In September, Apple traditionally refreshes its branded operating system. As promised, we will get Dark Mode, Apple Watch App Store, reduced sizes of apps and their updates, sign in with Apple, and so forth.

Apple motivates developers to support newly-introduced iOS functions — by placing them in Today and Featured collections. Last year, one day after the release of iOS 12, all Apps and Games selections were devoted to the system’s new features:

For the Today tab, Apple prepares special selections to help promote their new products. A year ago, such selections were dedicated to Siri Shortcuts, AR, and Apple Watch:

Want to appear on the App Store’s main page in September? We have asked app and game developers to share how they are sharpening their tools for the big release, and have compiled ratings of the top-expected iOS 13 features.

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iOS 13 features you should incorporate in your app

Dark Mode

Most apps already have their own dark modes (remember Slack’s recent update that introduced it), so the only thing now is to meet the new API.

Olga Frolova, Head of Mobile at VK:

“We crafted our dark mode quite a long time ago. The greatest thing about it is that it is technically almost the same as Apple’s Dark Mode — it won’t take long to enable it to support the system’s API.”

Aviasales developers also set up their app for the Dark Mode. Konstantin Savchenko, VP Mobile:

“In the course of preparing for the iOS 13 release, we will integrate the Dark Mode and Sign In with Apple, and kill the Apple Watch app. The latter has been crashing on startup for a year, and we haven't received any comments or reviews on that so far.”

Sign In with Apple

Enabling users to log in to various services using their Apple ID is meant to protect iPhone owners’ personal data. Also, this function is aimed at making signing up for third-party services easier — such a simplification may attract more users.

Olga Frolova, Head of Mobile at VK:

“We sincerely want to support Sign In with Apple as it offers plenty of benefits. However, it also has some shortcomings: for instance, a user can regenerate their temporary email and eventually lose access to their old account. We are mailing feature requests to Apple. Let’s see how things will turn out."

Siri Suggestions

Siri Suggestions can help a user navigate better through apps and services. For example, these assistants will suggest adding flights and tickets found in e-mails. This function will partner with third-party apps, so developers will have another opportunity to pop-up before the user’s eyes.

Bayram Annakov, App in the Air CEO:

“We’ve been waiting for this feature for so long, and now will surely make it before the release. I only hope that it will become possible to import events from Siri calendar, so that the feature works on either side.”

None. Just make a great product

Some think that incorporating Apple’s just-released functions at the voluntary stage, only to get featured, is not the best method. Remember that Apple is primarily interested in offering users dependable and noteworthy products rather than boasting about trendy software capabilities.

Arthur Mostovoy, Producer at Azur Games:

“It’s even better if a feature — when added — not only acts as a standalone ingredient but really supports the product. On the other hand, if a feature doesn't bring any value, it’s not worth the trouble. In this regard, it would be wiser to invest in something that would effectively improve the quality, engagement, or monetization.”

Forget about features, rectify iOS 13 bugs before the release

Fresh software stunts should not be the highest priority if the app doesn’t initially make good on the new system. Even if such a version gets featured, it will definitely damage the brand as a storm of negative reviews will be inevitable.

Andrey Drobitko, Founder at SketchAR:

“Actually, iOS 13 came with things that just didn’t allow the app to start. We’ve noticed errors and bugs multiplying year after year. You assemble the app in TestFlight, and it's all clear, but in real life, screens slide away or errors appear. Even if all the guidelines are observed!”

It's up to the developer to decide whether to apply new features from Apple. But what is vital, is to maintain the high average rating after iOS 13 is released. 86 percent of apps and games showing in Today are rated 4 and above, so we strongly recommend focusing on the app positions.

Unsubscribing when deleting

Starting from iOS 13, users will be able to cancel active subscriptions when deleting an app. Previously, an app could charge users even after they had removed it from their device, unless they manually stopped the subscription — which was hard to do as the Subscriptions panel was lodged deep in the App Store settings. This was one of the most frequent complaints about apps offering in-app purchases.

Though it's only publishers that get the blame, the situation has a negative effect on the entire App Store. As of today, rule-breaking developers will no longer be able to earn from users who forgot to deactivate their subscriptions.

Will this affect the incomes of developers and Apple? There is a school of thought that games do well without subscriptions, so this won't make any difference to them. However, we wanted to hear what app developers thought about that.

Denis Germanenko, CEO at CleverPumpkin:

"I bet this will reduce profits, but not critically."

Olga Frolova, Head of Mobile at VK:

"We don't worry about the VK Music subscription as users only purchase it knowingly."

Anyway, September will show us all which apps will be featured after the iOS 13 release, and how they will make use of it to attract more users.