I want my application to be unsearchable from the App Store. I would like that only those users who sign in to my web site and then click the link of my iPhone application on app store, can install and use my application.
Is there any way to do that?
To hide your application you have to remove all the App Store countries in iTunes Connect:
To get it back on the App Store, choose the countries where you want it publish.
PS: it might take more than some hours for changes to be reflected on the App Stores.
Your application will be found when they search for the name of the app or your name. There's no special option in iTunes Connect to hide your app.
While your application will be found when searched for, as long as it's not installed in large numbers, it won't show up in the top 50 lists. Which kind of is the same.
Tip: don't specify any keywords when registering your app, as these will improve the "searchability".
Edit: you might want to implement some kind of authentication in your app, so users who do have installed your app need to register first, before they can actually use it. Relying on your app not being found, isn't very "clean".
I think, without meaningful keywords your app should vanish amongst the 99.999 other apps.
As an alternative you could let everyone (search and) download the app and disable it until the user signed in.
You can also use in-house-distribution with the enterprise program (see here).
Apple sells special developer licenses if you want to control the installation. They are meant for Enterprises to develop and deploy applications for only their use. Here's an article about it:
Since iTunes Connect has been redesigned a bit, go to My Apps > Select your app > Pricing and Availability > Availability (2nd section) > Select Remove from sale.
The best bet is to use obscure keywords on submission along with an obscure app name.
Not sure if this is going to work, but it may be worth a try:
You can set the release date of the application to the future. This removes the app from the catalog, which is a common way to remove an app temporarily (e.g. when it has problems) until an update appears.
However (this is possibly the catch) I don't know if the app will then be still available for sale via link or if the link will become unusable too.
if i were you i'd implement a "key generator", which will produce a serial that will be used to activate your application. this key generator would be free to access on your site, so whoever downloads your application through your site, would know what to do.
for those who access the application through itunes, i would also place a small text which basically says that you need to visit your site to generate a key. this way, you'd ensure that anyone who has access to your site has access to your app, and whoever finds your app will access your site.
this is i think hack proof by definition as well because noone would bother hacking it, would they? you basically give away your own serial generator for free, so it defeats the whole purpose of hacking. im assuming your concern is site traffic though.
