Great news! Apple iOS App reservation function is now fully available!

What was it we talked about last year? Was App Store pre-orders just a special case for Super Mario Run? Thankfully, that’s not the case, and Apple has made this feature available to all developers.

Booking mode on

Today's news about the App Store is definitely good news. According to an announcement released by Apple's official blog iTunes Connect, Apple has enabled the "pre-order" function for all App developers from now on. Developers can put the product page online before the App is available for download and provide a pre-order option. In this way, users can pre-order the App on the product page, and when the App is officially released, the App will be automatically downloaded to the corresponding iOS device.

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One thing that needs to be explained is that if the app that is listed in advance is a paid app, users need to pay the full amount first when booking, and then the app will be automatically downloaded on the day it is launched. In other words, users need to pay first and then enjoy the benefits of automatic downloading at the first time.

It feels a little different from the pre-order services we usually use, and even different from the notification mode of "Super Mario Run" last year. Apple obviously did this for a wider range of developers.

No longer an exception

Since the App Store was founded and brought about the app store trend, no game app has ever enjoyed the same top treatment as "Super Mario Run". Apple provided a notification button for "Super Mario Run" immediately after the 2016 autumn conference, more than three months before the game was officially launched. This means that this game has been on the App Store homepage for at least three months, and players have waited for its official arrival after it has been fully felt.

Once this special case is made, it will definitely arouse different opinions. Other developers also want such a function. What should they do? Will Apple make such special cases for individual developers and individual games in the future?

At the time, some developers had already voiced their opinions. Adriaan, the developer of the independent game Hidden Folks, said on Twitter: “Dear App Store, please open the Notify feature for all developers!”

By the way, "Hidden Folks" is also a relatively popular independent game. It has achieved good market performance after being launched, but of course it cannot be compared with Mario.

Adriaan's tone was more like a half-joking plea. We know how badly individual developers and small and medium-sized teams need a channel to promote themselves and understand the level of interest users have in their apps. Adriaan spent two years developing Hidden Folks. In order to let more people know about this game, he worked hard to "promote" it at the Game Developers Conference and the Cologne Games Show, and constantly reported every bit of the game's development progress to his fans on his Twitter.

Now that he knows the news, he should be very happy.

Both games are available for pre-order

We are familiar with the pre-order model of online stores. There are many upcoming games on the Steam platform that use this pre-order notification model to put them on the shelves in advance. This is undoubtedly a good way of publicity, which means that the game has been exposed in the early stage, and the notification can be pushed to users who are interested in it in time after it is put on the shelves.

Google Play, which is also a mobile app store, also has many games listed in the form of pre-order, but most of them must be important games from top developers certified by Google. Including the Android version of "Fire Emblem: Heroes" and "Super Mario Run" are both listed in the form of pre-order. A few domestic Android platforms have also followed this model, such as TapTap under X.D. Players can click on the pre-order to show their interest (Mark) for Android games that they are interested in but have not yet been listed. And from a period of observation, players seem to be accustomed to this model.

After nearly a year of testing, the App Store has officially enabled this feature for all apps. So far, two independent games are starting to be pre-ordered on the App Store. You can check them out. One is the masterpiece "INSIDE" (the full name of the App is INSIDE game), which won the annual independent game award last year without any suspense. The other is the art puzzle "Goroga" (a world in the picture) that took more than 5 years to make. "INSIDE" is free to pre-order, and a fee will be charged when it is officially launched. "Goroga" requires a full payment of 30 yuan to pre-order.

Since both of these are high-quality independent works, I have recommended them to you before. Those who are interested can try out the pre-order function (available in the Central Zone) first.

The pre-order function is open to games that have passed Apple's review and are confirmed to be on the shelves. At present, it seems that new games will be scheduled to be released within the next week. The new app page that can be pre-ordered will display a striking "pre-order" label, and then you can obtain or pay. The rest of the process is the same as the normal download of the app. With Apple's current control and guidance of iOS recommended apps, we believe that the App Store can complete the pre-order experience well, which is also an experience upgrade for users.

It is also easy for developers to operate

For developers, the process of submitting a new app to the booking platform is fairly simple.

1. From the home page, click My Apps, select the app, and select Pricing and Validity on the left. If your app has never been published in the App Store, you will be able to see the pre-order interface.
2. Select the time you want to make a pre-order and set a time you want to download the app, then click Save in the upper right corner. The app's release date must be postponed by at least two days, but not more than 90 days.
3. Submit your app for approval.
4. Once your app is approved, it is ready for pre-order. You need to return to the Pricing and Validity screen, confirm the release date of the app again, and click the Publish button in the upper right corner to complete the pre-order process.

It is reported that in addition to providing App pre-order services, Apple will also make pre-orders part of the iTunes sales and dynamic interface. Apple will also set up a FAQ option to further supplement the App pre-order service.

What do you think of this new feature? For your favorite apps and games, will you choose to support them by pre-ordering?