How to Get Your App Featured on the App Store and Google Play

Getting featured on the App Store or Google Play is one of the most impactful things that can happen to your app. A single featuring placement can deliver thousands — sometimes hundreds of thousands — of downloads in a matter of days, all without spending a cent on advertising. Apple's editorial team curates the Today tab, Apps tab, and Games tab, while Google's editorial team manages featured collections and promotional placements on Google Play. Both platforms look for apps that demonstrate quality, innovation, and excellent user experience.

This guide walks you through exactly what it takes to get featured, how to submit your app for consideration, and how to maximize the impact once you land a featuring spot.

Why App Store Featuring Matters

The numbers speak for themselves:

• 10-20x download increase is common during an App Store featuring period
• Visibility boost persists — featured apps often retain 2-3x higher organic traffic even after the featuring period ends
• Brand credibility — being selected by Apple or Google editorial teams serves as a powerful trust signal
• Category ranking jump — the download surge pushes your app higher in category rankings, creating a lasting positive effect

A study by Phiture found that apps featured on the App Store Today tab experienced an average 800% increase in impressions during the featuring period. Even after the feature ended, impressions remained 40-60% above pre-featuring levels.

How Apple Selects Featured Apps

Apple's App Store editorial team is a dedicated group of curators who evaluate apps based on specific criteria. Understanding these criteria is your roadmap to getting featured.

Apple's Core Criteria

1. Design excellence — Apple prioritizes apps with polished, intuitive interfaces that follow Human Interface Guidelines
2. Innovation — Apps that use Apple's latest technologies (SwiftUI, App Intents, WidgetKit, Live Activities) get priority
3. Quality and stability — Zero crashes, fast performance, no major bugs
4. Unique value — Apps that solve problems in new or compelling ways
5. Accessibility — Support for VoiceOver, Dynamic Type, and other accessibility features
6. Localization — Apps available in multiple languages demonstrate global commitment

Apple Technologies That Get Attention

Adopting the latest Apple frameworks significantly increases your featuring chances:

• App Intents and Shortcuts — Deep Siri and Shortcuts integration
• WidgetKit — Interactive widgets for iOS home screen and Lock Screen
• Live Activities and Dynamic Island — Real-time updates on the Lock Screen
• SwiftUI — Modern declarative UI framework
• App Clips — Lightweight app experiences without full install
• SharePlay and FaceTime — Social features integration
• Apple Pay and StoreKit 2 — Seamless commerce integration
• visionOS support — Apps ready for Apple Vision Pro

How to Submit to Apple for Featuring

Apple provides an official self-nomination form:

1. Visit the Apple App Store Promote Your App page
2. Fill in your app details, including:
   • App name and App Store URL
   • Description of what makes your app special
   • Any upcoming events, launches, or updates
   • Screenshots and marketing materials
3. Submit at least 2-3 weeks before your desired featuring date
4. Apple does not guarantee a response — many submissions are reviewed silently

Timing Your Submission

Certain times of year have higher featuring opportunities:

• WWDC week (June) — Apple features apps using newly announced technologies
• iPhone launch (September) — Apps optimized for new hardware and iOS features
• Holiday season (November-December) — Gift guides and holiday-themed features
• New Year (January) — Health, productivity, and self-improvement apps
• Back to school (August-September) — Education and student tools
• Major cultural events — Earth Day, Pride Month, Black History Month

How Google Play Selects Featured Apps

Google Play's editorial process differs from Apple's but shares similar quality-focused principles.

Google's Core Criteria

1. Android excellence — Apps following Material Design guidelines
2. Technical quality — High Android Vitals scores (low crash rate, low ANR rate)
3. Play Store best practices — Target latest API level, use Android App Bundle
4. User ratings — Generally 4.0+ star rating required
5. Engagement quality — Strong retention and engagement metrics
6. Content quality — Accurate store listings, no misleading claims

Google Play Featuring Opportunities

• Editors' Choice — The most prestigious featuring, awarded to outstanding apps
• Featured collections — Themed collections on the homepage (e.g., "Work from Home Essentials")
• Category features — Top positions within specific categories
• Google Play Best of — Annual awards for the best apps and games
• LiveOps — Promotional cards highlighting in-app events, offers, or updates

Submitting to Google Play

Google also offers a self-nomination process:

1. Ensure your app meets the Google Play quality guidelines
2. Have strong Android Vitals metrics (crash rate < 1%, ANR rate < 0.5%)
3. Use the Google Play Console promotional content feature to submit LiveOps events
4. Reach out through your Google Play partner manager if you have one
5. Submit updates and new features consistently to stay visible

Preparing Your App for Featuring

Technical Readiness Checklist

Before submitting for featuring, ensure:

• App crashes are below 0.5% (App Store) or 1% (Google Play)
• App loads in under 2 seconds
• All features work flawlessly on the latest OS versions
• App supports the latest device screen sizes
• No known critical bugs
• Accessibility features are implemented (VoiceOver, TalkBack, Dynamic Type)
• App is localized in at least 5-10 major languages
• Latest platform technologies are adopted

Creative Readiness Checklist

Your store listing must be flawless:

• High-quality screenshots showing your best features (minimum 6)
• App preview video (30 seconds, showing real app functionality)
• Well-written description with clear value proposition
• Professional app icon that stands out
• Current ratings of 4.0+ stars
• Recent positive reviews visible
• No outdated or placeholder content

Marketing Readiness

Prepare to capitalize on featuring when it happens:

• PR materials ready (press kit, media contacts)
• Social media announcement templates prepared
• Server infrastructure can handle 10-50x traffic spike
• Customer support team prepared for increased volume
• In-app onboarding optimized for new users
• Analytics tracking set up to measure featuring impact

Maximizing Impact When You Get Featured

Getting featured is just the beginning. How you handle the opportunity determines whether it becomes a one-time spike or a lasting growth inflection point.

During the Featuring Period

1. Do NOT push an update — Avoid any app updates during the featuring period that could introduce bugs
2. Monitor performance — Watch crash rates, server load, and user feedback in real-time
3. Respond to reviews — The influx of new users means more reviews; respond to negative ones quickly
4. Track everything — Set up detailed analytics to understand featuring traffic patterns

Converting Featured Traffic

Most users who discover your app through featuring are top-of-funnel — they have never heard of you. Optimize for:

• First-time user experience — Make onboarding smooth and value-delivery instant
• Retention hooks — Ensure users have a reason to come back on Day 1, Day 3, and Day 7
• Push notification permission — Ask for permission at the right moment, not immediately
• Subscription or purchase conversion — Have your paywall optimized and tested before featuring

After the Featuring Period

1. Analyze the cohort — How do featuring-driven users compare to your organic users in terms of retention and monetization?
2. Maintain momentum — Use the visibility boost to improve your keyword rankings
3. Leverage social proof — "Featured by Apple" or "Google Play Editors' Choice" badge in your marketing
4. Plan your next submission — Build a relationship with the editorial team through consistent quality

Building a Long-Term Featuring Strategy

Getting featured is not a one-time lottery. Apps that get featured repeatedly share these characteristics:

Consistent Quality Updates

Release meaningful updates every 4-6 weeks that:

• Add genuinely useful features
• Improve performance and stability
• Adopt new platform technologies early
• Fix user-reported issues promptly

Storytelling and Narrative

Both Apple and Google editorial teams love apps with compelling stories:

• Origin story — Why you built the app, what problem you are solving
• User impact — Real stories of how your app changed someone's life or workflow
• Innovation narrative — How your approach is different from existing solutions

Community and Social Impact

Apps that contribute to social good get extra attention:

• Environmental sustainability features
• Accessibility-first design
• Education and digital literacy
• Health and wellbeing
• Community building

Common Featuring Mistakes

1. Submitting an app that is not ready — One chance to make a first impression with the editorial team
2. Ignoring technical quality — A beautiful app that crashes will never be featured
3. Not adopting latest technologies — Apple especially rewards apps using new frameworks
4. Poor timing — Submitting during a period with no editorial theme alignment
5. No follow-up — Treating featuring as a one-time event instead of a relationship
6. Server infrastructure not ready — Getting featured and then going down is the worst outcome

Track Your Featuring Opportunities

Use Appalize to monitor your app's visibility, track keyword rankings, and identify when competitors get featured. Understanding the featuring landscape in your category helps you time your submissions and identify what the editorial teams are currently prioritizing.

The path to getting featured starts with building an exceptional app. Everything else — the submission, the timing, the creative materials — is packaging. Focus on quality first, and the featuring opportunities will follow.