iTunesConnect now allows automated release dates, price changes
Back in the bad old days of the App Store, it was anybody's guess when a submitted app might get blessed by Apple and show up in iTunes. It might be three days, three weeks, three months, or never. Recent improvements in the approval process have brought that time period down to a matter of hours -- but until now, there's been no way to schedule release dates for apps. Once submitted and approved, apps went straight to the App Store. Now, developers of apps for the iPhone OS have been granted new options in the iTunesConnect interface. Not only can devs set a release date for the app, they can also automate price fluctuations set to certain dates.
For example, say you've created an app that you want to go live on April 15 rather than immediately after Apple approves it. This allows you to publicize the app on your site, and at an introductory, promotional price, as well. "$0.99 for the first week," you can tell potential buyers, "$2.99 after that." Through iTunesConnect, not only can you set the launch date for your app, you can also automate the price increase from $0.99 to $2.99 on April 22. And if you want to run another $0.99 promotion a month or even a year later, you can automate that, too: just set the price and the effective date for the price in the iTunesConnect interface. It's a pretty simple change to the interface, but one that opens the door to a lot of promotional opportunities for developers.
