to the iBookstore."
Don't mention other apps: "Apps that display Apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store will be rejected."
Metadata (data and information about the app)
Don't mention another mobile platform in the app, or in information regarding the app.
Your app should be complete, and so should be the metadata: "Apps with placeholder text will be rejected."
The description of the app should be relevant: "Apps with descriptions not relevant to the application content and functionality will be rejected."
App icons and screenshots should adhere to the 4+ age rating.
Category and Genre selections should be appropriate for the App content.
Ratings and keywords should be appropriate.
Don't try to cheat the system, like the user reviews or the chart ranking. You can be removed from the iOS Developer Program.
All URLs in the app should work, "such as support and privacy policy URLs".
Push notifications
Don't abuse Push Notifications; "Apps that use Push Notifications to send unsolicited messages, or for the purpose of phishing or spamming will be rejected."
Trademarks and trade dress
Be sure you spell Apple product names in your app correctly ('iPhone' instead of 'Iphone', 'iTunes' instead of 'iTunz'). Your app will otherwise be rejected.
Don't use protected third party material such as trademarks, copyrights or patents, or violate 3rd party terms of use. If you do, Apple can request the authorization to use such material.
User interface
The interface of your app should be "very good": "If your user interface is complex or less than very good, it may be rejected."
Purchasing and currencies
You can not sell any digital products from within your app. The app can not even link to a website for purchases or subscriptions. Apps with a, quote: " "buy" button that goes to a web site to purchase a digital book, will be rejected."
Scraping and aggregation
Apps may not scrape information from Apple sites "(for example from apple.com, iTunes Store, App Store, iTunes Connect, Apple Developer Programs, etc).".
An app should have it's own functionality and information: "Apps that are simply web clippings, content aggregators, or a collection of links, may be rejected."
Personal attacks
Be polite: "Any App that is defamatory, offensive, mean-spirited, or likely to place the targeted individual or group in harms way will be rejected."
Unless its your profession to comment society: "Professional political satirists and humorists are exempt from the ban on offensive or mean-spirited commentary."
Violence
Be careful with violence: "Apps portraying realistic images of people or animals being killed or maimed, shot, stabbed, tortured or injured will be rejected."
"Apps that depict violence or abuse of children will be rejected"
Objectionable content
Be nice: "Apps that present excessively objectionable or crude content will be rejected"
"Apps that are primarily designed to upset or disgust users will be rejected"
Pornography
Apps can not contain pornographic material, as is defined by Webster's Dictionary: "explicit descriptions or displays of sexual organs or activities intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings".
Users should refrain from pornographic material too: "Apps that contain user generated content that is frequently pornographic (ex "Chat Roulette" Apps) will be rejected."
Religion, culture, and ethnicity
Be nice about religions too: "Apps containing references or commentary about a religious, cultural or ethnic group that are defamatory, offensive, mean-spirited or likely to expose the targeted group to harm or violence will be rejected."
Religious text should be accurate and not misleading, and commentary "should be educational or informative rather than inflammatory."
Legal requirements
It might be obvious, but your app should stick to the law: "It is the developer's obligation to understand and conform to all local laws."
Your app should not pretend to be what it is not: "Apps that contain false, fraudulent or misleading representations or use names or icons similar to other Apps will be rejected."
Apps should not incite illegal behaviour: "Apps that solicit, promote, or encourage criminal or clearly reckless behavior will be rejected, Apps that enable illegal file sharing will be rejected, Apps that are designed for use as illegal gambling aids, including card counters, will be rejected"
To submit apps to the iTunes Store/App Store you need an iOS Developer Account. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to set up this account.
Please note that with Apple’s recent change to its App Review Guidelines, it is key that apps are submitted directly by the provider of the app’s content using their own Apple Developer Account. If the app and the developer account do not match, Apple will potentially reject the app.
According to Apple, what you need before you enrol is:
Enrolling as an Individual If you are an individual or sole proprietor/single person business, sign in with your Apple ID to get started. You’ll need to provide basic personal information, including your legal name and address.
Enrolling as an Organisation If you’re enrolling your organisation, you’ll need an Apple ID as well as the following to get started:
A D-U-N-S® Number Your organisation must have a D-U-N-S Number so that we can verify your organisation’s identity and legal entity status. These unique nine-digit numbers are assigned by Dun & Bradstreet and are widely used as standard business identifiers. You can check to see if your organisation already has a D-U-N-S Number and request one if necessary. They are free in most jurisdictions.
Legal Entity Status Your organisation must be a legal entity so that it can enter into contracts with Apple. We do not accept DBAs, fictitious businesses, trade names, or branches.
Legal Binding Authority As the person enrolling your organisation in the Apple Developer Program, you must have the legal authority to bind your organisation to legal agreements. You must be the organisation’s owner/founder, executive team member, senior project lead, or have legal authority granted to you by a senior employee.
Creating an iOS Developer account
First go to: https://developer.apple.com/enroll and click "Start your Enrolment'. Sign in using your Apple ID (or create an Apple ID if you do not have one yet).
2. Go over the Apple Developer Agreement, check the box confirming that you have read it and click on 'Submit'.
3. Confirm that all your information is correct (email, name, location), then choose an entity. Please read Apple's explanation of entities below before you make a choice.
Explanation from Apple: The Developer name listed on the App Store is based on the type of account selected from the options below. Apps published to Individual Developer Accounts will display the name listed on the iOS Developer Account. Apps published to Company/Organisation Developer Accounts will display the Company Name entered within the iOS Developer Account.
Entities:
Individual/Sole Proprietor/Single Person Business: Individuals or companies without an officially recognised business (company without a Dun and Bradstreet number). This account only allows for a single primary login to be created to the iOS Developer Account.
Company/Organisation: Legally recognised Companies with a Dun and Bradstreet number can select this option. This will allow multiple user logins to be created and managed with varying permissions capabilities for each login. See here to check if your company is a legal recognised company with a Dun and Bradstreet (DUNS) number.
4. Fill in all the contact details for your Developer Account.
5. Read the Apple Developer Program License Agreement, check the box confirming you have read the agreement and click ‘Continue'.
6. Confirm that all the previously entered information is correct en click continue.
7. Click ‘Purchase’ to enrol and pay for your yearly iOS Developer Account. Don't forget to check the Automatic Renewal box if you want you membership to be automatically renewed.
8. Sign in with your Apple ID and fill in your billing information. Then click continue to complete the setup of your iOS Developer Account.
9. Fill in any remaining information on the following pages. Within 24 hours you will receive a confirmation email from Apple letting you know the setup of your iOS Developer Account was successful.
10. Once your iOS Developer Account is fully setup, enter your iOS developer account information in the CMS under Publish
Frequently Asked Questions
If a client adds me to their iOS Developer Account as an Admin would my ‘admin’ login information suffice for Appily’s requirement for iOS publication?
Yes this is possible, but only when your client is able to grant you 'Access to Certificates, Identifiers, and Profiles'. This is an extra option in the Users & Access section of App Store Connect, and is required by our system in order to create the required certificates for the app. Your client will only be able to invite you with this permission enabled if they have registered their developer license as a company/organisation type account.
- Would it be best if my client also purchased their own Google Play developers account?
Yes, we always advise to publish apps on their own accounts. This is to prevent apps from being removed from the store when an account gets terminated by Google for whatever reason. Spreading the apps on multiple accounts, also spreads the risk.
In the iOS Setup wizard, Appily App Builder can create an App Bundle Identifier for you. We advice you strongly to use that option.
The App Bundle Identifier is not shown to customers at all, so you shouldn't care that we autogenerate the App Bundle ID in this format: co.myappvault.ios1234ab
We advice you to click on the button Create new app bundle identifier in your Apple Developer Account:
This article explains what to do if you want your own naming convention for your App Bundle ID.
After you have created that, you will need to use this App Bundle Id while Creating a new app record in App Store Connect.
Login with your Apple Developer account on https://developer.apple.com/account/.
Once logged in, navigate to the following page: https://developer.apple.com/account/resources/identifiers/list. * Alternatively you can open the Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles page from the left-side menu, and then open the Identifiers page.
Click the blue '+' button to create a new identifier for your app.
4. Select the option 'App IDs' and click the Continue button to proceed to the next page.
5. Select the 'App' type for your identifier and click Continue to proceed.
6. On the next page, make sure the 'Explicit' bundle ID option is selected and enter the following values for your app identifier:
- Description
This is used as a reference to be able to identify your App ID within the Apple Developer Portal environment. Common practise is to use the app's name for this, without any special characters. The description is not visible to your app users.
- Bundle ID
The bundle ID is the technical identifier of your app. Although this identifier is not directly visible to any of your app users, the bundle ID is used as a technical reference in Apple's backend systems. Common practise is to use a reverse-domain name style notation for this. (example: com.yourcompanyname.yourappname)
Scroll down the page and enable the 'Push Notifications' option before using the Continue button to proceed.
After clicking the Continue button you will be able to look over your App ID settings once more to make sure everything is entered correctly before using the 'Register' button to complete the App ID registration.
After that, you can navigate back to Appily App Builder and start the publishing process. During the publishing process you should now be able to select the newly created App ID for the publication of your Appily App Builder app.
If you’re publishing an app on behalf of a client, the chances are your app will be suspended from the Play Store by Google due to a violation of the impersonation policy. The reason for this is that Google is unable to link the name of your clients app to the name of your developer account.
What you can do to prevent this, is to send Google an advanced notice of the app you’re publishing. With this advanced notice, you can provide a document containing a written statement from your client, allowing you to publish the app with the content it holds.
Filling out an advanced notice can be done through the following form:
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/contact/adv_note
The default format for a package name is com.app.p[appnumber]. This means that the app with app number 1234MY will receive the following package name: com.app.p1234MY
The app number of your app can be found on the Publication tab of your app in the Appily App Builder App Editor.
If you want to monetise your app by selling it in the Google Play Store, there are a few additional steps you have to follow. In this situation, you need an additional Google Merchant account.
>> Please note: You cannot convert an already published free app to a paid one. <<
Create an app record in the Google Play developer console.
You'll first have to create the app within the Google Play developer console. To do so, you can follow the steps in the regular publishing documentation available in our help center. Make sure not to publish the app yet, as we will have to set a price for the app before doing so.
Making your app paid, and setting a price.
Login on https://play.google.com/apps/publish with your Google Play developer account.
Select your app from the list, navigate to the Monetize section within the left-side menu, and open the App Pricing page.
On the App Pricing page, click the 'Make your app paid' option for your app and enter the price.
Once you've set the price for your app, save your changes.
This article explains how to manually submit your Android app to the Google Play Store for the first time, using the .ABB file obtained via the Google Play publishing process in Appily App Builder. In the Publication tab in the App Editor, you will be able to download the Android source code to be used with Android Studio, to allow for manual App submission. In case you require the already compiled APK / AAB of your App, you can also contact and request this from the Appily App Builder team by sending an email request to info@appilyappbuilder.com (Please include your App Name), and our team will send you the compiled APK / ABB of your App.
Note that the file provided from Appily App Builder is a .zip file. This .zip file contains the following files:
- APK / AAB
- App icon
- Feature image
- Screenshots
Extract the .APK file (or .AAB file, starting August 2, 2021) from the .zip file, and upload the .APK or .AAB file to Google when required. Attempting to upload the .zip file to Google will result in an error.
Creating a new app record
Open your browser and navigate to the Google Play developer console: https://play.google.com/apps/publish/?hl=en Once logged in, you'll find yourself on the 'All Apps' page. This is the landing page of the Google Play developer console, which provides you with an overview of all apps that have been created and/or published on the developer account. Use the 'Create app' button in the top-right corner of the screen to create a new app within your developer account. After clicking the button, you should see a page similar to the screenshot below.
Enter the name of your app and select the default language. This is the language of the content used in your app. Select the 'App' option between App or Game.
* Please note that 'Game' apps through Appily App Builder require different publishing settings and options than regular apps.
Select whether your app is Free or Paid. Note that Free apps cannot be made into Paid apps after they have been published to the Google Play Store. Also note that Paid apps require you to set up a Google Merchant account.
Lastly, check the boxes for the available declarations and use the 'Create app' button in the bottom-right corner of the screen to continue. If you haven't yet accepted the Play App Signing Terms of Service during a previous app submission, then you will notice a third checkbox being available for this.
The tasks listed on the screen show which settings have to be provided by you before you'll be able to publish the app into the Google Play Store. We'll go through these settings one by one.
App access.
Within the App access settings you'll have to declare whether or not your app contains content which can only be seen if users login, or enter a password, or if they have to perform any other type of authentication. If your app has locked content like this, then you will have to provide Google with a way to access this content.
When you've set the app access settings, use the Save button in the bottom-right corner of the screen to save your changes. After saving the changes, use the Dashboard button at the top of the screen to navigate back to the Dashboard.
Ads.
Within the Ads settings you'll have to declare whether or not the app contains advertisement.
When you've set the Ads settings, use the Save button in the bottom-right corner of the screen to save your changes. After saving the changes, use the Dashboard button at the top of the screen to navigate back to the Dashboard.
Content rating.
Within the Content rating settings, you'll have to answer a series of questions regarding the content used in your app. The answers to these questions will provide your app with an IARC content rating for your app. This rating will provide users in the Google Play Store with an indication of the content which your app displays. The email address you provide for this rating will be used to contact you about your content ratings, and may be shared with rating authorities and IARC.
When you've set the Content rating settings, use the Save button in the bottom-right corner of the screen to save your changes. After saving the changes, click Next and use the Dashboard button in the top-left corner of the screen to navigate back to the Dashboard.
Target audience.
Within the Target audience settings you'll have to answer a series of questions concerning the audience that your app is created for. Note that choosing anything under the age of 18 may place your app in the kids category, which will result in additional restrictions in terms of allowed content. This may impact the review of your app. If your app is not specifically created for a younger audience, then we advise you to always choose the ages 18 and over.
When you've set the Target audience settings, use the Save button in the bottom-right corner of the screen to save your changes. After saving the changes, use the Dashboard button at the top of the screen to navigate back to the Dashboard.
Select an app category and provide contact details.
Within the Store settings you'll have to select a category for your app and enter an email address which will be shown in the Google Play Store with your app listing. All other options displayed on this page are optional.
When you've set the Store settings, use the Save button in the bottom-right corner of the screen to save your changes. After saving the changes, use the Dashboard button in the top-left corner of the screen to navigate back to the Dashboard.
Privacy policy.
This item is not displayed in the initial app setup list, but is required for apps published via Appily App Builder due to usage of the location permission. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the left-side menu of your developer console. At the bottom you will find a Policy submenu in which 'App content' is listed. Open the 'App content' page and click the 'Start' button below the Privacy policy setting.
Enter the URL on which your app's privacy policy can be located. When you've set the privacy policy URL, use the Save button in the bottom-right corner of the screen to save your changes. After saving the changes, use the Dashboard button in the top-left corner of the screen to navigate back to the Dashboard.
Sensitive app permissions
Scroll all the way to the bottom of the left-side menu of your developer console. At the bottom you will find a Policy submenu in which 'App content' is listed. Open the 'App content' page and click the 'Start' button below the Sensitive app permissions setting.
The next page is titled 'Permission declaration form'. Hit the 'start' button below the 'Location permissions' to provide the required information.
Next you'll be presented with a question regarding the background use of the location permission. This question can be answered with 'No'.
Use the Save button in the bottom-right corner of the screen to save your changes and to complete the permission declaration form.
News apps
Scroll all the way to the bottom of the left-side menu of your developer console. At the bottom you will find a Policy submenu in which 'App content' is listed. Open the 'App content' page and click the 'Start' button below the News apps setting.
You will be asked whether your app is a news app. If this is not the case, answering the question with 'No' will suffice. If your app is a news app, then you'll have to provide Google with additional information to help them verify your credentials as a news publisher. Furthermore, your app will have to comply with the Google Play News Policy. When you've entered the required information, hit the Save button in the bottom-right of the screen to complete this step.
Set up your store listing
Within the Store listing settings you'll have to provide the following information for your app:
Short description.
Full description.
App icon.
Feature graphic.
Phone screenshots.
Please note that it is not allowed to add keywords to your descriptions, as this is cause for Google to reject the app from the Google Play Store.
Concerning the screenshots: You'll only have to upload a minimum of two Phone screenshots to be compliant with Google's guidelines. Screenshots for other displays (e.g. tablet) are displayed, but are not required as long as at least two screenshots are provided for one of the device types.
When you've set the Store listing settings, use the Save button in the bottom-right corner of the screen to save your changes. After saving the changes, use the Dashboard button in the top-left corner of the screen to navigate back to the Dashboard.
Data safety
Scroll all the way to the bottom of the left-side menu of your developer console. At the bottom you will find a Policy submenu in which 'App content' is listed. Open the 'App content' page and click the 'Start' button below the Data safety setting.
Release your app:
Now that we're finished with the initial app setup, you'll notice that the initial app setup section is no longer displayed on the dashboard page of your app. This means that this part of the publication is successfully completed.
The dashboard page now shows a number of ways to release your app. Because we're interested in publishing the app in the Google Play Store, we'll choose the last displayed option titled: "Publish your app on Google Play".
Opening the 'View tasks' dropdown menu will show you the following list of actions having to be performed before being able to publish the app:
1. Click the 'add countries and regions' hyperlink. You will be able to select the countries in which you would like your app to be available. When you've selected the countries, use the 'Add countries/regions' button in the top-right corner of the pop-up window to save your changes.
2. Click the 'Create new release' button in the top-right corner of the screen.
4. Click the ‘Continue’ button next to the 'Manage preferences' hyperlink and accept the Play App Signing Terms of Service, if required. (you will have to be logged in as account owner or admin to be able to accept these terms)
5. Unzip the package provided by Appily App Builder, which contains your app's APK file (or AAB file, starting August 2, 2021). Upload the APK or AAB file to Google by either dragging and dropping it onto the screen, or by using the Upload button displayed on the page.
A name for the release will automatically be filled in. Optionally, you can enter release notes for this version to inform your app users about the changes within this new version of the app.
Use the Save button in the bottom-right corner of the screen to save your changes. After saving the changes, use the Review release button. Review the new version and use the 'Start rollout to Production' button to release the app into the Google Play Store.
Your app should now be displayed with a 'Pending publication' status in your developer console app overview. Google will review the app and, if accepted, the app will become available to download from the Google Play Store. In case the app is rejected -or suspended as Google calls it- you will receive an email notification from Google on the owner email address of your Google Play developer account explaining why the app was suspended and what needs to be changed.
The time it takes Google to review is generally anywhere between 2-7 days, depending on the amount of apps that have been submitted to Google.
Congratulations, you've successfully submitted your Android app to the Google Play Store!
This article explains how to manually update your published Android app in the Google Play Store using the .APK / ABB file obtained via the Google Play publishing process in Appily App Builder. Note that the file provided from Appily App Builder is a .zip file. This .zip file contains the following files: - APK / AAB - App icon - Feature image - Screenshots
Extract the .APK file (or .AAB file, starting August 2, 2021) from the .zip file, and upload the .APK or .AAB file to Google when required. Attempting to upload the .zip file to Google will result in an error.
Updating an already published app in the Google Play Store is a lot less time consuming than publishing an app for the first time. When submitting an app for the first time, all store data has to be provided to Google. When updating an existing app, you only have to update the item(s) that you wish to change.
To update your app in the Google Play Store we'll be focusing on the 'Store presence', 'App content', and 'Release management' sections. The app itself can be updated via a new release (APK file), and the information displayed in the Google Play Store, on the download page of your app, is known as the store presence.
Store presence
After opening your app from the 'All apps' page, the store presence section can be found in the left-side menu of your Google Play developer console. Within the store presence section, there are multiple pages on which the app's presence in the Google Play Store can be edited. Within this article, and to keep things simple, we'll focus on the following:
Main store listing.
The main store listing allows you to edit the title, descriptions, icon, feature graphic and screenshots of your app. This is the main display of your app in the Google Play Store.
Store settings.
The store settings allows you to edit the type and category of your app, as well as the contact details displayed on the download page of your app in the Google Play Store.
If you've made any changes on these pages, use the Save button in the bottom-right corner of the screen to save your changes.
App content
All the way at the bottom of the left-side menu of your Google Play developer console, you will find the Policy section from which the App content page can be opened.
On the App content page, make sure that all options are marked as 'Completed'. If there are any open tasks in the To-do list (Google adds new things from time to time), then you will have to make sure to complete these tasks before submitting a new version of your app to the Google Play Store.
On this page you will be able to edit the following information:
App access.
If parts of your app are restricted based on login credentials, memberships, location, or other forms of authentication, you will have to provide Google with instructions on how to access them via this section.
Privacy policy.
You can add or edit your app's privacy policy via this section.
Ads.
If your app contains ads, then you can let Google know about this via this section.
Content ratings.
You can view and edit your app's current IARC rating via this section.
Target audience and content.
You can view and edit your app's current target age group, and other content information via this section.
News apps.
If your app is a news app, then you'll have to provide Google with additional information to help them verify your credentials as a news publisher. Furthermore, your app will have to comply with the Google Play News Policy. If your app is not a news app, then a simple 'No' will suffice.
Sensitive app permissions.
If your app requests access to sensitive permissions, like location permissions, you need to tell Google what functions the permission is used for. (more information below)
Sensitive app permissions
Scroll all the way to the bottom of the left-side menu of your developer console. At the bottom you will find a Policy submenu in which 'App content' is listed. Open the 'App content' page and click the 'Start' button below the Sensitive app permissions setting.
The next page is titled 'Permission declaration form'. Hit the 'start' button below the 'Location permissions' to provide the required information.
Next you'll be presented with a question regarding the background use of the location permission. This question can be answered with 'No'.
Use the Save button in the bottom-right corner of the screen to save your changes and to complete the permission declaration form.
Data safety
Scroll all the way to the bottom of the left-side menu of your developer console. At the bottom you will find a Policy submenu in which 'App content' is listed. Open the 'App content' page and click the 'Start' button below the Data safety setting.
Release management
Within the Release section of the left-side menu, you'll find the Production option. Opening this page will allow you to create a new release and roll it out to production. To create a new release, use the 'Create new release' button in the top-right corner of the Production page.
If you haven't set the App signing by Google Play option yet, then use the Manage preferences button and choose the option to 'Let Google manage and protect your app signing key (recommended)’.
Unzip the package you've downloaded from the Publish page in Appily App Builder, which contains your app's APK or AAB file. Upload the APK or AAB file to Google by either dragging and dropping it onto the screen, or by using the Upload button displayed on the page.
A name for the release will automatically be filled in. Optionally, you can enter release notes for this version to inform your app users about the changes within this new version of the app.
Use the Save button in the bottom-right corner of the screen to save your changes. After saving the changes, use the Review release button. Review the new version and use the 'Start rollout to Production' button to release the app into the Google Play Store.
In case the app is rejected -or suspended as Google calls it- you will receive an email notification from Google on the owner email address of your Google Play developer account explaining why the app was suspended and what needs to be changed.
The time it takes Google to review is generally anywhere between 2-7 days, depending on the amount of apps that have been submitted to Google.
Congratulations, you've successfully updated your Android app in the Google Play Store!
This article provides a step-by-step guide on how to authorise an additional user to your Google Play developer account. An authorised user can be helpful if:
Your main Google Play developer account has access to multiple developer teams. You don't feel comfortable sharing your main Google Play developer credentials in our system. You're having trouble validating your Google Play developer credentials in our system.
Authorising a new user to your existing Google Play developer account is free. After completing the steps in this document you will have a new (additional) Google account which can be used to access your existing Google Play developer console.
How to add an additional user to your Google Play developer account.
Logout of all Google services.
Navigate to https://gmail.com and register a new Gmail account. (e.g.: YourAppName-app@gmail.com)
During the account registration, you'll be asked to add login verification to the account. Make sure to only add a recovery phone number here. Do not turn on two-step login verification.
After successfully registering a new Gmail account, logout of Google.
Navigate to https://play.google.com/apps/publish/ and login with your existing Google Play developer account.
Note: If you're asked to register as a Google Play developer, please restart from step 3.
After logging in to the Google Play developer console, go to Settings -> Users & permissions.
Click the "Invite new user" button in the top-right corner of the screen.
8. When prompted for an email address, enter the email address you've created in step 2, and give the user Administrator rights.
9. Logout of the Google Play developer console.
10. Navigate to https://gmail.com and login with the new account created in step 2.
11. Open and accept the invitation mail you've sent yourself in step 7.
After completing the steps above, you've created a new user in your Google Play developer console. You will be able to use the email address and password of this new user to publish your app in Appily App Builder.
What if I’m not yet registered as a Google Play developer?
Please read about how to enroll from our documentation.
What if I do not have enough rights to create, edit, and publish apps in the Google Play Store?
Contact the owner of the Google Play developer account to increase the rights of your account. User rights can be edited in the “User accounts & rights” section of the settings page in the Google Play developer console.
Where do I accept the Google Play developer license agreements?
If there are any Google Play developer license agreements pending, they will automatically be shown upon logging in on https://play.google.com/apps/publish.
Where do I add a recovery phone number to my Google account?
You can add a recovery phone number in the security settings of your Google account. The security settings are located on https://myaccount.google.com/security.
What if I have access to multiple Google Play developer consoles?
If you have access to multiple Google Play developer consoles, you can do one of two things:
You can have yourself removed from the team(s) on which the app should not be published, leaving single access to the account on which the app has to be published. The owner of the Google Play developer account will be able to remove you from the team.
You can create a new Google account on http://gmail.com/. Once this Google account has been invited to the Google Play developer console, you will be able to use this new account for the publication of your app.
Where do I remove 2-step login verification from my Google account?
You can remove 2-step login verification in the security settings of your Google account. The security settings are located on https://myaccount.google.com/security.
What if I can't turn off 2-step login verification?
If 2-step login verification cannot be disabled, please make sure to enable the 'Less secure app access' setting instead. The security settings are located on https://myaccount.google.com/security.
In order to help users understand how your app collects and shares data, app owners must enter data safety details of their app within the Google Play developer console prior to being able to publish. With this information, users will be able to learn about some of the data types the app may collect, and whether that data is linked to them or used to track them.
The information below describes data collection and sharing performed by the app when using the standard building blocks provided by our platform. If you're using web service blocks to extend your app's functionality, then please make sure to take this into account when answering the data safety questions posed by Google.
The data safety details can be provided through the Google Play developer console. To do so, please login on https://play.google.com/apps/publish/?hl=en with your Google Play developer account. Please make sure that the account you're using to log in with has at least an Admin role. Any other role is insufficient to perform the required actions.
When logged in, open your app from the App Overview page. Once opened, you'll find the Data Safety questions via the App Content page listed in the bottom of the left-side menu. Open this page and click the 'Start' button to start the data safety questionnaire.
After clicking the Start button, you'll be shown a page with information about the Data Safety questionnaire. After reading the information, use the Next button in the bottom-right corner of the screen to continue.
After clicking Next, you will be presented with three questions which can all be answered with 'Yes'.
Click the Next button in the bottom-right corner of the screen to continue to the next page. On this page you will have to select all data types that are collected or shared by the app. You can use the 'Show' button to the right side of the data type group to select the specific data type(s). There are a number of data types which are collected by all apps created with Appily App Builder, which we will list below.
If you've added any custom functionality to the app through which data is collected or shared, then please make sure to also select the data types which are used for this functionality.
Location All Appily App Builder Android apps use the 'Approximate Location' and 'Precise Location' in order to allow app owners to send location-based push notifications to their app users. Other than that, functionality like maps and location-based lock blocks also require the use of this permission.
Personal info Whether or not you enable the checkboxes in this section depends on the functionality you've added to the app. For example, if the app contains a Contact Form through which personal information is provided, then enable the boxes for the information that the user can provide within the app. Additionally, if users can -or are required to- login to the app, then you'll have to check the boxes concerning the collection of names and email addresses.
Financial info The 'Financial info' option in this section concerns payments which are handled through means other than a payment service. For example, if your app contains a manual payment option, then the 'Payment Info' option has to be checked. If your app uses PayPal checkouts, then you do not have to check this box, because these payments are handled by PayPal without you ever seeing the users payment information. If your app collects or shares any other type of financial information from its users, then check the appropriate box(es) accordingly.
Health and fitness If your app collects or shares any health or fitness related information of the user, for example medical records, symptoms, exercise or physical activity, then check the appropriate box(es) accordingly. Health and fitness information is not collected or shared by Appily App Builder-created Android apps through standard functionality.
Messages If your app collects or shares any information of the user related to messages, for example email, SMS/MMS, or other messaging data, then check the appropriate box(es) accordingly. Messages data (Emails, SMS/MMS, or other forms of messaging) is not collected or shared by Appily App Builder-created Android apps through standard functionality.
Photos and videos If your app collects or shares any photos and videos provided by the user, then check the appropriate box(es) accordingly. For example, if your app uses a Form block through which a photo can be uploaded.
Audio files If your app collects or shares any audio related data provided by the user, for example voice recordings, music file uploads, or other audio files, then check the appropriate box(es) accordingly. Audio related data is not collected or shared by Appily App Builder-created Android apps through standard functionality.
Files and docs If your app collects or shares any file related data provided by the user, for example document uploads, then check the appropriate box(es) accordingly. File related data is not collected or shared by Appily App Builder-created Android apps through standard functionality.
Calendar If your app collects or shares any data related to the app users' calendar, then check this option. Note that this does not concern a calendar / events block in the app, as this block only displays events created by the app developer. This only concerns collecting or sharing data belonging to the app user.
Contacts Contact related data is not collected or shared by Appily App Builder-created Android apps through standard functionality.
App activity All Appily App Builder-created Android apps track user interaction for analytic purposes. Within this section you'll have to select the options 'App interactions' and 'Other actions'.
Web browsing Web browsing related data is not collected or shared by Appily App Builder-created Android apps through standard functionality.
App info and performance All Appily App Builder-created Android apps track app performance for analytic purposes. Within this section you'll have to select the 'Crash logs' option.
Device or other IDs All Appily App Builder-created Android apps support push notifications to be sent to the app user. In order to be able to do this, a Device ID is required. Therefor, within this section you'll have to select the 'Device or other IDs' option.
After selecting all the options applicable to your Android app, you can use the Next button to continue. On the next page, you'll have to answer questions on how data is used and handled for each of the options selected on the previous page. The data which is collected and shared by Appily App Builder by default is listed below.
Location: Approximate location
Location: Precise location
App info and performance: Crash logs
App activity: App interactions
App activity: Other actions
Device or other IDs
All other data type collecting and sharing is dependant of whether you've added functionality to the app that requires the user to provide this information.
When you've finished providing the answers on how data is used and handled by your app, then you can use the Next button in the bottom-right corner of the screen to continue to the Preview page.
Lastly, on the Preview page, use the Save button in the bottom-right corner to complete the data safety questionnaire.
Google Developer Program
Go to http://play.google.com/apps/publish/ and log in with an existing Google account. If you do not yet have a Google account, please create one by clicking on the "Create account"-button.
Once you've logged in, you're asked by Google whether you're creating a developer account for personal use, or whether you're creating a developer account for an organisation or business. Select the option that fits the app(s) that you're planning to publish.
After choosing for either an individual or a company type account, you will have to provide your (or your companies) contact information. Please note that the email address and phone number that you provide will have to be verified via email and/or text message.
Payment for the account is next, and can only be completed via credit card. Please make sure that the cardholder name mentioned on the credit card is equal to the contact information that you've provided in the previous step.
After completing your registration for a Google Developer Account you will automatically be redirected to Google's Developer Console. Once you see an interface similar to the screen shown below, your Google Developer account is ready for use.
If your app is suspended by Google, you'll receive an email explaining the reason. Read this email to understand what needs to be changed. If you're unsure how to resolve the issue, forward the email to support@appilyappbuilder.com for help. To appeal the suspension, fill out the app appeal form here: https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/contact/appappeals. If you want us to re-submit your app to the Google Play Store as a new app, let us know. Note that re-submitting without changes may lead to another suspension and could result in the termination of your Google Play developer account. If re-submitting while another version is suspended, a name change for the app will be required.
In order to use some blocks/features in our platform, the app requires certain permissions to be enabled. Because these permissions are used by the app, Google requires you to provide a privacy policy.
You can enter the link to your privacy policy in the Google Play section of the publish page in Appily App Builder.
Once you've entered the privacy policy URL, update your app by clicking the "Update Now" button.
When you open your App Editor, navigate to the "Promote" tab:
You can find the links to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store on this page.
If you want to change the name of your developer account that is displayed in the app stores, then you can do the following.
For the Apple App Store, you will need to contact them directly. It concerns a personal account and unfortunately we cannot do it on your behalf.
https://developer.apple.com/contact/phone.php
If you want to change your name in the Google Play Store:
Login to your account at https://play.google.com/apps/publish.
Go to Settings.
Change your developer name.
Appily will submit your app for approval to the App Stores. Apple assesses your app according to a set of technical, content, and design criteria to make sure it works as it should and does not contain any objectionable content. Apple’s rules and regulations are very strict and it’s important to follow them closely. You can read here what Apple has to say.
An app can be rejected for any number of reasons, but pay good attention to the following. If the title contains the word ‘marketing’ the app will most likely be rejected. Apps that are created specifically for the marketing and advertising industry are an absolute ‘no-go’ for Apple. Specifically, Appily will not upload apps of this kind for you. They conflict with two of Apple’s golden rules:
Apps may not be purely marketing-based. In other words, an app may not consist solely of an overview of products and services, or a portfolio. Apps must have a clear function.
They must contain dynamic content. Apps cannot be interesting for just one use. They must have a clear purpose so that people will want to to use them more than once.
Remember: even if you think that your app isn’t breaking any of these rules, it’s Apple’s opinion that counts. If they think you’re breaking any of the golden rules, they’ll reject your app. We will keep you apprised and advise you about how to deal with these issues.
Appily publishes the same app across different platforms. This means that the app's name is limited to the maximum number of characters allowed by the Google Play Store.
It is not possible to submit a longer app name as we use the same data to submit the app to all platforms. This remains the case even if Google Play submission of the app is skipped.
When using the Appily App Builder platform, you are required to use your own iOS and Google Play Developer Licenses to publish your apps to these stores. This means that you have control over the developer name that is shown in the app stores.
In order to use certain features in our platform - like the Places feature, or Music Feature - your app requires certain permissions. The app will ask app users to confirm these permissions when they use the app. Google now requires you to provide a privacy policy explaining what you will do with these permissions. You can find more detailed information about this on the Google Data Safety article in the documentation above.
It is not possible to build an Appily App Builder app without requiring at least some permissions. For example, an Appily App Builder app will always require push message permissions to enable push notifications in the app, data storage permissions to save images in the cache, and internet permissions to download updates, to name a few.
These permissions are not uncommon for most Android apps. Please note that Appily App Builder does not, under any circumstances, share information with a third-party unless we have obtained permission thereto or is required to do so by law.
Updates are include in every active app subscription. There are two kinds of app updates:
A Content Update as the name indicates, is an update to the content of the app. New texts, images, design and even added features can usually be sent through a content update. Most changes and updates made will automatically and instantly reflect across all your published app. Content updates are instantly sent to the app and do not require the app to be re-submitted to the App Stores.
A Store Update is an update for which a newer version of the code (thus the app) has to be submitted. Also changes made on the app icon of the app will trigger a store update. Store updates for Google may take up to 1 business day, whereas a store update for Apple can take up to 1-2 business days.
Of course, you’ll want to keep your app up to date with the latest news, offers, photos, or agenda items. It’s easy to do using Appily App Builder’s platform.
After you check your app with the Previewer, you can make your changes immediately visible in the app. Every time a user starts your app or opens a screen, the app does a check with the platform to see if any changes have been made and automatically picks them up.
This way, your users always have the most up-to-date version of your app. For some changes your app has to be submitted again to the stores, for example if you start using a newly purchased feature from the Appily App Builder marketplace, app icon, app launch screen to name a few. All content updates you make are unlimited and free of charge.
To submit your app to the Google PlayStore (for the Android platform) you must submit accompanying texts and screenshots (our team will take care of the screenshots for you depending on your Appily App Builder plan).
You also need a Google developer's license to publish an app in Google Play.
To share your app with the rest of the world, you have to publish it to the app stores. To publish in the Apple App and Google Play Stores, you need a developer's license.
You can either request a developer’s license from Apple. Appily App Builder sees to it that your app gets published. We’ll take care of the whole technical to-do for you.
We’ll let you know just as soon as your app is available in the stores. We also help with a basic check of your app for compliance with Apple’s Review guidelines.
Apple assesses your app according to a set of technical, content, and design criteria to make sure it works as it should and does not contain any objectionable language or material. This can take about two days. Appily App Builder submits the app and sees the process through to its approval.
As soon as the app is approved, Appily App Builder ensures that it is placed in the App Store. Provided the app is submitted on time, you can tell Appily App Builder what date you would like to see the app appear.
If you wish to publish your app to the app stores as a paid app, please send an email to support@appmachine.com with the following subject: "Publishing - [appname] [appnumber]" before publishing the app. There are a couple of things that you will have to take into account before publishing a paid app to the stores:
1. The app will have to be published on your own developer account for both Apple and Google. If you do not yet have an Apple and/or Google developer account you can read how to register one on the following pages:
2. When publishing the Apple app, we will submit the app on your account. After the app has been submitted to the Apple App Store you will be able to set a price tier for your app in iTunes Connect. Before being able to set your own price, you will have to accept Apple's "iOS Paid Applications" contract. You can find and accept this contract by logging in on https://itunesconnect.apple.com/ using your Apple Developer account. Open the "Contracts, Tax, and Banking" page from the main menu, request the contract and accept it.
3. When publishing the Google app, we submit the app in the Google Developer console but you yourself will have to publish the app. The reason that you will have to publish the app yourself is because you have to add a Google Checkout account to your own Google Developer account. Without a Google Checkout account you cannot sell an app in the Google Play Store. After adding a Google Checkout account to your Google Developer account you will be able to set a price for your app and publish it to the store. Because we have already filled out all the technical details of your app, publishing your app will simply be a one-click action.
Apple and Google both take a 30% commission from your proceeds. As mentioned earlier, you will have to choose a price tier for your Apple app. Google doesn't have price tiers and allows you to make your own price for the app.
Also take into account that Apple will only start paying out when the proceeds of the app are higher than $150 for a given territory. So before you will get paid, your app will have to make at least $150 in proceeds in the given territory. In Apple's words:
"If your proceeds from sales for a given currency/territory for a given month are less than $150 USD, or the equivalent in local currency, Apple will withhold payment until you accumulate more than $150 USD (or equivalent)."
You can check the app dashboard to see the status of your submission. Only Apple will send you detailed notifications regarding the submission process. Google will not send you notifications regarding app approval.
In order to determine whether it is possible to update your existing app with an Appily App Builder app, we will require specific information from both stores.
Apple App Store: We're able to update any existing app in the App Store. But you will have to note that it is not possible to upgrade an app with a version that support less devices. This means, that if your app currently also supports iPad devices, your Appily App Builder app will have to do this as well. In case this occurs, contact support.
Google Play Store: Updating an existing app in the Google Play Store is a little more technical. We require that you send us the keystore with which the app was originally signed. Without this keystore file we are unable to package the app, and thus unable to submit it to the stores as an update of the existing app. Besides the keystore, we require the following information:
- The keystore's key password. - The keystore's store password. - The keystore's alias. - The keystore's SHA1 hash.
The SHA1 hash is not required for packaging, but is used to request Google API keys for specific functionality in your Android app. Please contact support with your update request and the information stated above prior to publishing your Android app.
Publishing in the app stores takes 2 to 3 business days for Apple and 3 to 4 business days for the Google Play store. Publishing for Android can sometimes be much faster.