A good app isn’t enough if nobody knows about it. The App Store is now overflowing with high-quality products, regular updates and new features. This is good news for users. For companies and product teams, however, it presents a challenge: how do you let Apple know that something worth paying attention to is happening in your app?
The answer lies in App Store Nominations. It’s not a magic button that guarantees your app will be featured in the App Store. However, it is an official channel through which a team can present new content, a significant update or a launch to Apple’s editors, ensuring it doesn’t remain merely an internal release note.
From a company’s perspective, it’s a practical tool, particularly when there’s a moment surrounding the app that already has product, marketing and business significance. A nomination helps to frame this moment in a way that’s understandable even to someone outside your team: what’s changing in the app, why it’s important for users, and why it’s worth talking about right now.
When do App Store nominations make sense?
App Store nominations aren’t just another item in App Store Connect. For companies investing in a mobile app, they can form part of a broader launch or growth strategy. Not because they automatically guarantee success, but because they can reinforce the momentum that the product, marketing and technical teams are already building.
They are most effective when a specific and valuable change is taking place within the app. For example:
- the launch of a completely new app,
- a major product update,
- a redesign of the user interface,
- new functionality that changes the way the app is used,
- new content, an event or a seasonal activity,
- a significant improvement to the user experience.
So a good question to start with isn’t simply ‘do we want more visibility?’, but rather: Do we have a product moment that we can clearly turn into a story for the user?
If so, a nomination can help boost:
- visibility in the App Store, particularly at the time of a launch or a major update,
- brand credibility, as a recommendation in the App Store acts as a strong signal of quality,
- marketing and PR communications, as the new product feature is linked to an outward-facing narrative,
- adoption of the new functionality, as it can reach more relevant users,
- better internal alignment, as it forces the team to identify what is important about the release, for whom, and how it should be communicated.
At the same time, it’s important to be clear about this: a nomination in itself won’t guarantee success. Apple selects apps based on its own editorial criteria. It looks for products that are high-quality, visually well-designed, user-friendly and offer clear value.
That is why it is worth viewing App Store Nominations as part of well-prepared product and marketing work. Their value lies not merely in submitting the form itself. Even the process of preparing the nomination helps the team verify whether the release has a sufficiently clear benefit, good timing, high-quality supporting materials and a story that makes sense even outside the internal context.
What this means for marketers or developers
From a practical point of view, it is important to realise that a pitch should not be cobbled together at the last minute towards the end of a release. It works best when it is incorporated into the preparations right from the campaign or release planning stage.
A good nomination usually requires the collaboration of several people:
- a marketer who can craft a narrative, highlight the benefits and provide context for the user,
- a product team that understands what is truly important about the change,
- a developer or release manager who is familiar with the state of the application, the release date, the platforms and the technical details.
Each of them brings a different perspective to the nomination. The marketer helps to articulate the value. The product team ensures factual accuracy. The developer or release manager ensures that what you are communicating is technically ready and realistic in terms of timing.
The result should not be an internal changelog, but a clear narrative explaining why the new feature is important to the user.
How to prepare a good submission
Apple doesn’t need to know everything the team has done. It needs to quickly understand what user benefit the new feature brings, the context in which it has been developed, and what makes the app stand out from a standard update.
When preparing a submission, it helps to stick to a simple framework:
- What’s changing: Describe the new feature, content or launch as specifically as possible. Don’t just say ‘we’ve improved the app’ in general terms, but explain exactly what the user will get.
- Who benefits: Explain who the new feature helps and in what situation. The clearer the user context, the better.
- What kind of moment are you creating: This could be a seasonal event, a new market, a major release, a social context or a long-awaited feature. It’s important to show that this isn’t just another update in the series, but a moment with communication potential.
- What makes the app exceptional: Editors are interested in the quality of the experience, design, innovation and the overall value of the product. This is where competitive advantage comes into play: a specific use case, strong design, technical solution, community, content or the way in which the app solves a problem better than the alternatives.
- Is everything ready to make a good first impression: If Apple were to launch the app today, would it appear stable, high-quality and intuitive? Are the screenshots, metadata and visuals up to standard?
Before you actually fill in the nomination form, it’s worth having the following ready:
- a clear description of the news item in the user’s language,
- the reason why the news item is important,
- the release or availability date,
- high-quality screenshots or visual materials,
- information about platforms and markets,
- a link to a marketing or PR plan,
- and confirmation that the app is stable and ready for the spotlight.
If any of these are missing, you can still submit your nomination, but it will be less likely to catch the judges’ attention.
Practical guide in App Store Connect
The nomination itself is created in App Store Connect under the ‘Nominations’ section. Apple allows you to nominate an app or game based on the type of announcement, such as new content, an app update or a launch.
In brief, the steps are as follows:
- Select the app in App Store Connect.
- Open the ‘Nominations’ section.
- Create a new nomination.
- Select the type of nomination based on what you wish to notify Apple about.
- Enter the title, detailed description, release date and other relevant information.
- Submit the nomination or save it as a draft if it’s not yet ready.
For larger numbers of nominations, there’s also the option to import via CSV. This is particularly useful for publishers who work with multiple apps, markets or regular content updates.
The most common mistake: an overly technical description
When submitting nominations, it’s tempting to describe everything the team has done. A new API, refactoring, performance optimisations, new components, improved data. All of this may be important, but the Apple editor needs, first and foremost, to understand the value to the user.
Instead of:
We’ve added a new section with a revamped architecture and expanded content support.
Try this:
Users can now find personalised content more quickly and pick up where they last left off. The new section simplifies the day-to-day use of the app and helps them access relevant recommendations without unnecessary searching.
Technical details can be included in the background information. However, they should not overshadow the value to the user.
Summary
App Store Nominations provide developers and companies with an official way to bring new features in an app to Apple’s attention. They do not in themselves guarantee success, but with a well-prepared product, they can boost the visibility, credibility and marketing impact of a release. At the same time, they act as a useful filter: if a team cannot clearly articulate the benefit, the target scenario, the visual quality and the reason why the release is interesting, it probably does not yet have a strong nomination or a strong external communication strategy in place.
Nominations are most valuable when they aren’t left to the last minute. If you incorporate them into your launch plan, align the product, marketing and technical perspectives, and clearly articulate the value for the user, the nomination can become a useful tool in your ASO strategy.
It’s not about writing as much as possible. It’s about telling the right people, at the right time and in a way they can understand, why your app deserves attention.
