Using an artistic developer name for App Store instead of my real name

Question

I'm going to enroll in the Apple Developer Program as an individual developer and most likely will need to tell Apple my actual name in the process (do I really have to?). And what I'm wondering about is:

Will there be a way for me to tell App Store to display my artistic name (an alias) instead of my real name when a customer visits the page of any of my apps?

Answer 1

They just changed their policies... apparently it will show your real name now... :( but hopefully they will grandfather past accounts... Otherwise it will make it unaffordable for small outfits to sell under a company name without incorporating. (and of course by our customers paying ~$1 per app, they have the right to know our legal names so they can track us down and call our mobile numbers and ask stupid questions!)

See below email from apple support received a few days ago:

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Apple Developer Program Support regarding the iOS Developer Program.

My name is Maritza and I will be happy to assist you with your inquires redrawing your wife enrolling under a new account.

Developers enrolled in the iOS Developer Program are no longer able to set an Artist name in iTunes Connect. The artist name now defaults to the individuals legal name as it appears on the membership. This means you would not be able to set your artist name as "You Company Name", instead your name would show in the App Store. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

I hope you find this information useful. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please contact us Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (PST) at 800-633-2152. We're happy to help.

Regards,

Maritza

Apple Developer Program Support

If you live in the states, set up an individual LLC. It's pretty cheap ($150 or so) and you can do it online. It will also let you use your company name instead of your full name.