Apple has announced today that all developers can now offer their applications for pre-order via the App Store. Apple made the announcement on its iTunes Connect blog, alongside a few other tidbits of news…
As noted by MacStories, Super Mario Run was made available for pre-order prior to its release last year, the first app to ever offer pre-orders. Today’s expansion, however, means that all developers can now take advantage of pre-orders in the App Store.
Developers can set release dates no more than 90 days in the future and no sooner than two days in the future. Of note, pre-orders are only supported for new applications, not existing apps. Apple outlines more on its Connect blog:
While some may wonder why developers would feel the need to offer pre-orders, it would help gauge early interest in the app and help manage launch day server implications and other factors.
- From the homepage, click My Apps, select the app, and select Pricing and Availability in the left column. You’ll see the Pre-Orders section if your app has never been published on the App Store.
- Select Make available for pre-order, choose a date to release your app for download, then click Save in the upper-right corner. The release date must be at least two days in the future, but no more than 90 days in the future.
- Submit your app for review.
- Once your app is approved and you’re ready to make it available for pre-order, return to Pricing and Availability, confirm the date your app will be released for download, and click Release as Pre-Order in the upper-right corner.
In addition to pre-orders, Apple also today launched new features for Sales and Trends as they release to pre-orders and subscriptions. Furthermore, introductory pricing is now available for auto-renewable subscriptions, which had been announced in the past.
If you’re a developer, head to iTunes Connect for all of the details on today’s new features. What do you think of developers being able to make applications available for pre-order? Let us know down in the comments.
