Being featured on the App Store's Today tab or in a curated collection can drive 5–50x your normal download volume in a week. It's one of the few marketing events in app development with essentially unlimited upside. And unlike paid acquisition, it costs nothing except preparation.
What Apple's Editorial Team Actually Looks For
Apple's App Store editorial team publishes their criteria publicly — they want apps that are beautifully designed, innovative in their use of Apple technologies, have great App Store assets, and align with cultural moments or Apple's current focus areas.
- High design quality — the app needs to look like it was built for Apple hardware, not ported from Android
- Use of Apple-first technologies: Live Activities, Dynamic Island, SharePlay, StandBy mode, Apple Intelligence features
- Complete and polished App Store presence: all screenshot slots filled, app preview video, detailed description
- Alignment with editorial calendars (back to school, new year, mental health awareness, etc.)
- A compelling story — what problem does this solve? Who made it? Why does it matter?
The App Store Connect Pitch
App Store Connect has a section called "Promote Your App" where you can submit information to Apple's editorial team. Most developers either don't know it exists or submit a single generic paragraph and forget about it. This is a real opportunity.
Write a concise, compelling pitch: what your app does, who it's for, what makes it unique, and what you're releasing soon (new feature launch is a great featuring hook). Localize the pitch for the specific regional storefronts you're targeting. Submit well in advance — editorial calendars are planned 4–8 weeks ahead.
Technical Requirements You Can't Skip
Apple will not feature apps with known crashes or critical bugs. They won't feature apps that haven't been updated in over a year. They won't feature apps built with outdated SDKs that haven't adopted current iOS APIs. These are baseline requirements, not differentiators.
Ensure your app supports the latest iOS version on launch day (or shortly after). Adopt new iPhone hardware features when relevant to your app's function. Update your app preview video and screenshots if they show UI from two versions ago.
Timing Your Feature Pitch Around Updates
A major update launch is your best hook for editorial consideration. "Version 3.0 with completely redesigned UI" is more pitchable than "routine maintenance update". Plan your feature pitches around meaningful product milestones — new capabilities, redesigns, category expansions.
Google Play's Featuring Program
Google Play also has editorial featuring via the "Featuring nominations" form in the Play Console. The criteria are similar: app quality, Play best practices compliance, Wear OS/TV/Tablet optimization, and adoption of Google technologies like Material You design guidelines.