The essential app publishing guide for your android or iOS app backend services pdf

The Essential App Publishing Guide
For Your Android and iOS App Backend Services
Copyright © 2018 All rights reserved


In no way is it legal to reproduce, transmit or duplicate any part of this
document in either electronic means or printed format. Recording of this
publication is strictly prohibited, and any storage of this document is not
allowed unless with written permission from the publisher.
This book is not a substitute for the financial or legal advice of accountants or
legal professionals. Although the author and publisher have made every
effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at the time of
publishing, the author does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to
any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions,
whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any
other cause.


Table of Contents
Preface
Overview
Chapter 1: Business
Chapter 2: D-U-N-S Number
Chapter 3: Google Developer Account
Chapter 4: Apple Developer Account
Chapter 5: Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions
Chapter 6: AWS Account for Server Hosting
Chapter 7: Website
Chapter 8: SSL Certificates
Chapter 9: App Email Account

Chapter 10: Email Services
CHECKLIST
About the Author


Preface: What brought us both here
If you’re reading this, then it’s likely because you’re planning on creating an
App or you have already created one. In either case, well done for taking
action!
This guide isn’t going to tell you what kind of an App to make, or even how
to program one (there are lots of other guides for that). This guide is going to
list out all of the steps that you’ll need to do to be able to post your App on
either Google Play or the Apple store.
Like most things in this world, there are lots of hoops to jump through, and
this guide is to ensure you’ve got all of your administrative setups sorted so
that when you’re ready to launch your App, you’re not held up waiting for
the necessary accounts to be set up.


Overview
There are some things you’ll need to set up to publish an App on both Google
Play and iTunes. The full list is:
1. Business / Company
2. D-U-N-S Number
3. Google Developer Account
4. Apple Developer Account
5. Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions
6. AWS Account for Server Hosting
7. Website
8. SSL Certificates

9. App Email Account
10. Email Service
Now, not all of these items are strictly necessary depending on what sort of
app you’re building (you could get away without having items 6 – 10), but
generally speaking, that’s a pretty basic list.
Some items only take a few minutes, but others can take weeks of processing
time, particularly getting the D-U-N-S number.


Chapter 1: The Business (if your App generates income)
Cost/Time: Depends on your location, but in Australia, it’s about AUD$500
to set up with an annual fee of $254 after and takes about a week for the
paperwork to come through.
Applications that generate no income don’t need to read this section, but I
imagine that most people reading this book are likely publishing Apps that
will make money in one of the many different ways available.
Like so many ventures, publishing any Apps on any platform is ultimately a
business. As such, Developer platforms like Apple and Google usually
require a Developer to have a company name and number (like an ABN in
Australia).
It doesn’t take long to set up, however in places like Australia, any App sold
in Australia attracts a GST (Goods and Services Tax) of 10% once you earn
more than a certain amount of money. Also, there’s the paperwork that comes
with that.
Establishing a company too early will only add to your paperwork and setup
costs, so perhaps don’t register the company until a few months before you’re
ready to launch.
As a mixed blessing, companies that register in Australia are issued a D-U-NS number (see Chapter 1). However, the D-U-N-S number issued by ASIC
(Australia Securities and Investment Commission) isn’t active for the usual
waiting period.

I found that out the hard way when thinking I had successfully obtained a DU-N-S number in a single day; I found myself on the receiving end of a
“number not valid” message when trying to sign up to the Apple Developer
account.
I’m not going to go into too much detail here, because what type of company
you create, what country you’re reading this in and even if you want to find a
way around all of this, will be an enormous book all of its own.
While the rest of the chapters of this book will contain links for where to go
next, those links are available to the global nature of the setup.
As such, I won’t post any links in this section because you could be reading
this book from anywhere in the world.


ACTION ITEM 1:DECIDE IF YOU NEED TO REGISTER A COMPANY


Chapter 2: The D-U-N-S Number
Cost: Free if you can wait up to two months, $229 if you need it within a
week
The D-U-N-S number (Data Universal Numbering System) is a unique ninedigit identification number that identifies a business entity on a locationspecific basis.
The numbers, assigned by Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), are used around the
world as a standard business identifier.
You can apply for one here:
/>Now, be forewarned, that getting a D-U-N-S number is free, but only if you
can afford to wait for the processing time.
I’m guessing that they’re banking on the average number applicant to wait
until the last minute to apply, then decide they’d rather pay the money to get
the number sooner.
If there’s only one thing you take away from this book, it’s this: given the
processing time involved, I’d highly recommend you apply for one ASAP,
even if you’re months away from launching you’re App.

The lost opportunity cost of delaying the release of your App could cost you
thousands of dollars or, worse still, someone with a similar idea might beat
you to the market first.
You might be able to skip this step if you were issued a D-U-N-S number
when you registered your company name. However, you’ll want to make sure
it’s active with plenty of time to spare if you find that, like me, the number
wasn’t active.
ACTION ITEM 2:GET A D-U-N-S NUMBER!


Chapter 3: Google Developer Account
Cost: $25 one time, Time: about a day
You’ll be required to set up a Google Play Developer Account to submit
Android Apps to the Google Play Store.
There is a one-time registration fee of $25 to set up a Google Play Developer
Console account.
The link to developer site is here:
/>During the registration process, you’ll need to set up Google Wallet, which is
a free digital wallet that securely stores debit cards, credit cards, offers and
more.
Setting this up allows you to pay your registration fee and, more importantly,
receive payments for any income your App earns.
If you need help with account setup instructions, the Google Play Developer
Account has a very good Help section which is linked here:
/>hl=en
I had no issues at all with setting this up as the process was pretty simple and
there were no overly complicated steps.
ACTION ITEM 3:SET UP A GOOGLE DEVELOPER ACCOUNT

Chapter 4: Apple Developer Account
Cost: $99 annual, Time: varies
The Apple Developer account was, for me, the one I had the most issues, so
I’d suggest you get it set up at least a month before you’re ready to launch so
that you’re not waiting for technical support because your registration doesn’t
work as it should.
The link to the Developer site is here:
/>You’ll need to confirm that you’ve completed the iOS development program
that comes with a yearly fee of AUD 149, so if money is tight, then you
might want to leave this until you’re closer to being ready.
Note: only obtaining a Developer ID is not sufficient.
After you’ve created a Developer account, you’ll be able to check out the
Developer Console at the following link:
/>If you’re App will be making money, be sure when you log in to fill out all
the necessary information for your App including the Contracts, Tax and
Banking section. This is needed so you can receive payment for your app.
There are some options for which iOS Developer Program you can join and
the answer is ultimately up to you. You can join as an individual if you are a
sole proprietor or even if you’re going to develop under your name. Join as a
company if you’re developing as a company, non-profit organisation, joint
venture, partnership or government organisation.
The difference will be apparent where individuals will be listed by the
person’s name and companies will be listed by their full company name, e.g.
“The Company Pty Ltd”.
Two-factor verification
The first hurdle I had was with two-factor verification, which is one step
higher than two-step verification and requires a budding Apple Developer to
use an Apple device to verify the account.
Supposedly once you’ve done this, you don’t need to use that specific device
again, but the issue for me is that I didn’t own any Apple devices.

The way around this was to contact the Help Desk and they put in a bypass
for it, but it was a few days turnaround to get that bypass put in.
Unrecognized D-U-N-S number
I’ve mentioned before that I was issued a D-U-N-S number when I registered
a company in Australia, however it wasn’t apparent to me that the number
wasn’t active until I sought to register with Apple as a developer.
Google Developer either didn’t check if my D-U-N-S number was correct or
didn’t care at that point, but Apple wouldn’t even let me set up a basic
account until I had a fully activated D-U-N-S number.
This only adds weight to my original suggestion that prospective App
developers register for a D-U-N-S number as soon as possible to avoid delays
like this.
ACTION ITEM 4:SET UP AN APPLE DEVELOPER ACCOUNT


Chapter 5: Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions, or End User
License Agreement (EULA)
Put simply, every App that collects any User information needs a Privacy
Policy to let Users know what information you’re collecting and why and
every App needs a Terms and Conditions, or End User License Agreement
(EULA).
You can do this yourself by copying and pasting other PPs and T&Cs, but
know that it takes a fair bit of time to make sure you’ve covered all of your
bases. If you copy an App that doesn’t do everything yours does, then it’ll
need a different PP and T&C than yours will.
I used Termsfeed.com to generate the bulk of the two documents for me:
/>After paying for the Privacy Policy (AUD 53.90) and the Terms &
Conditions (AUD 94.24), read through the information for me to ensure that

any specifics not covered in the standard generated document were covered
in mine.
At this point, it’s recommended you get legal advice on your completed
documents to ensure that you’re protected on all angles. You may have to
shop around a bit to get the best price, but I won’t link to any specific law
firm or lawyer because it would be so variable from country to country.
Note: even free Apps that don’t collect any User data will need to have an
EULA or T&C because, while it may be free and no user information is
stored, there may be a possible liability if App is deemed to have caused
phones to malfunction.
ACTION ITEM 5:GENERATE A PRIVACY POLICY & END-USER
LICENSE AGREEMENT


Chapter6: AWS Account for Server Hosting
Depending on the type of App you’re going to publish, you’re going to likely
need server hosting.
If your App is a simple utility or game that requires no user information or
login, like a simple game played only on the phone, then it probably won’t
need server hosting.
However, if your App is going to require any data stored offline (like user
information, profiles, scores, etc), then it will likely require a server to host
the backend portion.
It’s up to you to choose where you’d like to do this, but one recommendation
I can make is Amazon Web Services, which you can sign up for at the
following link:
/>The thing about what sort of plan you’ll need will depend on how many
servers your App will need to use for data processing. Things like large
multiplayer games with big graphics need lots of servers, but simply
programs that store only data don’t require much.

Amazon Web Services offer scalable solutions so that they’ll ramp up how
many servers your app can use and will drop down when your app isn’t using
much traffic, which is perfect for a start-up.
Once you’re app has been up for a while, you’ll get a better idea for how
many servers you need and can then shop around for a possibly cheaper longterm solution, however you don’t want your app to freeze because too many
people have logged on at the same time and you also don’t want massive
charges if you exceed your server allocation, which is what makes scalable
solutions so attractive.
ACTION ITEM 6:IF NEEDED, CREATE AN ACCOUNT FOR SERVER
HOSTING


Chapter 7: Website (if you need one)
There are two elements to this point, which are:
1. Do you need a website now?
2. Will you want a website in the future?
You may or may not plan on creating even a basic website for your app now,
but you might want to in the future.
If you decide you aren’t going to need or bother with a website and simply
launch an app, but later when the app takes off or you decide you want to
branch out, you may find that someone else has bought the domain name
associated with your app and they’ll be more than happy to sell it to you for a
fee.
An easier and cheaper solution in the long term is to buy the domain name
once you’ve decided upon the name of the app.
There are many different companies you can buy domain names from, but the
one I recently ran is linked below:
/>For Australians, buying the .com.au extension costs a little bit more, but in
order to secure the .au, you’ll need to show you’re a registered business and
will need the associated ABN.

If all you’re looking to do is have some online content available to users, then
you may not care if your website is “www.myappsite.com” or
“www.myappsite.com.au”, and neither will your users.
Buying the domain name for a year only costs about AUD 12.45 for the .com
and AUD 14.95 for the .com.au, so it’s not very much money to secure that
option for the future.
I will say this: having bought websites before and opted out of the extra
charge for privacy, I usually pay the extra money to include it. Opting out of
it will result in you getting phone calls from website development companies
from all over the world offering their services to build your website for you.
If that’s what you want, then great, but these companies don’t communicate
with each other at all, so even if you pay for their services, you’ll still get
phone calls after you’ve paid someone to develop your site.


I’m not going to go into how to build a website or what to do with it, because
most sites that will sell you domain names usually come with built in
builders, but for now you can sit back and focus on your app, knowing that if
you have the option if you decide to also launch a website.
ACTION ITEM 7:BUY A DOMAIN NAME FOR YOUR APP


Chapter 8: SSL Certificates (for website)
If you do end up launching a website with your app, one of the most recent
things that has come up since October 2017 is the need for an SSL (Secure
Sockets Layer) certificate.
This is done to make your website more secure, particularly if you’re going
to be using a CMS (Content Management System) and API (Application
Programming Interface) to control things like app alerts.
You can do some research to work out if your website will need an SSL and

how it may interface directly with your app.
You can buy an SSL from many different sites, but here’s one I used:

I was in early development of my app when I purchased the SSL, so I wasn’t
quite sure which SSL was right for me, I so I opted for the Wildcard SSL
(about AUD 108), but I have the flexibility to use it however I want.
Again, this all comes down to the following questions:
1. Are you going to have a website now?
2. Will your website interface with your app?
You can purchase a domain name without needed to purchase an SSL, so if
you’re not sure you want any website, then don’t rush out and get a SSL
certificate until you know you’re going to have a website.
I rushed out and bought one as soon as possible, but the reality is that it only
takes a few minutes to buy one, so you could even wait until you’re ready to
launch your website before buying any SSLs.
ACTION ITEM 8:IF NEEDED, GET YOUR WEBSITE AN SSL
CERTIFICATE


Chapter 9: App Email Account (if you need one)
If you’re planning on sending and receiving emails about your app from a
dedicated email address because you don’t want to give out your personal
email address, then you may want to consider setting up an Email account.
While you could opt to set one up in gmail as “”,
wherever you registered your website will have an option to create email
accounts as well, so your email address could be “”,
which looks much more professional.
The site I recommend using for email is GSuite and a link is located here:
/>It’s pretty easy to setup and also interfaces with your website hosting site to
verify the website belongs to you. They also provide a dedicated app you can

access all of your information.
Alternatively, you could pay for an email service through your website
provider, but you may find yourself being charged more for the service and
there’s a lot to be said for using purpose built providers.
ACTION ITEM 9:IF NEEDED, GET AN APP EMAIL ACCOUNT


Chapter 10: Email Services (if needed)
If you are planning on collecting Users’ email addresses to send email
notifications for things like forgotten passwords or alerts, you may require.
There are two possible options I know of for this service:
/>I opted for MailChimp, mainly because it was the first one I looked at, but I
haven’t had any issues with using them.
This particular option isn’t required if you’re not going to collect and manage
email addresses, but if you do, they’ll make life a lot easier if you’re trying to
manage email subscriptions of Users or just email lists in general.
You could probably start out not having one, and upgrade later, but I’ve often
found it better to be aware of possible options before you find yourself
drowning in a sea of paperwork trying to keep your records up to date.
ACTION ITEM 10: IF NEEDED, SIGN UP FOR EMAIL SERVICES


CHECKLIST
Your highest priorities are to work out the business structure based on the
country you’re planning on launching the App and to get a D-U-N-S number
because that could take longer than everything else in this book combined,
but a complete checklist, including links for some, is:
1. Set up a company (if applicable for your purposes)
2. Get a D-U-N-S Number – Apply for one here
3. Set up a Google Developer Account – Start here

4. Set up an Apple Developer Account – Start here
5. Write a Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions – Termsfeed.com
link here
6. If needed, set up AWS Account for Server Hosting – Amazon AWS
Services
7. If needed, get a Website – GoDaddy.com link here
8. If needed, get an SSL certificate for the website – ssls.com link here
9. If needed, Setup an App Email Account – Gsuit.com link here
10. Setup an Email Service – Mailchimp.com link here
Please note that options five to ten aren’t single source (you can find
alternatives) and I’ve only listed what I used to set up an app. You are free to
shop around.
Full disclosure: I have no affiliations with any of the above companies or
websites and receive no payments or benefits for listing them here. I have
only linked to them to give readers a starting point.
One last point about costs: the overall cost in Australia to set up all of the
above comes to about AUD 1,000, so you’ll need to factor that into your
budgeting and planning. If your App is free and you do most of the work
yourself (like preparing the Privacy Policy and T&Cs), you’ll be able to
launch for about AUD 174, which is the signup cost for Apple and Google to
be a registered developer.


Summary
Hopefully this simple guide helps you prepare in advance what needs to be in
place for your App and maybe even prompts you to think about future
features your app or brand might need in the future.
I’ve made a few mistakes with getting all of these things set up but was
fortunate enough for the delays not to cost me any valuable time, however I
could certainly see how a number of these items could easily delay first-time

developers and cause much unnecessary stress.
Otherwise, I wish you the best of luck with developing and launching your
App and the best of luck for the future!


About the Author
I’ve been through the process of creating an app and found the whole process
quite daunting and found the administrative setup alone was very timeconsuming.
I also found the seemingly never-ending list of additional costs for things
annoying. Just when you thought you’d paid for everything you needed to,
now you need to pay for something you didn’t even know existed a month
ago!
To me, the overall process to get the developer accounts set up took almost a
month because there were so many things I hadn’t thought of and didn’t have
the time to sit down and read any big, expensive books to tell me all the
things I needed to do.
Fortunately, I started early, so that time took hasn’t held up my app launch,
however, I could see how a first time app developer could find themselves
being held out of the market for a few weeks while all of the paperwork was
being processed.
I wanted to do what I could to help them get to the market as quick as
possible, because the sooner their app gets to the market, the sooner they can
start building their brand, helping people or even just making money.


Review
Most people don’t spend the time to review books we like, only reviewing
books when we’re dissatisfied. The reality is that the best way to get more
products we like out there is to let people (and Amazon) know that you are
happy with them.

A one sentence review is very valuable, not only to the author of the book but
also to the wider community. Most authors read their reviews, and so do
other authors looking for book ideas on topics they could expand.
I try to post a review for every book I read because I know how much effort
goes into publishing a book, but also so that, if it’s a book I loved, then the
author might be inspired to write more books like it.
If this book helped you, and I sincerely hope it has in at least one way, would
you please leave an honest review on Amazon?
Click here to leave a review: