Get your app featured by Apple (iOS 26 edition)

Readwise Summary: Getting your app featured on the App Store can greatly boost downloads and revenue for free. To do this, you must nominate your app through App Store Connect and showcase new iOS 26 features like liquid glass and foundation models. Many developers are now preparing their apps to get featured when iOS 26 launches next week.

There’s a secret strategy being used right now by app developers to get the app featured on the app store to boost downloads and revenue. Like this app that got featured and generated $100,000 downloads. And this app that generated $30,000 in revenue after being featured earlier. That’s $360,000 a year. The best part, it’s free. In this video, I’m going to answer the question, how to actually get your app featured as app of the day on the app store. And what revenue boost can you

expect? My problem is that I’ve never actually built an app that I thought was worthy of being featured. Oh, you build apps? Any I would know. Unless you’ve recently wanted to track your kids’s allowance or track the progress of your pregnancy, probably not. Oh, you build apps. What one’s your favorite? Probably my card scanner or AI identify apps. Oh, is that because the technology behind them is really advanced? No, it’s probably because they generate the most revenue. For someone who loves the act of building apps, I find this kind of

disturbing. I can’t name an app that I’m most proud of. As a body of work, I love it. Sharing what works, I love it. Showing the revenue and the marketing behind it, I love it. But when it comes to meeting new people not in the tech bubble, I’m kind of embarrassed. But this year is different. This year, I’m building my piano app. Oh, you build apps. What one’s your favorite? I’m glad you asked, actually. It’s a learn piano app, and it helps kids learn the piano by tricking them into playing mini games. Think Mario Party mixed with

Guitar Hero. But instead of randomly mashing buttons, the buttons are actually the piano keyboard notes. And then by the end of the level, they’ve actually learned a song. And this is something that I’m actually really proud of. And I think for the first time, I actually have an app that’s a proper candidate to make app of the day. So, what does an app developer with hyperfixation tendencies do when they want to get their app featured on the app store as app of the day? Well, he hyperfixates on it, of course. First, I asked, what impact does app of the day

actually have? I mean, it looks nice and all, but does it actually boost downloads and revenue? And apps that get featured on the app store end up sustaining that growth over time, or do they simply fizzle out? Well, last year, Emanuel Krosph got his app, Card Pointers, featured as app of the day, and he got five times the normal amount of downloads, three times more trial signups, and four times the amount of revenue. And last month, his app generated $30,000 from less than 5,000 downloads. That’s impressive. Doing a

search on X for app day lets us find even more success stories. Rooms by Jason Tooff was featured in June and last month it generated $100,000 downloads. Smart Gym by Matt Abra was featured last month and made $100,000. And then there’s Swipe Wipe by Adam Ocaine and it was recently acquired by MVM and featured as app of the day in July. It generated over $1 million last month. That blows my mind. So, how do

you actually get your app featured on the App Store? The simple answer is simple. Nominate your app on App Store Connect. Click nominations under featuring tab. Then click get started and step through the questionnaire. If you don’t nominate your app, it will never be featured. And right now, developers are all working really hard like busy little busy bees to get their app launched in time for iOS 26. Because as it turns out, Apple really like to feature apps that showcase new iOS

functionality. And that kind of makes sense. When iOS 26 drops, they want to show off to the world what apps are taking full advantage of the new iOS features. This year, it’s liquid glass and foundation models. Check out Pedia Power, developed by Adrian Eaves. This app lets you track health of your family, medication schedules, vitals, that sort of thing. He recently gave a talk in Melbourne where he showcased his app, showing what it looked like before the liquid glass treatment and what it

looks like now. His goal is simple. Become a candidate to be nominated for iOS 26 when it drops by integrating liquid glass and an Apple intelligence feature that lets you talk with Health Kit. And then the idea is that it gets an instant boost, more downloads, and more revenue. And he shared a secret. By the time this video goes live, the new iPhone has already been announced. Oh wow, new iPhone 17. It’s so pretty. It’s so amazing. This changes everything. Worth noting, I recorded that before the

announcement, so just in case it’s bad. Oh, yuck. What is going on with iPhone 17? That’s horrible looking. How could they even do that? And with the announcement of iPhone 17 comes the roll out of Xcode 26 release candidate. This is the version of Xcode that you can officially submit to the App Store with Foundation models and liquid glass. And this is your opportunity. This is the moment you can shine. Get the latest iOS features integrated nicely into your app. Do interesting and cool things.

Then nominate your app and with any luck, you’ll get featured when iOS 26 gets pushed out to the masses next week. Now, if you excuse me, I’m going to get locked in and get my app ready for the iOS 26 launch.