FAQS

1. What can I get from Catappult?

With Catappult, developers can distribute apps to multiple stores that are part of the Catappult community. Furthermore, developers that integrate their apps with Catappult in-app billing solution can:

Get free featuring and be prioritised on search results;

Benefit from the best payout rate of the market for in-app purchases: at least 81%;

2. Do I have to pay something to distribute my apps?

No. Distributing and monetising apps with Catappult is completely free.

3. Are there any content restrictions?

Yes. We don't allow apps that contain or promote sexual content, such as pornography, or any content or services intended to be sexually gratifying. Content that contains nudity may be allowed if the primary purpose is educational, documentary, scientific or artistic, and is not gratuitous.

Additionally, apps will be voided if they infringe on the intellectual property rights of others. Eg: trademark, copyright, patent, trade secret, and other proprietary rights. Lastly, any other app which Q&A team may not be comfortable to distribute given nature won't be published.



Examples:



Illegal activities – selling drugs

Incentivizing terrorism/violence/bullying/hate

4. What does it mean to certify my app?

For your safety we go through a procedure to confirm that you are the app developer and avoid third parties to distribute and benefit from your apps without your consent.



5. How do I certify my app?

There are three ways of certifying an app:



Via Android Developer ID: you can upload an app into Catappult using the same email address used to distribute it on the Google Play Store. This means that, when you upload an app, we check it on other app stores and if the email address matches, we can confirm that you are the legit owner.

Via Email: if you submit an app using one email address but you have access to the one registered on Google Play, a link will be sent to the second and it will be valid for a short time to certify the app.

Via Signature: you can prove that you can sign an apk with the same signature as the app you are trying to certify. To do so, you'll have to download a dummy APK provided by us on the back-office, sign it, and upload it again for us to compare.

6. How long does it take for my app to be certified? And to be trusted?

It may take up to five business days for your app's certification request to be reviewed by the Catappult team. In the meantime, you can change the app's information, such as title, description, and screenshots if you wish. You may also submit new apps and request their certification too.



About the app being marked as trusted, that is totally dependent on the security team and the tests they do in order to better promote the safest market store possible, so it varies as a result of many factors.



7. What should I use for the Android package ID, signature and vercode of my app?

Your priority should be providing a good user experience to your users, so Catappult strongly recommends you to use:



Package ID: the same as in other app stores (e.g. “com.example.myapp”)

Developer's signature: the same as in other app stores



Vercode: higher than the one in other app stores. Just add an extra digit - different than 0- on the left (e.g., vercode 573 would become 1573)

It’s important to have the same Package ID of other stores (e.g, Google Play) to be sure that when Catappult stores promote your app, the user will not get two packages of the same app installed. Two icons on the same device lead to a bad experience and the user tend to remove both.



The developer signature has to be the same to ensure that if the user updates a package, it doesn’t get a failed installation with the error "Installation failed since the device has an application with the same package but a different signature.”



The reason for the vercode to be higher is to avoid automatic upgrades by the Play Store, which is the default option in Android. Automatic update leads to different payment experiences which can compromise IAP monetization. Vercode is something internal to the Android system. What is visible to the user is the vername which can be the same as in Google Play.



8. Can I still run ads campaigns inside my app?

Yes. We support the majority of the ads and the revenue you earn with them will not be shared with Catappult.

