iOS Developers Dash To Meet App Store Christmas Deadline

Developers creating iOS applications are frantically working to submit their apps to Apple before its Christmas deadline.

The App Store’s team of reviewers will go on an eight day hiatus from Thursday and many developers are pulling all nighters to complete their projects so that they can take advantage of increased sales over the Christmas period.

App-y Christmas

Submitted apps must go through Apple’s review process before they can be unleashed onto the App Store while updates to any existing apps must also be delivered before the cut-off date.

The importance of meeting this deadline is significant. It is estimated that between 23 and 26 December last year, 240 million apps were downloaded to Apple mobile devices such as iPhones and iPads, a number which accounted for 20 percent of the total downloads for that month.

Jenna Wortham of the New York Times notes that although it is hard to begrudge Apple employees for taking a holiday, the procedure serves to demonstrate Apple’s influence over the development of mobile applications and how willing developers are to meet its demands.

Even though more Android devices are sold and more Android apps downloaded, iOS apps remain the more lucrative option for developers, as demonstrated by the App Store’s wider catalogue of apps and the fact that over 15 billion apps have been downloaded from the store.

Not even a more simplified submission process can tip the balance in Android’s favour. Android apps can be submitted all year round and developers can also release their applications on third party stores such as the Amazon App Store and GetJar. This has allowed the Android Market to offer over 200,000 apps, but developers have raised concerns about the Android’s fragmented nature and its relative lack of security.