How to get featured by Apple

getting featured by Apple is not luck and it is not a closed club. Apple runs a real featuring nomination form inside App Store Connect, and per AppTweak’s 2026 guidance it wants submissions 6 to 8 weeks before a launch or major update. editors pick original concepts, apps that adopt native platform features well, and apps that fit a seasonal moment. you can apply. almost nobody does.

There is an actual form

the featuring nomination form lives in App Store Connect, and filling it in is the single most skipped step in consumer app marketing. it asks what is coming, when it ships, why it matters, and what makes the app worth an editor’s attention. most founders assume featuring happens to other people through connections they do not have, so the form sits there unused while they refresh the Today tab wondering how everyone else got in. the pipeline is public. the only gate is that you have to tell Apple something is coming, early enough for an editorial calendar that is planned weeks ahead, which is where the 6 to 8 week lead time comes from.

What editors actually pick

editors pick apps that give them something to write about. three patterns come up again and again. first, original concepts: an app that does something genuinely new, or does a familiar thing in a way nobody else does. second, native platform adoption: apps that pick up Apple’s newest capabilities early and use them well, widgets that earn their place, watch support that makes sense, features that showcase what the platform can do. Apple features apps partly to sell the platform, so an app that makes the platform look good is doing half the editor’s job. third, seasonal fit: study apps before exams, fitness apps in january, journaling apps around the new year. an editor planning a themed collection needs apps that fit the theme, and a nomination that names the moment saves them the search.

Why indies have a real shot

a distinctive app from a two person team beats a generic app from a big studio, because editors want stories and generic apps do not have one. the big studio’s advantage is budget, and budget buys ads, not editorial interest. what earns editorial interest is a strong point of view: distinctive design, a clear reason the app exists, a founder who can say in one sentence what it does differently. if your app is a thinner version of something that already exists, fix that before nominating, because no amount of form-filling features a clone.

How to write the nomination

1. lead with what is new. editors feature moments, not apps that merely exist. a launch, a major version, a big feature. name it in the first line.
2. name the native features you adopted and what they do for the user. this is the strongest signal you can send, so be specific about it.
3. give exact dates and hold them. an editor who plans around your ship date and watches it slip will not plan around you twice.
4. say who it is for and what moment it fits. if there is a seasonal angle, spell it out.
5. tell the team story in two sentences. small team, real problem, distinctive craft. do not pad it.
6. resubmit for every major update. featuring is a recurring pipeline tied to your release calendar, not a one-time application.

What a feature realistically does

expect a sharp spike in installs for a few days, then a fast return toward baseline. a feature is not a growth strategy, it is a moment, and what you keep depends entirely on whether the app retains the people the spike brings in. the durable value is often everything around the installs: a “featured by Apple” line that works on investors, press and creators long after the spike is gone, and a forcing deadline that gets your screenshots, onboarding and store presence into shape. treat the feature like a launch window and prepare for it the same way, the full checklist for that lives in the launch playbook.

featuring is one spike inside a bigger system, and the rest of that system lives in the ASO playbook. the breakdown call is free. Let’s talk Growth.