99% of my emails that comes from App Store Connect is nothing good, because they are often rejections.
Except this.
May be getting featured!
Dualgram is my first app (in over 10 years!) that has the chance to be featured. That’s terribly good news for any iOS indie developer!
In the 5 days that I was preparing for the artwork, I learnt a lot. I hope this guide would be useful for first-timers.
The artwork(s) required
Apple is not absolutely clear on that. The App Store changes over the years probably added to the confusion.
What they say is you have to submit what they asked for in the email, which for my case is:
Artwork for the Apps Tab or Games Tab (4320x1080)
In the email, they also mentioned Evergreen Art Required. This is NOT another artwork, but just a requirement. Perhaps they plan on featuring Dualgram for a long long time? 😁
There are other artworks:
- Today Tab Card (3524x2160)
- Supporting Imagery (4000x4000)
- Title Treatment (4000x4000)
- Product/Developer Page (4320x1080)
There are also different ones for Mac and Apple TV, which I will not go into.
Templates
When you download the templates for (iOS) App Store, you might be confused like me.
I started with “INSERT-APP-NAME_INSERT-APP-APPLE-ID_AppStore_Product-DeveloperPage.psd”. This is WRONG.
The right one is “INSERT-APP-NAME_INSERT-APP-APPLE-ID_AppStore-ATV_Featuring.psd”. I was confused by the ATV in the filename, which I interpreted as Apple TV, and ignored since that is not for my case.
As I read the guide carefully, I begin to understand. The 2 have the same 4320x1080 dimensions, but the safe areas are different. And of course, they are displayed in different places.
ATV_Featuring PSD is the right one, aka hero banner for iPhone/iPad/Apple Watch App Store.
App Store Connect Dropwell
When you have your PSD design, you will upload to App Store Connect. A “Promotional Artwork” tab will appear.
While you can upload to all the dropwells, you are only required to upload what they asked for.
For me, it is the Featuring Artwork (Apps/Games Tabs and Apple Watch). Yep, seems like Apple Watch also uses the same template.
Dateline
The email stated clearly the dateline, which is just 5 days.
It is actually sufficient time for just 1 artwork.
But if you are like me, you will want to do the very best artwork possible, since chances like these are rare.
And what if Apple team did not choose the app because the artwork quality is not good enough? I start to panick..
Hire Professional Designers
I can design UI and play with app icon. But for such an important artwork, I prefer to leave it to professionals.
I got some help from designer friends.
To add to that, I start a design contest! Using DesignCrowd cost me $164.
My plan is to submit multiple designs, including my own design. This can be done by adding them as groups to the same PSD. Then let the Apple team decides what is best.
But the plan failed.
Pitfall: Once approved, you cannot change
This is a noob mistake. Don’t be like me.
Do NOT upload the design until you are sure it is what you want Apple to use.
I receive a couple of reminder emails, became anxious, and so I uploaded my own backup design first.
A few hours later, an email came.
And I can no longer edit on App Store Connect..
So, if my app is selected to be featured, my very own artwork will be displayed all over App Store.
Seems like I could add that to my design portfolio 😆