How to get your app featured on the App Store and Google Play

Apple says any developer, indie or household name, can be featured, and that its selections are localized and curated by region. The way in is Featuring Nominations in App Store Connect: you can nominate new content, an app enhancement or an app launch. Apple asks for a minimum of two weeks’ notice and recommends nominating up to three months in advance for wider featuring consideration. If you are being considered, Apple may email team members with the Admin, App Manager or Marketing role to ask for promotional artwork, so keep those roles filled with people who read their email.

Apple lists several placements. Stories and collections on the Today tab and elsewhere. App of the Day and Game of the Day, for which every app is eligible, brand new or ten years old. Themed lists. Pre-orders, which download automatically on release day. Editors’ Choice, curated per storefront, which adds a badge to your product page. And In-App Events: timely content inside your app, such as a premiere, a challenge or a seasonal event, which can appear on the Today, Games and Apps tabs, in search results and on your product page. An In-App Event is also a reason to nominate even when you have no new version to ship.

Apple says there is no checklist of requirements, and names the factors its team considers: user experience, UI design, innovation, uniqueness, accessibility, localization, and the App Store product page itself, meaning screenshots, app previews, descriptions and positive ratings and reviews. For games it adds gameplay design, art and animation, controls, story and characters, replayability, sound, technical performance and overall value. Two of those factors are fully in your hands before you nominate: localization, and a product page that explains the app well. Our ASO checklist covers the page, and how to get more app reviews covers ratings.

On Google Play you create a promotional content event in Play Console, and if you are eligible and have requests left, you can request featuring while creating it. A featured event may be shown in high-visibility places on Google Play, including the homepage and search results. The number of requests is limited per quarter and resets at the start of each quarter; for events aimed at everyone or at potential users, Google lists up to 6 featuring slots per quarter for app developers and 4 requests for game developers, and 2 each for events aimed at a specific audience. Events with featuring requested must be submitted at least 14 days before they start, and approval can take up to four days. You can create as many events as you like without requesting featuring, and they still show on your store listing.

Google says an app must be of good quality to be eligible for increased discovery and of great quality to be eligible for featuring, and that it judges the quality of both the app and its promotional assets. It describes four pillars: core value, meaning the app is useful, fun or both and solves a problem in an original way; user experience, including onboarding, localization, accessibility and monetization that does not surprise or interrupt people; technical quality, where an app over Google Play’s bad behaviour threshold on a device will not be promoted on that device; and privacy and security. Both the app and the event content must meet Google’s quality guidelines, and even then featuring is not guaranteed.

Store featuring is an editorial decision you can prepare for but not buy. Censuus ranks apps by the real visit traffic they draw: adding your app is free on the submit page, and it can rise on the visits it earns. Sponsorship raises placement and adds a followed link to your website; details are on the sponsor page. If your launch is still ahead, the app launch checklist covers pre-orders and pre-registration. We do not promise featuring or store rankings.