Publishing an app isn’t about only choosing Apple or Google operating system. To successfully develop and publish an app, you will need several accounts. Including space for your server, Payment processor, text message automation, and others.
Publishing is the general process that makes your app available to users. When you publish an app you perform two main tasks:
- You prepare the application to release:
During the preparation step, you build a release version of your application, which users can download or install on their devices.
- You release the application to users:
During the release phase, you publicize, sell, and distribute the release version of your application to users.
Before we take you through the different accounts you need to publish an app, let’s see the multi-step process required in preparing your app for release.
- Configuring your app for release
- Building and signing a release version of your application
- Testing the release version of your application
- Updating application resources for release
- Preparing remote servers and services that your application depends on
You have to perform several other tasks and need to create some common and app-specific accounts for the preparation process. For example; you will need to get a private key for signing your application. You will also need to create an icon for your application. And you may want to prepare an End User License Agreement (EULA) to protect your person, organization, and intellectual property.
When you are finished preparing your app for release you will have a signed .apk file that you can distribute to users.
Accounts required for everyone
- Developer Account
One cannot publish an app without signing up for the apple or android developer program. So, if you are developing an app for iPhone and iPad, you will need to sign up for Apple Developer Program. Apple will charge you $99/year to keep the membership active and your app live on the app store.
Also, if you are developing an app for Android, you will need to sign up for Android Developer Program. Google will charge you a one-time fee of $25 to enroll in the program.
- Server
Just like any website, if your app has the users or any other type of database that will be stored on the server you will need to have hosting (Server) and a domain name. Also, there are multiple providers for both. For servers we suggest you Amazon AWS and for domain name you can use Google.
Accounts required depends on the app
- Credit card payment
If your app needs to process credit and debit cards, you need to sign up with a payment processor. The top two companies in the space are Braintree and Stripe. They will be in charge of storing all the billing information from your clients and processing transactions.
- Text message
If your app has text message phone verification or will send a text message of any kind, then chances are you need to sign up for Twiilo. It is perhaps the largest company that provides text messages automation. Also, if you need to send any automatic text messages, they are your choice.
- Custom Maps
Does your app use inbuilt apple or Google Maps? Or are you looking to create a beautiful custom map? If the latter is your choice, then check out Mapbox and create an account with them. Through their system, you will be able to customize apps to fit the exact style of your app.
- Chat
There are many ways how you can go about building a chat inside your app. Sendbird app is one of them. They will provide a secure platform for your chat and great analytics to go with.
- Email automation
Often it’s the case that the app sends a welcome email to newly registered users. Depending on your marketing strategy you might just simply code such email or use Mailchimp to combine all users into a marketing list. Which is used for sending your welcome email and further marketing thereafter.
Publish an app to users
You can publish an app in several ways. Usually, you publish an app through an application marketplace such as Google Play, but you can also release the application on your website or by sending an application directly to a user.
Note: Android protects users from inadvertent downloading of apps from a location other than a first-party app store, such as Google Play, which is trusted. Android blocks such installs until the users opt into allowing the installation of the apps from other sources. The opt-in process depends on the version of Android running on the user’s device.
All Accounts You Need to Develop & Publish an App
The developer needs the login info for all the required accounts to develop and publish an app individually or using ON AIR App Builder. So, if you also want to create a successful app then create all the required accounts and start now!
