Yup, it’s that time of year again as Apple’s App Store team begins emailing registered developers, letting them know that the iTunes Connect service they use to manage App Store items will shut down for the winter holidays, between December 22-29. During this time, apps will not be updated, price changes will be locked and apps slated to hit the App Store for the first time will be delayed. Attempting to schedule app updates or price changes from December 29 through December 29 may result in an entry being unavailable for purchase, Apple writes. Full contents of Apple’s email right after the break.

Thanks, Jan G!

iTunes Connect will be temporarily shut down from Thursday, December 22 to Thursday, December 29 for the winter holidays.

During this shutdown, the following functionality will be unavailable:

Access to iTunes Connect The delivery of any apps or updates Additionally, the following will be delayed: Releases scheduled to appear on the App Store for the first time Pricing changes scheduled through the interval pricing system in iTunes Connect

We strongly recommend that you do not schedule pricing changes through the interval pricing system in iTunes Connect that would take effect from December 22 through December 29. Pricing changes scheduled to take effect during this date range will not be reflected in the App Store and the app will become unavailable for purchase.

We also recommend that you do not schedule any apps to go live during the shutdown. Releases scheduled with a sales start date between these dates will not go live until after the shutdown.

Regards,

The App Store team