On one hand, Libgdx is widely prevalent in the Android market according to AppBrain, which claims that 1.53 percent of the apps (August 13, 2014) are made with this framework. If you have already taken a look at the Releasing your Libgdx game on Android recipe, you will quickly realize that it is quite easy to target that platform.
On the other hand, iOS has the most restrictive deployment process but it is still worth the hassle because of its huge market, which really offers you an opportunity to promote your game.
With this recipe, you will find the way to finally publish your Libgdx game on the Apple App store.
The first wall that you will hit within this recipe is the need of having an OS X machine with Xcode installed on it. The next requirement is an active iOS developer subscription, and you can read more about it at https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/.
You must also have a distribution certificate from Apple in order to sign your applications and upload them to the store.
Finally, the RoboVM Eclipse plugin needs to be installed. Typing RoboVM within the Eclipse marketplace (Help | Eclipse Marketplace) search bar is the easiest way of carrying it out.
The deployment process takes place in two different IDEs: Xcode and Eclipse. The first one is required to sign the application, whereas the second one is for the deployment itself. The next steps describe both stages:
- Launch Xcode, click on its menu with the same name, and go to Preferences. Then, enter Accounts and log in.
- Click on the View Details button in the bottom-right corner of the window and do likewise with the Recycle button. After that, all the certificates are accessible for the RoboVM Eclipse plugin.
- Switch to Eclipse, and right-click on your iOS project, for instance,
samples-ios, then go to RoboVM tools | Package for App-Store/Adhoc Distribution. - Select a destination folder for the compressed iOS App Storage Package (ipa) file that you are about to generate.
- Choose the identity that you want to sign with and the Apple provisioning profile.
- Finally, you have the
.ipafile that contains your game. Now, you just have to upload it to the Apple Store. Check out https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/LanguagesUtilities/Conceptual/iTunesConnect_Guide/Chapters/SubmittingTheApp.html if you need some help with how to do it.
Before submitting your game to the Apple Store, it is usually a good idea to test it with some reliable players that can help you to significantly raise the game's quality. Some good options to distribute it are www.testflightapp.com or www.hockeykit.net.