Specifics of Mobile App Releases

What the talk is about

Alyona Ponomarenko, a release engineer, talks about the specifics of shipping mobile apps across different stores. She first compares the App Store and Google Play: how featuring works, why reading the guidelines matters, when to argue with a review rejection (promo codes are her example) and when to give in (very expensive in-app purchases, external links). She also covers copyright claims, sudden account bans, Google Play's new age-rating questionnaire and the convenient beta testing in both stores. She then briefly goes through Amazon (including Underground and merchandise), alternative, Asian and carrier stores, where a local partner is often needed. The talk ends with useful tools: an open payments platform, analytics in the developer console, APIs for achievements and leaderboards, and utilities for exporting statistics. Useful for publishers, producers and mobile game developers.