We get asked this question all the time. Surprisingly, it’s been pretty hard to find a concise article explaining a general overview of the process… until now. Like everything else in the mobile app world, the processes are likely to change next week. Here is how it works today for the two leading mobile platforms, Apple iOS and Google Android:

APPLE

We have expanded on these steps in our series “How an Apple App gets into the iTunes App Store“.

STEP 1: GET A MAC. You won’t be able to do anything without a Mac as far as developing software for iOS or uploading those apps to the App Store.

STEP 2: CREATE AN APPLE DEVELOPER ACCOUNT. Go to http://developer.apple.com/ and pay Apple $100. You will have to pay them $100 a year to keep your developer account active, and more when they decide to raise the prices. Apple will go back and forth a few times with you requesting and verifying your company information.

STEP 3: SETUP FINANCIAL INFORMATION. You will need to submit your company’s tax information, bank account information and agree to their current contracts. This will help you get paid if you are selling your apps. If all goes well, you’ll have your account setup in 2-3 weeks.

STEP 4: SETUP iAd NETWORK. This will need to be done if you plan on having ads shown in your application.

STEP 5: PREPARE YOUR APP FOR UPLOAD. When submitting an app, before you upload anything, you will need to fill out all of the information that Apple requests about your app. This includes version information, marketing description, support contact information, and screenshots and icons for the app store.

STEP 6: UPLOAD YOUR APP. This must be done from a developer’s workstation using the app submission tool that Apple provides. Apple generally takes 1 to 2 weeks to review apps, and if they reject your application will usually give some sort of description as to the reason.

ANDROID

We have expanded on these steps in our series “How an app gets into the Android Marketplace.”

STEP 1: GET A COMPUTER. You can develop for an Android on Windows, Linux or Apple computers.

STEP 2: CREATE A GOOGLE ACCOUNT. All of the services you will use to publish Apps with in the Google Market are associated with a Google Account of your choosing.

STEP 3: CREATE DEVELOPER ACCOUNT. Go to https://market.android.com/publish and pay Google $25. Unlike Apple, this is a one-time fee to create a developer account with Google.

STEP 4: SETUP GOOGLE CHECKOUT MERCHANT ACCOUNT. You will need to submit your company’s tax information, bank account information and agree to their current contracts. This will help you get paid if you are selling your apps.

STEP 5: SETUP AdMob NETWORK. This will need to be done if you plan on having ads shown in your application.

STEP 6: PREPARE YOUR APP FOR UPLOAD. When submitting an app, before you upload anything, you will need to fill out all of the information that Google requests about your app. This includes version information, marketing description, support contact information, and screenshots and icons for the Market.

STEP 7: UPLOAD YOUR APP. This is done through the website and does not require a developer to do. Anybody with the resulting .apk file from their developer can upload the app. Unlike Apple, Google does not review every app so it does not have the chance of being rejected. Apps generally are available in the Market in a matter of minutes to hours after clicking “Publish.”

On The GoWARE provides mobile app development and training services for Apple iPhone, iPad, Google Android, and BlackBerry platforms.