In-App Events and Promotional Content in the App Stores

What these features are

Your store listing describes the app as a whole; our guide to app store listings covers names, keywords and screenshots. Events and promotional content are different: each one describes a specific, time-limited thing happening in the app, with its own image, short text and dates. When it ends, the card goes away.

The point is reach outside the app. A player who uninstalled your game will not see an in-game banner, but they can see an event card in store search or recommendations. Both stores also let people ask to be notified when an event starts.

Apple In-App Events

Apple describes In-App Events as "timely events within apps and games", such as game competitions, movie premieres and livestreamed experiences. On iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 or later they appear as event cards with an image or video, the event name and a short description. Tapping a card opens an event details page with a longer description and a note if an In-App Purchase or subscription is needed to take part.

According to App Store Connect Help, events appear:

• on your product page, which shows all your currently published events;
• in search results: with your app for people who have downloaded it (people who have not see screenshots instead), and when people search for events directly;
• in editorially curated selections and personalised recommendations on the Today, Games and Apps tabs.

Someone without the app can download it from the event card or details page, then tap Open to go straight to the event inside the app.

Apple says good candidates are challenges, competitions and special content launches. It lists as poor candidates repetitive activities such as daily tasks or rewards, price promotions that do not introduce any new content, features or goods, and general promotions that raise awareness of the app.

Each event gets a badge: Challenge, Competition, Live Event, Major Update, New Season, Premiere or Special Event. You can submit events for review independently of a new app version and have up to 15 approved events in App Store Connect at a time, of which up to 10 can be published on the App Store at once.

What you enter for an Apple event

• Event name: up to 30 characters, in title case. Apple asks for the actual name of the event rather than a call to action.
• Short description: up to 50 characters, shown on the event card.
• Long description: up to 120 characters, shown on the details page.
• Media: an image or video for the card (16:9) and for the details page (9:16). Apple recommends avoiding text or logos in the media and says not to add borders or gradients.
• Dates: an event can last up to 31 days and be promoted up to 14 days before it starts, with different dates per region if you want.
• Deep link: where Open takes people inside the app, either a universal link (Apple recommends this for security) or a custom URL. Our deep links guide explains how they work.
• Purpose: whether the event is meant for everyone, new users, active users or lapsed users. Apple says this is one of the factors the App Store uses for personalised recommendations, while published events stay discoverable by all customers.
• Priority and cost: high-priority events show ahead of others on your product page, and you indicate whether a specific In-App Purchase is required.

Apple also warns: "Including specific pricing will lead to rejection by App Review."

Google Play promotional content

Google defines promotional content as "a self-service tool in Google Play that lets you showcase fresh and timely content, such as special offers, limited-time events, and major updates." It is available for all games, and for apps that meet the eligibility criteria for Google's Premium growth tools. It appears on the Apps or Games tab, the Events tab, search results and your store listing; the Events tab is only for games, in a list of regions Google publishes.

Unlike Apple, Google Play accepts offers as one of three content types:

• Offers: discounts, value-adds or bundles, free-of-charge rewards, and subscription trials.
• Time-limited events: real-time events, competitions or challenges, and special events.
• Major updates: new features and announcements, new content, and pre-registration announcements.

Google warns that misclassified content may have limited visibility, so pick the type carefully.

Setting up a Play event

In Play Console, under Grow users > Store presence > Promotional content, creating an event involves:

• Timing: an event can be submitted no earlier than 60 days before it starts and can last up to four weeks. Google says approval can take up to four days and recommends submitting at least four days before the start. Major updates run for a set 28 days and pre-registration announcements for one week.
• Preview: events can show up to 14 days before they start so people can ask to be notified. Offers cannot be previewed.
• Audience: everyone, potential users who have never installed the app, lapsed or churned users, buyer groups (which only work with Google Play billing purchases), or custom audiences.
• Featuring: every event shows on your store listing. Eligible developers can also request featuring in high-visibility areas, from a limited number of requests per quarter, and Google says featuring is not guaranteed. Events with featuring requested must be submitted at least 14 days before they start.
• Assets: a tagline, a description, a primary image and a square image are required; an animated image is optional and a YouTube video is highly recommended. Images should not contain text, logos or app names.
• Translations: Google recommends localising events, and notes that a common reason for rejection is text entered in the wrong language.

One detail to plan around: "You can't edit your event after you submit it". Check everything first.

What the stores reject

The two stores word it differently, but both want specific, genuinely new, limited-time content rather than general advertising. Google's content quality guidelines say promotional content "must be new, noteworthy, and user-facing", and not general service descriptions, evergreen content or routine events. They also say:

• the promotion must run in the app at the same time as it runs on the store, and be easy to find when the app opens;
• an offer's tagline must state its value and the limited-time nature of the offer, and the description must say how to take part and any requirements;
• assets must not be reused from other submissions, and the tagline and description must agree with each other.

Apple asks for metadata specific to the event experience rather than general information about the app, avoiding unverifiable claims such as "the best" or "#1", and using media you created or have a licence to use.

Measuring results

On Apple, App Analytics in App Store Connect shows downloads filtered by event, the acquisition sources where people found events, event impressions, details page views, app opens, and how many people asked to be notified.

On Google Play, the promotional content overview shows unique users who saw your cards and unique users who tapped Open, Update or Install over the last 28 days, plus reports per event. For featured events, Google measures acquisition uplift by holding the card back from a small portion of users and comparing the groups.

To test the store listing itself rather than events, use the stores' listing experiments, covered in our guide to testing app store listings. Paid campaigns are a separate channel; see advertising an app.

Planning events into the app

Events work best when the app was built with them in mind:

• A content calendar. Both stores want new things. Seasons, tournaments, premieres and major features give you material; repeated daily rewards do not.
• Server-driven content. If an event needs an app update to switch on, it is harder to time. Content and offers that the backend can enable on a date make events easier to run.
• Deep links to the event. Each event needs a destination inside the app, with a sensible path for new users who have not finished onboarding.
• Assets per event. Text-free images or video in both stores' sizes, and translations for each market.
• Lead time. Allow for review and, on Google Play, the 14-day featuring deadline.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Apple In-App Events and Google Play promotional content?

Both put time-limited moments from your app on the store as cards. Apple In-App Events are for events such as challenges, competitions, premieres and new seasons, and Apple says price promotions that add no new content are not good candidates. Google Play promotional content also has an Offers type for discounts, bundles, free rewards and subscription trials.

How long can an event run?

Apple says an In-App Event can last up to 31 days and be promoted up to 14 days before it starts. Google Play events can last up to four weeks; major updates run for a set 28 days and pre-registration announcements for one week.

Can any app use Google Play promotional content?

Promotional content is available for all games, and for apps that meet the eligibility criteria for Google Play Premium growth tools.

Do events need an app update?

Not on Apple: events are submitted for review independently of a new app version. On both stores, though, the event itself has to be live inside the app, so the content must already be in the app or switched on from your backend.

Will my event be featured?

Not necessarily. Apple may show events in editorial selections and personalised recommendations, and you can share an event with its editors. On Google Play you can request featuring from a limited number of requests per quarter, and Google says featuring is not guaranteed.

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