Will I be able to publish my app to the Apple App Store and Google Play?

Yes! You can either publish your app yourself or you can leverage our experienced team to complete the publishing end-to-end and make the process as seamless as possible.

Both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store require specific criteria for all apps that are submitted. Our Publishing Guide includes all of the information you will need to self-publish your app.

If you choose to have the Median team manage the publishing process on your behalf we provide a 100% guarantee of app store acceptance. For future publishing of app updates after we've published an initial release we charge a 50% reduced fee for our services.

Whether you choose to self-publish or have our team publish on your behalf you will need an Apple Developer Account and a Google Play Developer Account. You can apply for both accounts using the links below.

Apple Developer Account: https://developer.apple.com/programs/enroll
Google Play Developer Account: https://play.google.com/apps/publish/signup

How long will it take to publish my app?

Apple's review and approval process is typically completed within 3-5 days while the Google Play Store approval process is usually complete within a day.

However, it is important to be very attentive to detail when self-publishing as both App Stores have specific criteria for approval. Check out our Publishing Guide for complete details.

Median also offers an App Store Publishing Service that can publish your app to both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. Find out more information App Store Publishing Service.

How do I publish an internal employee-only app?

The Apple App Store and Google Play Store are intended for public apps that can be downloaded and used by anyone. Apps that provide public content and also include a logged-in area for employees are typically acceptable. As are apps that are intended to be used by a wide variety of external partners and contractors. However, strictly internal corporate apps such as scheduling, timesheet, or employee portal/intranet type apps may need to be published to a private app store or distributed via an MDM solution. Contact our support team for guidance based on your specific requirements.

How do I improve search results for my app?

Apple and Google provide suggestions for optimizing your App Store and Play Store listings.

Optimizing for Apple App Store search

Get discovered on Google Play search

How can I accept payments within my app?

Any payment or checkout functionality that you build into your website will continue to work within your Median apps.

For Android apps, you may continue to use your web-based payments flow in your apps without any issues. You may optionally add our In-App Purchases Native Plugin to streamline the payment process and provide support for premium features and subscriptions. Review the Google Play Billing Overview, Google Play Billing Technical Details and review our Google IAP Native Plugin Documentation.

Apple makes a distinction between "physical" and "digital" goods sold within your app, and requires use of their in-app purchase ("IAP") APIs for selling "digital" goods. Learn more about Apple's Payment Guidelines. The advantage of using Apple IAP is ease of use for end users who can purchase via their Apple iTunes account with a quick tap. However, Apple will charge a processing fee, typically 15% for the first $1 million in revenue and 30% thereafter. Review the Apple Small Business Program and consult with Apple for the current fees in your region.

A "physical" good is something delivered or consumed outside of your app. For example, the Amazon.com app sells physical goods and thus does not need to use Apple's in-app purchase APIs. These purchases can go through standard web checkout flow like Stripe, PayPal, etc.

A "digital" good is something like a new weapon in a game, or a workout video delivered as part of a premium membership in your app. Digital goods are delivered or consumed within your app, and payments are required to go through Apple's in-app purchase APIs.

There are two main strategies to manage this requirement:

Remove the ability for people to make digital purchases within your app. Users can use your app in the same way as your website but simply cannot make digital purchases within it. Many widely-used apps such as Audible employ this approach. To configure your website to remove these payment links please see our guide on Detecting App Usage and review Apple's Payment Guidelines.
Purchase our In-App Purchases native plugin and integrate within your website following our documentation. Learn more about Apple In-App Purchases and review our Apple IAP Native Plugin Documentation.