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Publishing Tickr on the Mac App Store

A step-by-step guide to preparing, submitting, and selling Tickr on the Mac App Store.

Prerequisites

  • Apple Developer Account ($99/year) — developer.apple.com
  • Xcode installed (latest stable version)
  • Mac with macOS 13.0+ for building
  • App icon (already included in Tickr/Assets.xcassets/AppIcon.appiconset/)

Step 1: Apple Developer Setup

  1. Enroll in the Apple Developer Program at developer.apple.com/programs/enroll
  2. Accept agreements in App Store Connect → Agreements, Tax, and Banking
  3. Set up banking — add your bank account and tax information for payments

Step 2: Certificates & Provisioning

Create a Developer ID Certificate

  1. Open Xcode → Settings → Accounts → add your Apple ID
  2. Select your team → Manage Certificates
  3. Click + → Apple Distribution certificate
  4. Also create a Mac App Distribution certificate and a Mac Installer Distribution certificate

Create an App ID

  1. Go to developer.apple.com/account/resources/identifiers
  2. Click + → App IDs → App
  3. Set:
    • Description: Tickr
    • Bundle ID: Explicit → com.tickr.app
    • Capabilities: check App Sandbox and Outgoing Connections (Client)
  4. Click Continue → Register

Create a Provisioning Profile

  1. Go to developer.apple.com/account/resources/profiles
  2. Click + → Mac App Store → Mac App Distribution
  3. Select App ID: com.tickr.app
  4. Select your Apple Distribution certificate
  5. Name it: Tickr Mac App Store
  6. Download and double-click to install

Step 3: Prepare the App for App Store

Update Info.plist

Ensure Tickr/Info.plist has these required fields (most are already set):

<key>CFBundleName</key>
<string>Tickr</string>
<key>CFBundleDisplayName</key>
<string>Tickr</string>
<key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
<string>com.tickr.app</string>
<key>CFBundleShortVersionString</key>
<string>1.0.0</string>
<key>CFBundleVersion</key>
<string>1</string>
<key>LSMinimumSystemVersion</key>
<string>13.0</string>
<key>LSUIElement</key>
<true/>

Important: CFBundleVersion must be incremented for every upload to App Store Connect.

Update Entitlements

Tickr/Tickr.entitlements must include:

<key>com.apple.security.app-sandbox</key>
<true/>
<key>com.apple.security.network.client</key>
<true/>

The App Sandbox is required for Mac App Store distribution.

Remove Hardcoded Paths

Ensure no debug/test paths remain. The app already stores data in UserDefaults (sandboxed container), so no changes needed.

Step 4: Build with Xcode

The App Store requires builds signed with Xcode — swiftc builds cannot be submitted.

  1. Open Tickr.xcodeproj in Xcode
  2. Select the Tickr target → Signing & Capabilities
  3. Set:
    • Team: your Apple Developer team
    • Bundle Identifier: com.tickr.app
    • Signing: Automatically manage signing (or select your provisioning profile)
  4. Ensure the entitlements file is set in Build Settings → Code Signing Entitlements → Tickr/Tickr.entitlements
  5. Set Build Settings → Code Signing Identity → Apple Distribution

Archive the App

  1. Select Product → Archive (or Cmd+Shift+B with Archive scheme)
  2. Wait for the build to complete
  3. The Organizer window opens with your archive

Step 5: App Store Connect — Create the App

  1. Go to appstoreconnect.apple.com
  2. Click My Apps → + → New App
  3. Fill in:
    • Platform: macOS
    • Name: Tickr
    • Primary Language: English (U.S.)
    • Bundle ID: com.tickr.app
    • SKU: tickr-macos-1 (any unique string)
  4. Click Create

Step 6: App Store Listing

App Information

  • Category: Finance
  • Secondary Category: Utilities (optional)
  • Content Rights: Does not contain third-party content that requires rights
  • Age Rating: 4+ (no objectionable content)

Pricing

  1. Go to Pricing and Availability
  2. Set your price tier:
    • Free — no charge
    • Paid — select a price tier (e.g., Tier 1 = $0.99, Tier 3 = $2.99, Tier 5 = $4.99)
    • Free with In-App Purchases — if you plan to add premium features later
  3. Select availability (all territories, or specific countries)

App Store Screenshots

You need screenshots for the Mac App Store listing:

  • Required: At least one screenshot
  • Sizes: 1280x800, 1440x900, 2560x1600, or 2880x1800 pixels
  • Recommended: 3-5 screenshots showing key features

Capture these from the running app:

  1. Menu bar ticker
  2. Dropdown with stocks and categories
  3. Expanded stock with news and earnings
  4. Settings window
  5. Chart view

Tip: Use Cmd+Shift+4 to capture specific areas, or Cmd+Shift+5 for window capture.

Description

Suggested App Store description:

Tickr puts real-time stock prices in your macOS menu bar.

FEATURES
• Live stock ticker in the menu bar with customizable display
• Organize unlimited stocks into categories
• Interactive charts: 1W, 1M, YTD, 1Y, 5Y
• Latest news headlines for each stock
• Next earnings call dates
• Market cap, volume, 52-week range, sector info
• Color-coded gains (green) and losses (red)
• Configurable refresh intervals (15s to 30min)
• Sort categories by name, price, or performance
• Click any stock to open Yahoo Finance

PRIVACY
• No account required
• No personal data collected
• Optional anonymous analytics (opt-out in Settings)
• Full transparency — see exactly what's tracked

Tickr uses Yahoo Finance for stock data. Prices may be delayed up to 15 minutes depending on the exchange.

Keywords

stocks, ticker, menu bar, finance, portfolio, watchlist, market, investing, quotes, NYSE, NASDAQ

Support URL

Set this to your GitHub repo: https://github.com/h4ux/Tickr

Privacy Policy URL

Required. Create a simple privacy policy page. You can use your GitHub repo's SECURITY.md: https://github.com/h4ux/Tickr/blob/main/SECURITY.md

Or create a dedicated privacy policy page on GitHub Pages or any static hosting.

Step 7: Upload the Build

Option A: Upload from Xcode Organizer

  1. In the Organizer (after archiving), select your archive
  2. Click Distribute App
  3. Select App Store Connect
  4. Select Upload
  5. Follow the prompts (signing, entitlements check)
  6. Wait for upload to complete

Option B: Upload with xcrun altool (command line)

# Export the archive to a .pkg
xcodebuild -exportArchive \
  -archivePath build/Tickr.xcarchive \
  -exportPath build/export \
  -exportOptionsPlist ExportOptions.plist

# Upload to App Store Connect
xcrun altool --upload-app \
  -f build/export/Tickr.pkg \
  -t macos \
  -u "your-apple-id@email.com" \
  -p "@keychain:AC_PASSWORD"

Note: Store your app-specific password in Keychain:

xcrun altool --store-password-in-keychain-item "AC_PASSWORD" \
  -u "your-apple-id@email.com" \
  -p "xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx"

Generate an app-specific password at appleid.apple.com → Security → App-Specific Passwords.

Option C: Upload with Transporter

  1. Download Transporter from the Mac App Store
  2. Sign in with your Apple ID
  3. Drag the .pkg file into Transporter
  4. Click Deliver

Step 8: Submit for Review

  1. Go to App Store Connect → your app → macOS version
  2. Select the uploaded build
  3. Fill in:
    • What's New: Initial release
    • Review Notes: Tickr is a menu bar stock ticker app. To test: launch the app, it appears in the menu bar. Click to see stocks. Open Settings to add/remove tickers.
    • Sign-In Required: No
  4. Click Submit for Review

Step 9: Apple Review

  • Review typically takes 24-48 hours (can be longer)
  • Common rejection reasons for menu bar apps:
    • Guideline 4.0 - Design: Ensure the app has meaningful functionality beyond a web wrapper
    • Guideline 2.1 - Performance: App must work reliably
    • Guideline 5.1.1 - Data Collection: Must have a privacy policy if collecting any data
    • Guideline 2.4.5 - Apple Sites: Don't scrape Apple services (we use Yahoo/Google, so this is fine)
  • If rejected, read the rejection reason carefully, fix the issue, and resubmit

Step 10: Post-Launch

Updating the App

  1. Increment CFBundleVersion in Info.plist (e.g., 1 → 2)
  2. Update CFBundleShortVersionString for user-facing version (e.g., 1.0.0 → 1.1.0)
  3. Archive and upload the new build
  4. Create a new version in App Store Connect
  5. Submit for review

Monitoring

  • App Store Connect → Analytics: downloads, impressions, conversion rate
  • App Store Connect → Ratings and Reviews: respond to user reviews
  • PostHog dashboard: app usage analytics (if configured)

Checklist Before Submission

  • Apple Developer Account active and agreements signed
  • Bundle ID com.tickr.app registered
  • App signed with Apple Distribution certificate
  • App Sandbox enabled with network.client entitlement
  • CFBundleVersion is unique for this upload
  • No hardcoded API keys in submitted code (Secrets.swift uses placeholder for App Store builds)
  • App icon at all required sizes (already in asset catalog)
  • At least 1 screenshot uploaded to App Store Connect
  • Description, keywords, category, and pricing set
  • Privacy policy URL provided
  • Support URL provided
  • Tested on macOS 13.0+ (minimum deployment target)
  • App quits cleanly, no crashes on launch
  • Menu bar item appears and is functional

Cost Summary

Item Cost
Apple Developer Program $99/year
Apple's commission on paid apps 30% (15% for small business < $1M revenue)
Free apps No commission

Useful Links