Submit your app to The Archives¶
After this page you can send an app you made in the Studio to The Archives for review, know what the reviewers look for, and look after your listing once it is published.
Need an app to share? Build your first app takes a few minutes, and Make a game, step by step builds a complete game you can make your own and share.
A share link or The Archives?¶
| Share link | The Archives | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sees it | Anyone holding the unlisted link; they can open and forward it | Everyone who browses cyberfidget.com/explore |
| Reviewed first | No: the page says "not reviewed by Cyber Fidget" | Yes, by a person at Cyber Fidget |
| How fast | Straight away | After review |
| Good for | Showing friends, getting feedback | A finished app you want others to find and install |
You can do both. A share link is a good way to get feedback before you submit.
Before you submit¶
Who can submit¶
- You need to sign in with GitHub. See the Terms of Use for the rules for publishing.
- You can submit up to 3 times a day.
What makes a good entry¶
- It works. Build it, then play it in the emulator, and on a real Fidget if you have one. Press the bottom-left button to leave it and check that the lights and sound stop.
- It is yours to share. Share only what you made, or what you have permission to share. Keep other people's credits and license notices in your code and art. Don't use other people's games, characters, music or art unless their license or permission allows it.
- It holds no personal information or secrets. Check the code, comments, screens, art and title for real names, addresses, school names, phone numbers, email addresses, passwords and access keys.
- It follows the Community Guidelines. They also list what is never allowed, and the rules for security demonstrations.
- Its name and description tell a stranger what it is. Say what it does and why it is fun. A screenshot as the thumbnail helps people notice it.
Fill in the details¶
Everything for a submission lives in the Studio. Open your project, open Settings, and choose the APP tab.
| Section | What to fill in | Required |
|---|---|---|
| NAME | The app's name, as people will see it. | Yes |
| CATEGORY | GAMES, TOOLS or SCREENSAVERS. The same category places the app in the Fidget's menu. | Yes |
| DESCRIPTION | What your app does, in up to 500 characters. | Yes |
| Tags | Filled in for you from your code (for example buttons, sound, lights, slider, tilt), not hand-picked. | - |
| CAPTURES | Pictures taken from the emulator: CAPTURE SCREENSHOT or RECORD A 5S LOOP. The capture in first position is your app's thumbnail. Keep it under 1 MB. | No, but recommended |
| SHARING | Whether others may copy your art and your code. See Licenses and credit. | - |
| PUBLISH > Contact email | Where we email you about your submission. It isn't shown on your listing. | Yes |
Then build the app one more time, and press PUBLISH TO EXPLORE. If something is missing, Studio takes you to that field and says what to add.
What you submit is what you tested
The submission carries the exact build you last made and tried, together with its code and any shared art. If you changed the code since that build, Studio says Build and try your app first - what you share is the exact build you tested. Build again, try it, and publish.
If Studio says This build can't be published yet, the app was built in a way The Archives can't use. In Settings, under BUILDING, set Where to build to On our build server, build again, then publish.
Keep private information out of code
Builds on your computer keep your code on your computer. If the studio uses the build server instead, that build is public. Keep personal information and secrets out of your code either way.
While it sends, the button reads Submitting..., and Studio says Your app was submitted for review. when it is done.
You can also start from a share link: on the page of a whole-project link you made, Submit to the Archives opens that project in the Studio. The submission uses the project as it is in the Studio, which may differ from what the link shows.
Licenses and credit¶
The SHARING switches decide what others may copy from your listing. They are the same switches as Others may copy in the Share box, so changing one changes the other.
| Switch | When it is on | When it is off |
|---|---|---|
| Share the art | Others may use, change and share your art, including commercially, under CC BY-SA 4.0. They must credit you and share changed art under the same license. | People can see the art in your app but can't take a copy. |
| Share the code | Others may use, change and share your code, including commercially, under the MIT License. Copies keep your copyright and license notice. | Reviewers still read your code; the listing does not offer it for copying. |
With both switches off, people can still try your app and send it to their Fidget. These switches control copying from the listing. They do not make a build on the build server private.
When art sharing is on, What gets shared when someone remixes picks what others receive:
- A finished snapshot (recommended): the art as it is.
- My full working file - layers, animations, and editing setup: everything you edit with. Also include my saved versions adds your older drafts; anyone will be able to see them, including things you changed your mind about.
A license can't be taken back. Anyone who copied your work under one of these licenses may keep using that copy.
Your maker name. Your listing names you as its maker using the name on your GitHub profile, or your GitHub username if your profile has no name. It is saved when the app is approved. If your GitHub profile shows your real name and you'd rather it didn't appear, change it on GitHub before you submit.
Review¶
A person at Cyber Fidget reviews every submission by hand. A reviewer may:
- read your code, including code you didn't share;
- run your app in the emulator and on a real Cyber Fidget;
- check that the code and art you shared build into the app on their own;
- write to you with questions, sometimes pointing at a line of
main.cppormain.h.
Follow your submission on Your app submissions in the account menu (under your picture). Each submission shows a status and a Review conversation:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Waiting for review | Received and waiting for a reviewer. |
| In review | A reviewer is looking at it. |
| Changes requested | A reviewer asked you to change something. Their note is in the conversation. |
| Approved | Accepted for The Archives. |
| Not approved | It won't be listed. The reviewer's note says why. |
| Closed - no response | Changes were asked for and nobody answered for a while. Nothing is deleted. |
We email your contact address when your submission arrives, when a reviewer writes to you or asks for changes, and when it is approved or not. Reply under Reply on the submission and choose Send reply. Everything in the conversation is kept.
When changes are requested¶
Make the changes in the Studio, build and try the app again, and press PUBLISH TO EXPLORE again. Then say in the conversation what you changed. If you need more time, say so there. When changes have waited a long time without an answer, a reviewer may email you a reminder and later close the submission as Closed - no response. You can submit again whenever you are ready.
After approval¶
Your app appears in The Archives with the build you tested. Anyone can then try it, send it to their Fidget, and copy what you chose to share.
Improve your listing¶
Open your project's Settings and choose IMPROVE YOUR LISTING (it appears once the app is published), or open Your app submissions and follow Improve the listings of your published apps. On Your listings, choose your app.
| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| Short tagline | One line under the name, up to 60 characters. |
| Description | Up to 2,000 characters. The page shows the start and folds the rest behind Show more. Aim for at least 120. |
| Tags | Up to 12, used by search. |
| Screenshots | Up to 8. Choose Run it here to take screenshots and take them from the emulator, or Add an image (PNG or GIF). |
| Card face | Your app's thumbnail: the picture on its card. Any screenshot can be the thumbnail. |
| Preview animation | A 5-second loop recorded from the emulator. It plays on your card. |
| How to play | One control per line, up to 600 characters. |
| Name, Category | You can ask for a change; it shows once an admin approves it. |
Most changes go live as soon as you save. Listing health suggests what is still missing, and a live preview shows how the page will look. Change history records every change to the listing; only you and the admins can see it. How it's doing shows how your app is doing, including any reports about it.
Publish an update¶
Publish again from the same project: open Settings, check the details, build, try it, and press PUBLISH TO EXPLORE. An update is reviewed the same way as a first submission. If the update ends up with a listing of its own next to the old one, ask in your review conversation for the two to be merged.
Take an app down¶
There is no button to remove your own listing. Ask in your review conversation, or email contact@dismoindustries.com with the listing's link. An admin can hide it from browsing and search, or take its page down. Nothing is deleted, and anyone who already installed the app keeps it.
Summary¶
- Make an app, build it, and try it.
- In Settings > APP, fill in the name, category, description, a capture, the sharing switches and your contact email.
- Press PUBLISH TO EXPLORE.
- Follow the review on Your app submissions and answer the reviewer.
- Once approved, improve your listing.