If you need some quick advice, check out this App Submission video tutorial. The tutorial takes you from creating a new Xcode project to submitting a build to iTunes Connect. Otherwise follow these steps:
- Sign up for Apple Developer Program account (requires DUNS number for businesses)
- If the app communicates with custom hardware, send hardware to Apple to use while they review the app.
- Gather certificates
- Create an iOS distribution certificate using the Apple Developer Portal
- Create prodution APNS certificates
- Upload APNS certificates to push notification provider (e.g. Urban Airship, Localytics)
- Create an App ID that matches the project’s bundle identifier, with proper entitlements (push, game center, etc.) using the Apple Developer Portal
- Metadata
- App title
- Not the same as springboard title (on phone)
- Good to add keywords here
- Unlimited character count, though titles will be truncated
- App version (must match version number in binary)
- App SKU (really not used for anything; usually “appname_date”)
- App description as it will appear in the app store
- App store category & optional subcategory
- Price (or free)
- Country availability
- What’s new description (only for updates, not first-time submission)
- Localized non-english descriptions if applicable
- Keywords (100 characters)
- Don’t add spaces after commas separating keywords
- Large app icon (1024 x 1024)
- At least one screenshot to appear in the app store for each platform (640x1126 iPhone, 2048x1536 iPad)
- Best to have several, annotated shots
- WatchKit icon & screenshots (if applicable)
- EULA (if different from the default)
- Demo account information for Apple reviewers
- Extra instructions for Apple reviewers (if applicable)
- App title