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| title | description | guide_group | order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preparing a Submission | How to prepare an app submission for the Pebble appstore. | appstore-publishing | 0 |
Once a new Pebble watchface or watchapp has been created, the Pebble Developer Portal allows the developer to publish their creation to the appstore either publicly, or privately. The appstore is built into the official mobile apps and means that every new app can be found and also featured for increased exposure and publicity.
Note: An app can only be published privately while it is not already published publicly. If an app is already public, it must be unpublished before it can be made private.
To build the appstore listing for a new app, the following resources are required from the developer. Some may not be required, depending on the type of app being listed. Read {% guide_link appstore-publishing/publishing-an-app#listing-resources "Listing Resources" %} for a comparison.
Basic Info
| Resource | Details |
|---|---|
| App title | Title of the app. |
| Website URL | Link to the brand or other website related to the app. |
| Source code URL | Link to the source code of the app (such as GitHub or BitBucket). |
| Support email address | An email address for support issues. If left blank, the developer's account email address will be used. |
| Category | A watchapp may be categorized depending on the kind of functionality it offers. Users can browse the appstore by these categories. |
| Icons | A large and small icons representing the app. |
Asset Collections
An asset collection must be created for each of the platforms that the app supports. These are used to tailor the description and screenshots shown to users browing with a specific platform connected.
| Resource | Details |
|---|---|
| Description | The details and features of the app. Maximum 1600 characters. |
| Screenshots | Screenshots showing off the design and features of the app. Maximum 5 per platform in PNG, GIF, or Animated GIF format. |
| Marketing banner | Large image used at the top of a listing in some places, as well as if an app is featured on one of the main pages. |
Releases
In addition to the visual assets in an appstore listing, the developer must
upload at least one valid release build in the form of a .pbw file generated
by the Pebble SDK. This is the file that will be distributed to users if they
choose to install your app.
The appstore will automatically select the appropriate version to download based on the SDK version. This is normally the latest release, with the one exception of the latest release built for SDK 2.x (deprecated) distributed to users running a watch firmware less than 3.0. A release is considered valid if the UUID is not in use and the version is greater than all previously published releases.
Companion Apps
If your app requires an Android or iOS companion app to function, it can be listed here by providing the name, icon, and URL that users can use to obtain the companion app. When a user install the watchapp, they will be prompted to also download the companion app automatically.
Timeline
Developers that require the user of the timeline API will need to click 'Enable timeline' to obtain API keys used for pushing pins. See the {% guide_link pebble-timeline %} guides for more information.
Promotion
Once published, the key to growth in an app is through promotion. Aside from users recommending the app to each other, posting on websites such as the Pebble Forums, Reddit, and Twitter can help increase exposure.
Developer Retreat Video
Watch the presentation given by Aaron Cannon at the 2016 Developer Retreat to learn more about preparing asset collections for the appstore.