In this video I take a look at what happens after an app is live on AppSource. I show what’s available in Partner Center and discuss steps necessary for an app to be usable as an AppSource App.
In this video, Erik follows up on his four-episode mini series about getting a Business Central app into AppSource. Now that the app is live, he walks through what Microsoft actually provides you as a publisher — and more importantly, what they don’t provide. From the Partner Center dashboard to analytics, update processes, and the critical gaps around monetization and registration, this video reveals the real-world realities of maintaining an AppSource app.
The App Is Live in AppSource
After completing the process from the mini series, the “Automatic Exchange Rates” app is now live and visible in AppSource. Searching for it in AppSource brings up the listing with the description text, screenshots, links to other apps, publisher details, and version number.
The listing page also shows various links including:
- A link to Business Central itself
- License agreement
- Privacy policy
- Support links
- A link to uploaded documentation
All of this content comes from what was configured in the Offer Listing area within Partner Center — the name, description text, supporting materials, links, and screenshots.
How to Update Your App
Updating an app follows the same process used during the initial submission and resubmission. The steps are:
- Go into Properties and update the version number
- Go into the second configuration section and remove the existing app files
- Upload the new app file
- Optionally update screenshots and other listing details
- Save and publish
An important detail: whatever version is currently on AppSource remains live until the new version passes certification. If you submit something that fails validation, the existing live version stays live. You simply resubmit, and when it passes certification, the new version becomes active.
Updates Don’t Automatically Push to Tenants
This is a critical point that catches people off guard. Uploading a new version to AppSource does not automatically update the app on tenants that have it installed. Users need to go into the Business Central Admin Center, navigate to their environment, look at the installed apps, and manually click Update.
The exception is when Microsoft performs major platform updates — during those, they will upgrade all apps. Otherwise, the app stays on whatever version is currently installed. So just because you’ve submitted an update doesn’t mean your customers are getting it.
Analytics: What Microsoft Gives You (and What They Don’t)
Partner Center includes an Analyze section with a summary dashboard. However, Erik’s assessment is blunt: most of it is essentially useless at this point.
- Orders: Not applicable — customers can’t buy anything directly on AppSource yet
- Customers: No data available
- Usage: No meaningful data
- Marketplace Insights: You can see page hits for your app listing
- Country data: Not available
- Downloads: Not providing useful information
So the big question becomes: who has actually downloaded and installed my app?
Tracking Installs: The CRM Workaround
The only reliable way to know who has installed your app is through the CRM system that you connect during the initial setup process. In Erik’s case, he connected an Azure Table as his CRM system — one of the very first steps in the mini series.
He built a small utility called get-appsource-leads that generates a CSV file of everyone who has downloaded the app. The flow works like this:
- A user clicks “Get it now” on the AppSource listing
- They fill out their information (name, country, permissions, etc.)
- They’re taken to their cloud tenant to install the app
- This operation triggers a lead notification in the connected CRM system
This is both the good news and the bad news — it’s the only way you’ll know about someone downloading your app.
The Gaps: Registration, Monetization, and Licensing
The lack of built-in analytics and commerce capabilities creates significant gaps that every AppSource publisher must fill on their own. This means:
- Registration: You need to build some sort of registration process into your app
- Monetization: If your app isn’t free, you need to handle payments yourself. AppSource only offers “Free trial,” “Get it now” (free), and “Contact me” — and “Contact me” is really just a URL to the AppSource listing
- License enforcement: You need to figure out how to prevent execution if the app isn’t registered or paid for
Regarding the listing options, Erik clarifies that “Free trial” and “Get it now” work essentially the same way — you get the app, and then it’s up to the app itself to determine how to behave. There’s no built-in trial period management or licensing infrastructure.
This is why every app you install from AppSource comes with its own unique registration experience. Different vendors handle it differently — Erik mentions using one method for his apps at eFocus and a different approach for his personal apps at hogarth.com.
Dealing with the Process
Even as an experienced publisher with roughly a dozen apps on AppSource, Erik still encountered unexpected hiccups — like being told you can’t have a dot in the app name. The key advice:
- Don’t get discouraged when validation issues come up
- Build time into your schedule — the process takes time
- Have patience and work with the system
- Microsoft is a big machinery and acts like one — expecting otherwise is a fool’s errand
Summary
Getting an app live in AppSource is really just the beginning. While the four-episode mini series covered the submission and certification process, this follow-up reveals the ongoing realities of being an AppSource publisher. The analytics tools are minimal, there’s no built-in commerce or licensing system, and updates don’t automatically push to customers. Publishers need to build their own registration, monetization, and license enforcement mechanisms — which explains why every AppSource app handles these things differently. The most important takeaway: plan for these requirements before you publish, and be patient with the process throughout.
