How do apps get featured on the App Store?

Two routes: editorial finds you, or you nominate yourself through the Featuring Nominations form in App Store Connect, a real submission channel most developers never use. Editorial favors apps that adopt new Apple technologies early, show strong native design, and come with a story that fits an editorial moment: a launch, a major update, a seasonal or cultural hook.

What does Apple editorial look for when featuring apps?

Patterns visible across years of features: early, genuine adoption of new platform features (widgets, watch apps, Apple Intelligence integrations and whatever this year's keynote shipped), polished native design, accessibility done properly, localized experiences, and a human story: solo developer, unusual origin, real problem. Apple features apps that make the platform look good.

How much does an App Store feature boost downloads?

Expect a real but temporary spike (days, not months) of low-intent browse traffic. Tap-through and conversion rates drop during the window because browsers never asked for your app; that's mix, not damage. The lasting value is the credibility ('Featured by Apple'), the velocity bump, and whatever slice of the new audience your onboarding actually retains.

FunnelHound / Guides / Getting featured

How to get featured on the App Store (there's literally a form)

By Emin, indie iOS developer building FunnelHound · Published 29 Sep 2026

Featuring looks like lightning: unpredictable, divine, other people. Then you learn there's a Featuring Nominations form in App Store Connect: an actual inbox to Apple editorial that most developers have never opened. Lightning accepts applications. Here's what makes one worth reading.

What editorial is actually shopping for

Apple features apps that make Apple's platform look good. Hold that sentence and the pattern behind years of features decodes itself:

New platform tech, adopted for real. Whatever the last keynote shipped: widgets in their year, watch complications in theirs, Apple Intelligence integrations now. A genuine use of the new thing during its season is the single strongest signal, because editorial needs living examples exactly then.
Native design and polish. Featured apps sell the platform's taste. Accessibility done properly counts here too. VoiceOver support shows up in editorial picks more than growth threads admit.
A story. Solo developer scratching a real itch, unusual origin, craft. Editorial writes stories, not spec sheets. Hand them one.
A timing hook. Launches, major updates, seasonal moments. "Fitness app in January" is a cliché because it's an editorial calendar entry.

The nomination itself

In App Store Connect, the Featuring Nominations section takes a written pitch: what the app does, what's new, why now. Treat it like the billboard rules applied to prose: lead with the outcome and the hook, name the platform tech you adopted, keep it tight. Nominate ahead of the moment (an update shipping next month beats one that shipped last month), attach the update or launch it rides with, and re-nominate for each genuine moment. It's an inbox, not a lottery ticket you get once. No reply is the common outcome; the cost of a good pitch is an hour, and the expected value math does the rest.

What a feature actually does (mix warning included)

Honest expectations: a feature delivers a burst of low-intent browse traffic: days, not months. Two funnel effects to read correctly. Your tap-through and conversion rates will drop during the window: thousands of people who never asked for your app pour into the denominator; that's mix, not damage, so don't misdiagnose it. And the spike decays like all velocity. What persists is the credibility line, the ranking momentum, and whichever slice of browsers your onboarding kept. A feature amplifies the app you already have; the deletions chart the week after tells you which app that was. Date the feature as a milestone: post-spike numbers against pre-feature baseline is the only honest read of what it left behind.

If lightning strikes, measure the burn

FunnelHound separates the featuring spike from the trend: impressions, installs, deletions from App Store Connect, milestone-marked.

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Data notes: Featuring Nominations availability and location in App Store Connect per Apple as of 2026. Editorial criteria are inferred from observable featuring patterns. Apple publishes guidance, not guarantees. Spike magnitude varies wildly by placement (Today story vs category shelf) and region.