Over the past week or so I've been working on a free toy/tech-demo app for the iPhone. I'll post the app details a little later, but for now I will tell a tale of wasted hours...
Submission time. I fire up the 2.x SDK, build, zip, get the 512x512 icon and screenshots ready to go then log into iTunes Connect. I fill out the first page of details, hit "continue" and am greeted with the following bright-red message:
"The Application Name that you provided has already been used. Please provide a unique Application Name."
Darn. I had of course performed an App Store search for the intended name a few days prior, and also a few Google searches to weed out any pre-announced apps, but as it turns out that isn't enough. Now I faced the prospect of coming up with a new name, fixing all references to the old name, and redoing all the branding and logo artwork - including the app icon, which consisted of a single stylized letter ripped from the logo!
Lesson learned. When starting a new project I almost always use a "codename" of some sort, anticipating that things will change in time. More often than not however, the codename simply sticks and becomes the real name. After this experience however, my advice is to log into iTunes Connect and start the app submission process early and often, just to ensure the name is available (even the codename). I would also recommend holding off on the branding/logo art until a release is within sight, and checking with iTunes Connect prior to committing to the art to ensure the name is still available after weeks or months of development.
I suspect this problem will get worse as 40,000 apps balloons to 100,000 (and more), and I also suspect we may see some sort of name squatting by less ethical devs by submitting empty shells with release dates far into the future. Larger companies will no doubt trademark their app names and use legal means to shoo away any squatters, but us little guys should always keep a few alternates handy - anyone who's registered a domain name knows the drill.
Blog
