Can you make an update to an iOS app before it has been released?

Question

Say I have a release date of Sept. 1. This is a hard date and the app HAS to be in the app store by then. So I submit the app now just to be safe. It gets approved but I want to add more features. Can I make updates even though the app hasn't been released yet?

Answer 1

My understanding has always been that you can only have one pending version of an app at a time -- if your app gets approved but you decide to update it before you release the approved version, you have to first reject the approved version and then submit the update for review. Once you make your app available, you can then submit another version.

Don't take my word for it, though -- get what you can from the section on updating in the iTunesConnect Developer Guide , and contact Apple for clarification if you need to.

Answer 2

Yes you can, but that would mean having a way to manage your code (via git or any code tracking system) so that each update code is tracked (if you want to go back to the first release to check out the code and then jump back to the "updated" to fix the code).

My first project was not code tracked. I had to create different folders with the code changes. And it turned into a mess.

Also remember to change the version in the info plist if you want to make binaries and test them via itunes (this is how the "updates" work) or send the final work to apple.