This article describes the steps you should take to comply to the App Store and Play Store policy guidelines.
Both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store have policy guidelines that, although for different reasons, point to requiring an app to be published in the customer's account.
Guidelines
These policy guidelines are the following:
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Google : Impersonation and IP - Do not publish someone else’s app in your account
"We don’t allow apps or developer accounts that impersonate other entities, brands or otherwise infringe on intellectual property rights of others (including trademark, copyright, patent, trade secret and other proprietary rights)." -
Apple : Guideline 4.3 - Only one app of its kind in your store account
"Don’t create multiple Bundle IDs of the same app. If your app has different versions for specific locations, sports teams, universities, etc., consider submitting a single app and provide the variations using in-app purchase."
So, in short, Google requires the Play Store account to be in the name of the entity that also owns the brand of the app. In other words, a society who owns the brand of an Event or Society App needs their own Play Store account to publish this app. Apple, on the other hand, states that when you publish different similar apps (like different Event Apps, or different Society Apps), you need to combine them into a single container app. This too implies that a society needs their own App Store account to have their Event or Society App published. The account of the vendor or PCO will not suffice, as it would likely need to contain the apps of multiple society clients, which is not allowed anymore.
Therefore, in all cases, you need your own Apple App Store and Google Play Store account. If you don’t have these accounts yet, you need to open them. We can assist you, free of charge. You, however, do need to pay the required fees that Apple and Google charge. These are, respectively, $99 per year for the Apple App Store and a one-time $25 for the Google Play Store.
New clients
Are you a new client, and is this the first Event or Society App that we would publish for you? Then, proceed as mentioned above and open your Play Store account and App Store account if you don’t already have them.
Having the apps in your own account doesn't mean you have to build and submit them yourself. If you invite us as a team member in your account, we can do that on your behalf. In the articles above it is explained how to do so.
Existing clients
It depends on the apps you currently have what steps should be taken. In both cases, we will contact you and discuss an appropriate timeline.
Society app
Do you already have a Society App? If your app is already published in your own store accounts, then there’s nothing else you need to do. If your app is currently published in our store account, then you need to open your own store accounts. Invite us as a team member so that we can transfer the app to your account. Note that transferring an app to your account has no impact for your existing app users.
Multiple single event apps
Do you not yet have a Society App, and were you planning to have more than one event app? Then your old Event App(s) should be deleted before publishing the new one. Better instead is to delete all old Event Apps, except for the last one, and let us upgrade it to a Society App in which all future events will be published. If you haven't already, open your own store accounts and invite us as a team member. We will upgrade the latest event app to a Society App and transfer it to your account, if needed. Note that deleting apps from the stores does not delete these apps from your user’s devices: they can keep on using the app as before.