Getting featured on the App Store

The App Store showcases incredible apps and games that people love across Apple platforms. Learn how to share your app, game, in-app content, or story for featuring opportunities worldwide.

A MacBook, iPad, and iPhone, each showing developer stories featured on the App Store.

Overview

Whether you’re an indie developer or a household name, you have an opportunity to be featured on the App Store. Each Apple platform has a dedicated App Store to helping people discover the best apps, games, and in-app content. Our mission is to empower developers from communities around the world. Featured selections are localized and regionally curated in order to recommend the most relevant content.

How to share your content with us.

We’re always looking to highlight new apps, games, significant updates, In-App Events, great stories, and more. You can use Featuring Nominations in App Store Connect to share your new content, app enhancement, or app launch with our team. Featuring lead time varies — please give our team a minimum of two weeks notice. For wider featuring consideration, we recommend submitting a nomination up to three months in advance.

Learn how to create a nomination

Ways we highlight developers

Stories and collections inform, help, and inspire.

An iPad showing examples of developer stories and collections on the App Store.

Stories cover a variety of content. Collections showcase particular topics or themes.

Stories may showcase awesome developers, interesting creators, upcoming events, or tips for getting the most out of your apps and games. These may appear on the Today tab on iPhone and iPad, the Discover tab on Mac, or the Apps & Games tab on Apple Vision Pro.

Collections recommend apps and games related to a topic or theme and display in different ways across every platform.

Examples of different In-App Events developers have published on the App Store.

In-App Events share timely content within your app.

In-App Events help people to jump into the latest happenings in your app or game.

In-App Events can be streaming premieres, fitness challenges, sporting events, seasonal content, and more. In-App Events may appear on the Today, Games, and Apps tabs. People can also discover them in search results, as well as on your product page.

Our favorite app and game of the day.

Two iPhones, one showing an example of App of the Day, the other showing an example of Game of the Day on the App Store.

Handpicked, refreshed every day.

All apps and games are eligible for App of the Day and Game of the Day stories, whether they’re brand new or have been around for a decade. These stories focus on what we love about your app or game, quick tips for users, and the developers themselves. App of the Day and Game of the Day stories appear on the Today tab on iPhone and iPad.

Lists encourage people to try something new.

An iPhone that shows an example of a list on the App Store. The name of the list is Essential Weather Apps.

Sharing the best apps and games that fit a theme.

Lists recommend people the best games or a new favorite productivity app, learn how to improve their photos, or achieve their fitness goals — the possibilities are endless. Lists display on the Today tab on iPhone and iPad.

Pre-orders highlight upcoming launches.

An iPhone showing an example of a pre-order featured on the App Store. The pre-order is for a game titled Wuthering Waves.

Helping you build excitement before your app or game is available on the App Store.

When people pre-order your app or game before it’s released, it’ll automatically download onto their devices on release day. Pre-orders may appear across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro.

Personalized recommendations provide tailored selections.

An iPhone showing ways the App Store may provide personalized recommendations, such as “More Games You Might Like” or “Explore More Games for You.”

Customized content selections for people.

The App Store displays personalized recommendations based on people’s past purchases, downloads, and other activities in the store. If the feature is turned on in Settings, people may see personalized content across the App Store on all platforms.

Editors’ Choice spotlights best-in-class apps and games.

Celebrating the very best apps and games—handpicked by App Store Editors around the world.

These apps and games exemplify impeccable attention to design, and provide innovative, enjoyable experiences. Editors’ Choice is curated for each specific App Store storefront. If selected, the Editors’ Choice badge will appear on your product page across platforms. You may also see Editors’ Choice stories on the Today tab, collections on the Apps and Games tabs, and other places across the App Store.

Featuring considerations

The App Store is dedicated to showcasing high-quality apps and games across all categories and business models. While there’s no checklist of requirements for getting featured on the App Store, our team considers the following factors:

User experience. Cohesive, efficient, and valuable functionality that’s helpful and easy to use.

UI design. Great usability, appeal, and overall quality, such as beautiful visuals or intuitive gestures and controls.

Innovation. New technologies that solve a unique problem and provide an enhanced user experience.

Uniqueness. A fresh approach to a familiar category that stands out from the crowd or defines a new genre.

Accessibility. A great experience for a broad range of users with well integrated features.

Localization. High-quality support for multiple languages with culturally relevant and appropriate content.

App Store product page. Compelling screenshots, app previews, and descriptions, as well as positive ratings and reviews.

Additional considerations for games:

  • Gameplay design
  • Art and animation
  • Controls
  • Story and characters (if applicable)
  • Replayability (if applicable)
  • Sound design and music
  • Technical performance
  • Overall value

Promotional artwork

If you’re being considered for App Store featuring, we may email your team members with Admin, App Manager, and Marketing roles with a request for promotional assets. To best showcase your work, review our App Store promotional artwork guidelines to understand technical specifications, see examples, and get instructions on how to prepare your assets.

A MacBook that shows the promotional artwork guidelines webpage.

Share your success on social

If your app or game gets featured in select placements on the Today tab — for example as App of the Day or Game of the Day — you’ll receive a notification via the App Store Connect app letting you know. From the app, you’ll be able to choose from an assortment of visual assets, then share them to your social media channels to encourage people to download your app.

Learn more

An example of a visual asset that can be shared on social media. The example asset is for the Forest Explorer app and includes the text “Don’t Miss the Latest Version,” the Forest Explorer icon, and a “Download on the App Store” badge.

Annual developer awards

App Store Awards are exceptional in quality.

App Store Awards are presented to apps and games that have demonstrated a positive cultural impact worldwide.

The App Store Awards are a global celebration of the best apps and games of the year — selected by our team of editors. As always, we focus on technical innovation, user experience, and design. Then we consider the impact these apps and games have had on our users’ lives. We honor finalists and winners across every platform as well as ones with the greatest cultural impact.

Apple Design Awards delight with great design.

Celebrating creative artistry and technical achievevement.

Every year, the Apple Design Awards recognize innovation, ingenuity, and technical achievement in app and game design. But they’ve also become something more: A moment to step back and celebrate the Apple developer community in its many forms.

Go further

Get started with app discovery and marketing
What’s new in App Store Connect