You knew the day was coming, and as of last Friday, March 19th, you can now submit your iPad apps to Apple. If you get them in by March 27th, you’ll even be considered for the grand opening of the iPad App Store on April 3rd.

Friday afternoon was a big day for iPhone OS developers -- it marked the beginning of the race to trip over themselves to get their iPad apps submitted to Apple before the tablet arrives on April 3rd, according to AppleInsider.

"iPad will begin shipping soon and your opportunity to be part of the grand opening of the iPad App Store starts today," the message to registered iPhone developers reads. "Submit your iPad app now for an initial review by the App Review Team and receive feedback on its readiness for the grand opening."

Developers are required to submit their apps using the iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 5, the most current version of the SDK.

Saturday, March 27th at 5 pm PST is the deadline for apps to be submitted in time for consideration for the grand opening. Of course, since almost no developers have actually touched an iPad (let alone actually used one), we’re sure the initial flood of apps will likely have issues that won’t get ironed out until the hardware gets put through the paces by programmers.

So, who’s rushing to make the grand opening? If you’re one of the smart folks who are waiting for the 3G model to arrive in late April, you’ll probably have the better experience, too -- we’re fairly certain any initial bugs will be squashed by then.

(Image courtesy of AppleInsider)