Release an ios app update when content feeds are not live yet

Question

I need to release an update to an iOS app. I want to release the app update exactly with the launch of the web site. So what I was thinking of doing is: - developing the new version of the app (using internal in dev feeds) - change the feeds in the app in order to point to the new feeds (at this point the app won't have any content because the feeds are not live yet) - submit the app to the app store (wait for Apple approval) and manually release the app when the site goes live (and at this point the feeds will be live) The problem is that when the app is in the review process I won't have any content. Is it a problem for Apple? They can approve an app without content? What if I write a developer note to them? I need to do this because when the new site goes live the new version of the feeds it's no compatible with the old version (different formats). I know it's not the ideal solution but this was not my decision.

Answer 1

You could load up the back-end of the website without loading up the front-end. So have the php files loaded to the server and accessible from the app feeding it json data or however you are transferring information. If your back-end is interlaced with the front-end, you may have to re-write the files, name them the same thing, upload them to the server, have them be serving data so that they can test them, and then when you want to launch the site, overwrite the files with the full version. However, I'd imagine that your files capturing data from the database are differentiated from the ones presenting dynamic content, otherwise you are breaking the MVC paradigm and should probably change the way your website is structured anyway.

Answer 2

As Rich pointed out, Apple would likely reject the app if the news feeds are a big part of the app and do nothing. If your desire is to release the app exactly when the website is launched and the news feeds are live, then while you're submitting the app there is an option to have it released on a specific date.