iTunes Connect Tools for Reports

iTunes Connect provide sales reports for to developers on their released iphone applications, but there are merely text files which are hard to digest. Further more, the reports are purged on a regular basis which you could at most trace for the last 7 daily reports and last 13 weekly reports.

To make life simpler and make the mere text files more useful, some tools are made available by fellow developers. Below are 3 tools I found.

 

1) AppSales.app

AppSales is a Mac application that tabulates your total downloads and sales, by importing the mere text files. As all my apps are currently free apps, I could not see any sales figure. But AppSales provide the grand total downloads that I was looking for.

Anyway, in 7 weeks, my numbers are:

• 12,410 x SG 4D
• 6,207 x SG Pools
• 5,791 x SG Toto

 

2) AppStoreStat script

There is a Python script that tabulates that tabulates and store the downloads in a nicer text format. It will output the grand total downloads and the downloads segmented by countries. The output is easier to use if you need to graph out your own graphs.

The original Python script can be downloaded from Google code.

If you were to use the auto download reports scripts in (3) below, then you may want to download my modified AppStoreStat script that accepts the filenames from (3).

 

3) Auto download reports script

MaddyHome has a bash script that does some automation and web scraping to download the mere texts from iTunes Connect. But, it did not work for me.. I am sure someone can fix the script..

The scripts did not work at first due to the datetime used is 1 day ahead of Singapore. I fixed the date, and also modified such that it downloads all 7 daily reports. I also added downloads for the 13 weekly reports. Download the bash scripts here: download_daily.sh and download_weekly.sh

Remember to edit the scripts with your iTunes Connect account. You may also want to run a cron job for the scripts (:

 

Updated on 4th Dec 2008:
- Added my modified auto download scripts that work for Singapore datetime
- Added my modified AppStoreStat script that works together with the auto download scripts

Apple is broken

There is bug with Apple iPhone 2.1 (only 2.1 firmware).

If you have upgraded to the latest 2.1 firmware, then all iTunes links opened from iPhone's Safari browser will no longer work.

When you attempt to download an application in Safari, it will show the error "Safari cannot open the page because the address is invalid."

There is currently no workaround, except to inform users about Apple's bug and direct users to go to App Store and search for the application.

Beta users using firmware 2.2 beta said they are aware of the bug and this should be solved (they can't confirm due to NDA).

On any case, this is a ridiculous bug from Apple. They tried to patch a security flaw in Safari and end up creating a bigger bug. This is pathetic in software development.. but I sympathize with them (:

Other sources:
Cartoon Barry blog

SG Toto + SG Ad

SG Toto is a software that checks the weekly Toto results from Singapore Pools. It gives you a better alternative to finding out the Toto results every Monday and Thurs    day.

SG Toto has the following additional features:

• Check the previous results (since 2005)
• View the winning numbers of the last 7 draws, and also the numbers not drawn
• Check the next jackpot and the prize money!

Good luck, have fun & play smart (:

In addition, SG Toto has added SG Ad, which is an advertisement space for advertisers who are interested in my audiences :) If you are an advertiser and you are interested, please drop me an email junda@just2me.com.

Lastly, if you are expecting a SG Big Sweep, you may need to wait as late as till next year. My next application is a paid app and it is one of the most interesting app. Stay tuned!

Apple accepted Hoiio on iPhone

Hoiio officially and finally hit the store today! Download Hoiio from iTunes App Store to start saving $$ on your call and SMS!

Hoiio on iPhone is the first iPhone application that I work on. It took a long 1+ month to learn and develop, and an addional long 2 weeks for Apple to approve that it is fit to be in Apple App Store.

When Hoiio was submitted 2 weeks ago, Apple send us the email:

Your application Hoiio is requiring unexpected additional time for review.   We apologize for the delay, and will update you with further status as soon as we are able.

Usually Apple takes 4 days to approve an application. As such, my initial conclusion is that they would reject our application, or take 2 months before politely declining us with a "After a long deliberate review process, we are unfortunate that we cannot have Hoiio on the App Store, as it breaches our contract with our carriers (Singtel, etc..)"..

Fortunately, Apple accepted Hoiio and now users get to save on their phone bills!

There was another concern on application design. Refer to the two screenshots on Call and SMS and you will realize Hoiio design has a close resemblance to Apple's Phone.app and Text.app design! :

Fortunately, Apple accepted Hoiio and now users get a familiar Call & SMS interface!

Once again, download Hoiio from iTunes App Store!

SG 4D

SG 4D is a software that checks the weekly 4D results from Singapore Pools. It gives you a better alternative to finding out the 4D results every Wed, Sat and Sun.

Not only does it checks the recent results, SG 4D has the following additional features:

• Check the previous results (since 2005)
• Analyze 4D to find out when it last appeared as a winning number

Good luck, have fun & play smart (:

Some screenshots: