16. Where to Go From Here?

Written by Pietro Rea & Keegan Rush

Congratulations on finishing “iOS App Distribution & Best Practices”!

This book has a wide target audience: if you’re a non-developer, this book taught you how to get your team’s code published. As an iOS developer involved in the release pipeline, you’ll have significantly fewer code signing frustrations. You’ve learned exactly what it takes to distribute and manage an iOS app.

In this book, you learned how the App Store is a game-changer in the field of software distribution and how you can be a part of the excitement. To start, you went over the simple process of submitting your first app for review.

Next, you went into the depths of code signing and provisioning. You prepared yourself to tackle any challenges you might face when releasing an app.

However, the journey doesn’t end once you’ve submitted your app. The book also touches on managing your app after a release.

In the second half of the book, you gained a deeper understanding of how Xcode builds your app. You learned about targets, schemes and build settings, and how you can configure them to create the ideal release pipeline.

Speaking of the ideal release pipeline, you learned about app distribution best practices. You stepped out of Xcode with build configuration files and used them for secret management. Stepping out of Xcode was the beginning of your automation journey, which began with xcodebuild on the command line and ended with running fastlane on a continuous integration server.

Twelve-Factor App Methodology

Many of the best practices described by this book are inspired by the Twelve-Factor App Methodology: https://12factor.net/.

Designed primarily for web apps, the methodology covers the separation of your app’s code with its configuration and dependencies. Its practices make sure that apps are easily testable and deployable.

While not all aspects of the twelve-factor methodology apply to iOS, referring to it for guidance will help you prepare the ideal release pipeline.

DevOps

Many of the topics covered in this book delve into the practice of DevOps.

DevOps, a portmanteau of development and operations, is a set of practices that focus on providing high-quality software, easily and quickly. Think of it as the antithesis of spending your Friday afternoons battling with code signing and deployment.

With everything you’ve learned in this book, you’re well on your way to becoming your company’s go-to DevOps specialist.

Becoming the next fastlane

While you’re learning more about DevOps for iOS, you’ll surely become acquainted with fastlane.

Fastlane uses the App Store Connect API: https://apple.co/3aO2dcp to get and set your build’s metadata, manage testers and more. The App Store Connect API is available to owners of an Apple Developer Program membership.

Maybe fastlane inspired you to build your own tool — or perhaps you’ve noticed some room for improvement? If you want your tool to become the very next fastlane, saving countless hours for developers worldwide, you know where to start. :]

Beyond publication

If you’re releasing your own app, some of the hardest challenges have nothing to do with code.

To make sure all your potential users can discover your app, you need to invest a considerable amount of time into marketing and promoting it. You’ll need a website or a landing page at the least.

An app preview video to go along with your snazzy screenshots can also help marketing.

Once users have found and downloaded your app, it’s essential to follow up. Do so by collecting analytics, soliciting feedback and conducting user research.

Conclusion

I hope that you enjoyed your journey to App Store mastery and that you feel more comfortable with the release process. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please stop by our forums at https://forums.raywenderlich.com.

Thank you again for purchasing this book. Your continued support is what makes the tutorials, books, videos, conferences and other things we do at raywenderlich.com possible, and we truly appreciate it!

– Keegan, Pietro, Jayven, Jordan, Manda, Sandra and Soheil.

The iOS App Distribution & Best Practices team