Apple now lets developers nominate apps for App Store spotlight
What's the story
Apple has introduced a new feature dubbed "Featuring Nominations" in App Store Connect, giving developers a chance to promote their apps on the App Store.
The initiative was initially announced at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June.
With this, developers can now nominate their own apps for featuring instead of waiting for Apple to recognize them.
Here's how it works.
Information sharing
Developers can now share updates with Apple
The "Featuring Nominations" tool will allow developers to notify Apple about three kinds of updates - new content, app enhancements, and new app launches.
Earlier, the App Store Editorial team used to create stories about apps and their developers as well as roundups of apps into collections that are highlighted across the App Store's many sections and pages.
However, there was no formal process for developers to request consideration for these featured positions.
Marketing boost
New feature expected to boost app marketing efforts
The "Featuring Nominations" is likely to become an integral part of developers' continuous promotional and marketing efforts for their apps, games, and other updates.
To utilize this feature, developers will get a nominations dashboard in App Store Connect where they can enter nominations one by one.
For bigger publishers, the option to upload a spreadsheet to nominate apps or games in bulk will come handy.
Nomination process
Guidelines for effective nominations
Apple has also given guidelines to developers to make good nominations.
Developers are advised to use a memorable name for the nomination that will help App Store Editors understand what the app's content or feature is all about.
They should also include a text description detailing the update and its expected publish date.
In another field, "Helpful Details," developers can add other relevant information about their submission.
Notification system
Apple to notify developers if their app is featured
If an app is chosen for featuring, developers will be notified by App Store Connect.
They can tap on the notification to get new "Promote Your App" marketing assets that will enable them to quickly capitalize on their featured position by sharing the news across social media and other marketing channels.