The mechanics of the iTunes store

Question

Not specifically a programming question, but might be something a bunch of programmers run into.

I wrote a really trivial application for the iPhone and submitted it for approvals. After a few back and forth (e.g. denied, then resubmit) of fixing various UI guidelines issues, I got an email today stating that:

Your application is now Ready for Sale. If your contracts are not in effect at this time, your application will not be live on the App Store. You may track the progress of your contracts in the Contracts, Tax, and Banking Module in iTunes Connect.

Now the application is free, so I am not sure why they are sending an email saying that the application is ready for sale. The contacts are in place as well:

But the real problem is that I click on the link they provided...it opens iTunes, then says:

I went into iTunes Connect to Manage Your Applications link. The status is green, Ready for Sale. I checked all the countries where the application is supposed to be available -- and all countries are checked. Plus, I cannot find it in the iTunes Application Store either.

What am I missing? Is there an interval between when the app is approved and when it should appear in the iTunes store?

Answer 1

Yes there is an interval while it is released. Wait about 6 hours and try again.

Answer 2

Once your application has been approved it does indeed take up to a few hours before it has propagated and shows up. The same applies when you pull your application from the App Store or changing your application description or screenshots.

Basicly everything you do in iTunes Connect regarding your app, takes some time to propagate through the servers. I don't think I ever had to wait longer than 6 hours though, more like 3 hours on average.