Ok, I submitted the Windows Mobile port of my iPhone game Piecehunters over to the Windows Mobile Marketplace for review on a Sunday night. Having heard that it would take about 1 month, I didn’t expect a reply or email anytime soon. Therefore, I was amazed when I got an email on Tuesday afternoon saying that my game was approved and I can then log in plus put it into the catalog for sale. This is 1 aspect where Microsoft has surpassed Apple when it comes to the App Store.
2 days from submission to completion is fast, real fast. Even Apple took 1 week for reviewing apps when they opened the doors to their App Store in July 2008. But then I discovered something else. I submitted my game to the US catalog and when I decided to add SG(Singapore) as an additional market to the catalog, I was told that it would cost an additional $10 USD and it would also mean that my game would be under review again.
$10 USD may sound atrocious when you consider Apple’s $99 USD free-for-all submission process. But this also has the effect of encouraging more developers to put paid apps in the Windows Mobile Marketplace rather than free apps. After all, if you put a free app into 10 different markets, you incur a loss of $100 USD which you won’t be able to recoup back.
But when I consider that it only took 2 days from submission to approval, I am pretty happy to pay a small additional fee to save me 1 month of waiting. After all, time is money and Windows Mobile Marketplace still has some kinks to iron out.
1 of the kinks occur when you change the contact email of your account and then you try to submit an app for certification. Upon clicking the “Submit for certification” button, you will get this dreaded page which gave me a #facepalm
So, to sum it all up, the 2 day approval period has amazed me with it’s speed and efficiency, but there are still some bugs in the website and some processes that needs to be improved in order for Windows Mobile Marketplace to gather more traction. Even Apple’s MobileMe had a lot of issues upon launch.