Introduction
Revolutionising Aquatic Environments
In the ever-evolving world of technology, creating and launching a successful app involves navigating a complex landscape of guidelines, regulations, and user expectations.
For Interpet and their innovative Aqua Smart LED app, the journey to the Apple and Android app stores was anything but straightforward. In this post, we’ll delve into the challenges faced by Blaze Concepts, the obstacles that hindered the app’s approval, and the strategic steps taken to overcome them.
THE INITIAL SETBACK
Interpet, a leading name in the aquarium industry, enlisted another development agency to develop the Aqua Smart LED app for their Bluetooth-enabled aquarium lighting system. After months of dedicated effort, the initial developer faced an unexpected roadblock – the app repeatedly failed to pass the rigorous review process of both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Frustration grew as the months passed without a solution in sight, meanwhile Interpet’s Aqua Smart LED products had been manufactured and packaged ready for distribution but Interpet were unable to launch the product because the app wasn’t yet available to install.
BLAZE CONCEPTS STEPS IN
Recognizing the urgency and importance of resolving the app store approval issues, Interpet asked Blaze Concepts to take charge of the situation. Having worked with Blaze Concepts on a number of web projects over the years, Interpet knew that the Blaze team would make every effort to get the app approved. Unfortunately, the previous developers had registered the app under their developer accounts so Interpet had no visibility into the process or problem that had been encountered and when the previous developers unexpectedly ceased trading the accounts became totally inaccessible. The first crucial decision was to re-register the app, signalling a fresh start in the eyes of the app store review teams.
GETTING A BUILD
Thankfully Interpet were able to obtain the source code of the app from the original developers but when trying to create “builds” to upload to the app stores, Blaze discovered that a number of dependencies were out of date so the app would not compile in its current form. The team decided that the most cost-effective and reliable solution would be to create a new app architecture using the latest version of React Native and Expo.
React Native is a popular open-source framework for building mobile applications using JavaScript and Expo is a set of tools and services built around React Native that helps coders develop, build, deploy, and quickly iterate on iOS, Android, and web apps from the same JavaScript/TypeScript codebase.
Once the new app skeleton was created, the team migrated the existing source code into it. This process was time-consuming but essential to ensure the app was built on a solid foundation that would meet the stringent requirements of the app stores.
THE POWER OF VIDEO
As the app requires a physical Aqua Smart LED device to function, Apple requested a video demonstration of the app and the Bluetooth pairing process, so Blaze Concepts created the video demonstration and uploaded it to the App Store Review portal.
RESULTS AND SUCCESS
Armed with the re-registered app, revamped app store listings, and an informative video, Blaze Concepts resubmitted the Aqua Smart LED app for review. The app sailed through the review process on both the Apple and Android platforms, relieving Interpet of their roadblock and enabling them to start releasing their Aqua Smart LED lighting units to UK stores, now that the app has been approved and is available for both iPhone, iPad and Android users.
“That is great news!! What a relief!
Thank you again, I wish we had done this project with Blaze to begin with.”
– Adam Newick, Development Manager at Interpet
THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT
During this process, the team at Blaze Concepts noted a number of design and user experience improvements that Interpet could consider for a future iteration with the Aqua Smart LED app to help make the app even easier to use and even more appealing. The team at Blaze Concepts are looking forward to working with Interpet on these improvements and are excited to see the Aqua Smart LED app in action.
INSIGHT GAINED
As a client having an app developed, you should be in control of the app store listings under your own developer account, This does involve a fee ($99 per year for Apple and $25 one-off for Google at the time of writing), but the enhanced visibility and control you have means you’re not as reliant on the developer and can see where roadblocks are appearing, so you can work with the developer to overcome them in good time.
CONCLUSION
The journey of the Aqua Smart LED app highlights the importance of a strategic and comprehensive approach when facing challenges in the app store approval process. Blaze Concepts’ dedication, attention to detail, not only overcame obstacles but also positioned the Aqua Smart LED app for success in the competitive world of aquarium technology.