When a developer changes an app name, does the old one become available?

Question

I've written an iOS app and would love to name it "X", but that name is taken. The existing app isn't very popular, and the author is willing to rename it for a fee. Suppose we agree to do this, does the old name become instantly available to everyone, or does Apple hold it as unavailable for some time, perhaps forever?

If the old name is locked forever does Apple allow me to just buy out his entire app (he is willing), and then publish completely different content using the same name and app id? We might need to change the category as well.

Answer 1

Yes. I've done this a couple times. I used to own an app called Note To Self. Someone made me an offer to rename it in exchange for a nice payment. (In case you're curious, he offered me more money than I would've made in 1 year for the app. So of course I was interested in the offer!) I took down my app, and the name was instantly available. The other developer was able to register it right away while we were on the phone. (He was already logged into iTunes Connect and had the name typed out. All he had to do was press the "Continue" button once I renamed or deactivated my app).

I've done this a few times when trying to brainstorm names for my other apps as well - simply renaming an app makes the old name available instantly for anyone else.

Note: The name we're talking about is what's shown in iTunes Connect, which is what users would see in the App Store. What you name your app in the iOS Developer Center's Provisioning tool has no significance.

For anyone reading this, please don't misuse this flexibility by squatting on names which you don't intend to use.

Hope this helps.