Apple started warning developers this week that iTunes Connect—the developer portal to manage applications to sell in the App Store— will be closed from December 22nd to December 29th. Changes submitted during those days will not be reflected in the App Store, and the app will become unavailable for purchase. In other words, there will be no app updates, price changes, or submissions approved around the Christmas holiday. This year it seems Apple has extended the shutdown a bit longer than the previous year.

It is very well known that there are some issues with Apple’s App Store in general. One of those issues—up until this point—has been how hard it is to find certain applications that may have an unusual name. In order to help solve this problem, Apple is now asking developers to add 255 characters worth of keyword search terms to their applications.

MacRumors is reporting that Apple is finally providing registered iPhone developers with daily download statistics of their applications to give them a good idea on how they are doing in the App Store.

From the report:

Before today, most developers had been left in the dark about their applications performance, and had to wait until the first of the monthly reports. Apple had originally posted download numbers publicly but quickly removed this feature once it became clear that you could easily estimate a particular developer’s revenue. Registered iPhone developers can find their daily stats at iTunes Connect.

More after the break.