Apple has announced today that all developers can now offer their applications for pre-order via the App Store. Apple made the announcement on its iTunes Connect blog, alongside a few other tidbits of news…

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As noted by MacStories, Super Mario Run was made available for pre-order prior to its release last year, the first app to ever offer pre-orders. Today’s expansion, however, means that all developers can now take advantage of pre-orders in the App Store.

Developers can set release dates no more than 90 days in the future and no sooner than two days in the future. Of note, pre-orders are only supported for new applications, not existing apps. Apple outlines more on its Connect blog:

1. From the homepage, click My Apps, select the app, and select Pricing and Availability in the left column. You’ll see the Pre-Orders section if your app has never been published on the App Store.
2. Select Make available for pre-order, choose a date to release your app for download, then click Save in the upper-right corner. The release date must be at least two days in the future, but no more than 90 days in the future.
   Submit your app for review.
3. Once your app is approved and you’re ready to make it available for pre-order, return to Pricing and Availability, confirm the date your app will be released for download, and click Release as Pre-Order in the upper-right corner.

While some may wonder why developers would feel the need to offer pre-orders, it would help gauge early interest in the app and help manage launch day server implications and other factors.

In addition to pre-orders, Apple also today launched new features for Sales and Trends as they release to pre-orders and subscriptions. Furthermore, introductory pricing is now available for auto-renewable subscriptions, which had been announced in the past.

If you’re a developer, head to iTunes Connect for all of the details on today’s new features. What do you think of developers being able to make applications available for pre-order? Let us know down in the comments.

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