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iosiphoneipadapp-storeios-universal-app

Replacing an app with an universal build on the iOS App Store

I had developed two separate builds for my game, one for iPhone and one for iPad. I had uploaded each of these builds on the iOS App Store a few years ago, back before universal builds become common.

The names for these builds are “XYZ” (for iPhone) and “XYZ HD” (for iPad). Now, I have developed a universal build for the same game and I would like to name my updated game as “XYZ HD” on the iOS App Store. I have two questions:

  1. How many listings for this game should I maintain? I definitely want to maintain the iPhone listing as it has better and more user reviews compared to the iPad version. If I keep both listings, it would be odd as I would have the same universal build for each listing and the same pricing. I suppose I could point out in the updated listing that it is a universal build.

  2. What should I name the updated listing(s)? If I only maintain one listing, I would maintain the iPhone version but I understand that Apple will not allow me to call my iPhone build “XYZ HD” even if I unpublish the iPad version. Therefore, I could keep the old name “XYZ” which does not highlight that it now has better graphics for iPads or I could do some weird new name to get around Apple’s naming restrictions such as “XYZ–HD”.

I’d appreciate any suggestions on these issues. Thank you.

Solution
    1. Maintain 1 listing (your most downloaded/rated/reviewed one)
    2. Get rid of the "HD", it's not relevant anymore. All apps and devices are HD in 2015. Apps that have "HD" in their name are most likely old apps from the times of not universal apps.

    You could make a little update to your iPad version to warn your user of the new listing model. (Or use your app messaging/notification system if you already have one)