Transferring ownership of an iPhone app on the app store

Question

My team and I have an app which we\'re going to be submitting to the store pretty soon, but we know that we\'ll be selling the app to another company in the near future. Doe

Answer 1

What Lou Franco said.

Where To example is really good to consider, as they eventually had to settle for the fact that all existing customers need to buy the app again. Apple simply does not have the background infrastructure to change ownership.

Another bad consequence of the inherited made-for-music-sale-machine that iTunes originally was. Songs apparently don't change owners.

See here, for Where to resolution: transferring an iphone app last episode

Answer 2

Besides the already mentioned things I recognized, that certain issues may arise which are nowhere mentioned in the AppStore Guidelines or the documentation.

I found out several issues with apps having subscriptions (which are as of Jan 2015 not transferrable). After trying to transfer an app I found out via the FAQ in the iTC Developer Support Center aka Help Section the following things (Link to FAQ section)...

You cannot transfer apps that contain or use:

• iCloud entitlements in any version of the app
• Passbook entitlements in any version of the app
• A SKU that matches the SKU of one of the recipient's apps, including previously-removed SKUs
• In-App Purchase product IDs that match the In-App Purchase product ID of one of the recipient's apps, including previously-removed In-App Purchases
• Approved auto-renewable, non-renewing, or free subscription In-App Purchases, including previously-removed In-App Purchase subscriptions Sandboxed Mac apps that share the Application Group Container Directory with other Mac apps also cannot be transferred.

To transfer any of these types of apps, the recipient must create the app as a new app. Current customers, ratings, and reviews cannot be transferred to the new app.

Also the usual requirements are:

To transfer an app, make sure that:

• The transferor and the recipient have active developer accounts and accepted the most current version of all master agreements that are currently in effect
• The app has at least one approved version
• The app is in the Ready for Sale, Invalid Binary, Rejected, Developer Rejected, or Developer Removed from Sale state
• Any associated In-App Purchases are in the Ready to Submit, Ready for Sale, Rejected, Developer Removed from Sale, or Approved state
• You know the Apple ID of the recipient’s Team Agent and their Team ID If the app uses iAd, the transferor and the recipient must have accepted the most current version of all iAd contracts.

Hope that helps avoid mishaps before you try to transfer an app.

Answer 3

From what I understand, this can be done, but it requires manual intervention by the iTunes Store team, can take months to go through, and may involve some periods when your app is not on sale under either account. If you know who your customer is going to be, just put it under their account to begin with. If not, remember for the future that flipping apps is not an easy thing to do, and adjust your business model accordingly.

Answer 4

Recent update from iTunes Connect:

I sold my app to another developer and can no longer distribute it on the App Store. Can I transfer the app to the new developer's iTunes Connect account?

No, you can’t transfer the app to another developer account on iTunes Connect. To add the app to another account, remove the app from the current account and upload it to the new iTunes Connect account.

Note that uploading the app to a new iTunes Connect account will disable current customers from receiving automatic and free updates of your application. All customer reviews, rating, and ranking information will be reset. You will not be able to reuse the app name and SKU in the old account. If you have uploaded a binary or used the app with the iAd Network, your Bundle ID will not be reusable either.

Answer 5

It is possible since June, 2013. You can transfer an app to another developer very easy - here is an official FAQ from Apple (available for registered developers).

Answer 6

iTunesConnect now allows App Transfers given certain app restrictions (no iCloud or Push Notifications apps are allowed currently. Local Notifications are ok, of course.)

See the iTunesConnect FAQ on App Transfers... https://itunesconnect.apple.com/WebObjects/iTunesConnect.woa/wo/10.0.0.9.1.0.9.1.5.10.1

You can only initiate or accept a transfer if your iTunesConnect login has the "Legal" role permissions.

AFTER THE TRANSFER: The teamId and bundleID will not change at all. Nor will any of the in-app purchase Ids.

In my company's developer account, I now see an app with EXACTLY THE SAME TeamID.BundleID as I saw in the source code that was purchased from the other company (and that source code was delivered separately, not via Apple)...

ex. BundleID = com.<some-other-company>.<purchased-app-name>

This bundleId is now listed among my other apps listed in iTunesConnect's Provisioning Profiles. I simply created new Development and Distribution/AdHoc provisioning profiles for my newly purchased app. Then I downloaded the new provisioning profiles into Xcode, just like for any of your own apps.

Quite painless. Thank you Apple.