Transferring an existing mobile app to Aiir

When you purchase mobile apps from Aiir, you may already have an app in Apple's App Store or Google Play for your station developed by a previous developer.

There are two options for how to launch your new app:

Transfer apps in to Aiir's control and perform an upgrade

This is the smoothest process for listeners. An app update is submitted to Apple and Google and appears like a normal update to your listeners with no manual intervention required.

If the app already exists in an Apple Developer and Google Play account owned by the station it's possible to skip straight to the steps for inviting Aiir's account in to your team. 

If the app exists inside accounts that belong to the previous developer (usually identified by the app store listing referring to the previous developer's name as the "owner"), you must contact them and ask them to complete an app transfer. 

You can find instructions for transferring an app between accounts here:

• Transferring an iOS app
• Transferring an Android app

Please contact us if you embark on this path as you will require some details from us to start the process.

Android in particular has an additional complication related to the way security is applied to the app release. There is a process which "signs" the app to confirm the developer is who Google is expecting to issue a new app update. You will need to request the 'key store' and associated passwords from the previous developer in order for us to release an update to an existing app.

If the previous developer signs the app with the same key store they use for all their apps, they are often reluctant to release that information to another developer as it potentially allows the new developer to update any of their apps.

Once Aiir has control of the previous app we can then issue an update to migrate it to the Aiir app.

Remove the old apps from the App Store and Google Play and launch a new one

In the event of it not being possible to transfer the app, a new app must be launched.

It's important to get the old app removed from the stores first as Apple and Google will not allow two apps with identical names and brands and reject the new one. If it's not possible to contact the previous developer, you may have to launch a challenge with Apple and Google to have the app removed and explain your case.

Once your new app is launched, existing app users of the old app will need to be told a new app is available and to download it from the app stores. This may require on-air messaging to encourage listeners to migrate. This is the main reason the initial "app transfer" method above is favoured.