Metadata

The Metadata tab is where you edit the text of your App Store listing: name, subtitle, promotional text, description, keywords, what's new and links, one locale at a time. Edits stay on your Mac until you push them to App Store Connect.

What you need#

• A connected team. See Add your first team.
• An app with at least one App Store version. If it has none yet, create one with New Version (below).
• For Localize: Slipway Pro, plus an AI provider and model in Settings ▸ AI. See AI providers and models.

Pick a version#

Open an app from the apps list. Slipway opens the Metadata tab, or the Submit tab if the latest version was rejected. It selects the version you can edit: the one in Prepare for Submission or Rejected, or the newest version if there is neither.

The Versions section at the top of the workspace sidebar lists recent versions. Each has a status dot and a tag: live, editing, in review, approved, rejected or replaced. If the app ships on more than one platform, the versions are grouped under iOS, macOS, tvOS or visionOS. Click a version to load its localizations.

The header under the toolbar shows the selected version, its status, a Next: chip that jumps to the next unfinished step of the release checklist, and the precheck result (Ready to submit or the number of blocking issues). Click the precheck to open Submit and release.

Create a new version#

1. Click New Version under the version list.
2. Choose the platform: iOS, macOS, tvOS or visionOS. Choosing a platform the app isn't on yet adds the app to that platform.
3. Check the version number. Slipway suggests the next minor version after the live one (2.4.1 becomes 2.5.0), or 1.0.0 if the app has never been released.
4. Click Create.

App Store Connect copies the metadata from the live version into the new one, so you start from your current listing.

Edit a locale#

The editor is grouped into sections. Each field shows a character counter. When a field goes over its limit, its outline turns red.

Keywords are comma-separated with no spaces after the commas. Slipway shows each keyword as a chip under the field. Past 100 characters it shows Over the limit — App Store Connect will reject this push., and precheck lists it as a blocking issue.

Locales#

The Localizations section of the inspector lists every locale on this version and how many are complete. Each locale has seven dots: name, subtitle, promo, description, keywords, what's new and support URL (six on a first release, which has no what's new). Green means filled in, orange means over the limit, grey means empty. Click a locale to edit it.

To add locales:

1. Click Add Locale in the inspector.
2. Pick the locales you want. The locales set under Settings ▸ Screenshots ▸ Default locales are pre-selected.
3. Click Add.

New locales start empty, with the support, marketing and privacy URLs copied from an existing locale. They are created on App Store Connect the first time you push them. Locales you add here are also added to the screenshot studio.

Preview and Diff#

• Preview opens the App Store preview, which shows the listing as customers will see it on the App Store. It's covered in Optimize.
• Diff switches the editor to Changes vs live. For the current locale it lists each field that differs from the copy Slipway last fetched from App Store Connect, with the old text (−) and the new text (+). Click Editor to go back.

Note — "Live" in the diff means what App Store Connect holds for this version right now, not the version that's on sale. The diff covers name, subtitle, promotional text, description, keywords, what's new, support URL and marketing URL.

Push your changes#

There are two ways to send edits to App Store Connect:

• Push, on the Metadata tab, sends the locale you're editing. When it's done you'll see "Pushed en-US metadata to App Store Connect".
• The Sync button at the right of the toolbar sends every locale that has changed. A badge shows how many locales are waiting. When nothing has changed, the button turns grey and its tooltip reads "Everything is on App Store Connect". Sync stops at the first locale that fails.

Pushing writes the description, keywords, promotional text, what's new (not on a first release) and URLs to the version localization, and the name, subtitle and privacy policy URL to the app info localization. If a localization doesn't exist on App Store Connect yet, Slipway creates it.

Localize with AI#

Localize translates the locale you're editing into every other locale on the version, then pushes each one. The AI is told Apple's limits, and Slipway trims anything that's still too long before it pushes. Keywords are chosen for each market rather than translated word for word.

1. Finish the source locale, usually your primary language.
2. Add the target locales with Add Locale.
3. Click Localize. Slipway works through the locales one by one, then shows "Localized and pushed N locales".

Pro — Localize needs Slipway Pro. During the beta the paywall unlocks locally. Everything else on this tab is free.

Troubleshooting#

• "Add your AI provider key in Settings first": Settings ▸ AI needs a provider, a key (Ollama doesn't need one) and a model.
• "Add a locale first": Localize needs at least one other locale. Use Add Locale.
• "Couldn't load this version.": Click Retry. If it keeps failing, see Troubleshooting.
• A cleared field comes back: Slipway only sends the subtitle, the URLs and the privacy policy URL when they have a value. To remove one of them, clear it in App Store Connect.
• "Push failed: …": The message is App Store Connect's own error. Usually a field is over its limit or the version can't be edited in its current state.