When you're done coding your app, if I'm right, you upload your build to iTunes Connect using either Xcode or Application Loader.
What I'm asking is:
How exactly would I go about submitting my build to iTunes Connect using Xcode (6.3.2)?
This post has been updated for 2019's new AppStore Connect and Xcode 10.
Here is a "short" guide for what to do:
In Apple's Member Center:
- log in using your developer account's AppleID
- navigate to Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles
- choose Certificates
- download / create iOS Certificates for iOS Distribution and iOS Development
- navigate to Provisioning Profiles
- download / create Provisioning Profiles for iOS Distribution and iOS Development
In AppStore Connect:
- log in using your developer account's AppleID
- navigate to My Apps
- in the top left corner press +
- fill in all the data it asks for
In Finder:
- navigate to your previously downloaded certificates and provisioning profiles
- double-click them
- enter passwords if necessary
- close KeyChain if it popped up
In Xcode:
- open your project
- in the top left corner tap on the project file
- under Identity set the version & build numbers
- for Signing, check Automatically manage signing
- ...then select your team as
- select Generic iOS Device or a connected device under Schemes
- use cmdb to build your project
- in the status bar, find Product and select Archive. This will take a while to archive your project and eventually bring up the Archives section of xcode's Organizer
- click Disrtibute App
- follow the steps to complete the process. You should only have to press Next a few times. If everything goes well, the progress will say something like uploading binary.
- Wait until Xcode has successfully uploaded the binary to AppStore Connect. Then proceed with the steps below.
Back in AppStore Connect:
- log in using your developer account's AppleID
- navigate to My Apps
- select your app
- scroll down and find Build
- there it should show your build you just uploaded via Xcode, select it if necessary
- note that the build might not be selectable just yet. It needs to complete processing first. This usually takes about an hour.
- fill in all data required
- note If you want to manually release your app after it's reviewed select that option under Version Release, otherwise skip this
- next, press Submit For Review
- answer the questions they ask
...
- When the review is finished you can either release it manually to the AppStore or it will automatically do that depending on what you selected in step 6.
- Review for new apps usually takes about a week, but it may vary. Updates will take a few days only
- After release its status will be Processing for App Store, that may take about half an hour
- The status will then change to Ready for Sale which effectively means, users can now download your app