How to get featured on Google Play: the nomination form, promotional content and what editors check

Many guides say you cannot ask to get featured on Google Play, and that it all comes down to an algorithm. That is only half true. Google runs a featuring nomination form for new app launches, with published minimum requirements. Apps and games with access to promotional content can request featuring for events and offers. And Google Play's editors still hand-pick collections and an annual Best of list.

None of these guarantee anything, and Google says so plainly. But knowing which door applies to your app, and what Google asks for behind it, turns featuring from luck into something you can prepare for. This guide covers each route as of October 2026, the exact requirements, a timeline to work back from, and how to tell whether you were featured.

Key takeaways

• Google's featuring nomination form is for new launches. Submit it at least three weeks ahead, and eight weeks ahead for newly launched apps, with your build already in Play Console.
• Minimum ratings on the form: 3.0 for apps, 3.8 for games, 3.8 for family titles (3.6 for subscription apps).
• Promotional content featuring requests are open to all games, but apps need large-app thresholds. New app titles do not get access.
• Every route rewards the same basics: a healthy rating, Android vitals under the bad behavior thresholds, a complete store listing and localization.

The ways an app gets featured on Google Play#

The last row is not editorial featuring, but it is where most apps get their browse traffic. Our post on getting your app recommended in Gemini and Ask Play covers it.

Google Play's featuring nomination form#

Google's Featuring Nomination form opens with the key rule: it "must be submitted a minimum of three weeks ahead (eight weeks for newly launched apps) of the desired featuring date and APK/AAB must be available in Play Console to be considered for featuring."

Editors review the build itself, so it has to be uploaded to Play Console before you nominate. Photo: Zain Ali / Pexels

You choose between App, Game and Family, and each has its own minimum requirements. For apps, Google lists:

• Comply with Google Play's policies, launch checklist, design guidelines, and "meet core App Quality Guidelines."
• "Simultaneously launch your app across key mobile platforms."
• A "Minimum Rating Requirements for featuring is 3.0 or higher."
• New apps "should be launched within 4 months of your desired featuring date."
• Optimize for the devices relevant to your app, such as phones, tablets, wearables and TV.
• Keep design and features at parity across mobile platforms.
• "Localize apps in markets where you'd like to be featured."
• Adopt a Material Design UI.
• Recommended: run an alpha or beta first, and submit your build "at least 8 weeks ahead for newly launched app."

Games need a 3.8 rating and must be launched within 120 days of the featuring date; Google recommends a soft launch first. Family titles need 3.8, or 3.6 for subscription apps, and must comply with the Designed for Families program. Google ends each list the same way: "meeting the above requirements does not guarantee promotion."

Two exceptions are worth knowing. Updates to existing apps are pointed to promotional content instead of the form. And game studios in the Google Play Partner Program are told to use the "Launch Planning" feature in Play Console rather than the form.

What the form asks for#

Depending on the type you choose, the form asks for details that are easier to gather weeks in advance than on the day:

• The build. Package ID, the track Google should review (alpha, beta or production) and the version code.
• The date and places. Your desired featuring date, the devices to feature on and the regions to target. To target Japan or Korea, your title "must be localized into Japanese/Korean."
• Languages your app supports, which "may trigger additional language review."
• Launch details. Launch date and time with time zone, and whether you launch on all major platforms at once, Android first, or another platform first.
• Your case. Why featuring matters now, which markets get extra marketing, and a link to a pitch deck ("Google Drive preferred").
• Numbers. For some launches, soft launch retention (D1, D7 and D30), ARPDAU, soft launch countries, your user acquisition plan with budget, and your monetization model.

If you plan a soft launch first, our guide to soft launching an app shows how to collect exactly those retention numbers, and our post on app retention rates explains how Play Console counts them.

How to write a nomination an editor can use#

The form gives you a few free-text fields. Use them for facts, not adjectives:

1. Lead with what is new. "The first offline-first habit tracker built for Wear OS" says more than "a beautiful, innovative app."
2. Show Android-specific work. Material Design, tablet and foldable layouts, widgets, Wear OS tiles, themed icons. Google's requirements name device support and Material Design explicitly.
3. Give proof. Beta ratings, retention from testing, press you already have lined up.
4. Name the moment. A launch date, a seasonal hook, or a market where you are running a campaign gives an editor a reason to place you in a specific week.
5. Make the deck short. A few slides with screenshots, the story and the numbers. Put it in a shared Google Drive link as the form suggests.

Promotional content: requesting featuring for events#

For live apps, Google's form points to promotional content (formerly LiveOps): event cards for offers, time-limited events and major updates that show on your listing and, if you request featuring, possibly on "high-visibility areas of Google Play, including the homepage and search results."

The catch is access. Google's premium growth tools page says promotional content is available to all game titles, but apps must "meet metric thresholds AND in a supported category," and for new app titles it is "Not available." The baseline thresholds are large. One of them is "≥ 1.6M daily MAU over the previous 3 months AND ≥ 1.6M active installs"; another is at least $40,000 a month in consumer spend for three months. Reduced thresholds apply to top titles in some countries and categories. Google adds newly eligible titles monthly; you do not apply.

If you do have access, the promotional content help sets the rules:

• Events can be submitted up to 60 days before they start, and approval can take up to four days.
• An event "with featuring requested must be submitted at least 14 days prior to the event start date."
• Featuring requests are limited per quarter: for events aimed at everyone or potential users, "up to 6 featuring slots per quarter" for apps and 4 for games; for a specific audience, 2 each.
• Events run up to four weeks; major updates have a set 28-day duration.
• Eligible events may appear in the Spotlight format, "a premium, full-width placement at the top of the Apps Home page."
• Images must not contain text, including logos or the app name, and you cannot edit an event after submitting it.

If you are below the thresholds, put your effort into the nomination form at launch and into the quality signals below.

Editors' Choice and the Best of Google Play awards#

Editorial picks still exist. When Google relaunched Editors' Choice in 2017, it said its "Google Play editors hand-select apps and games with the best experiences on Android and compile them around popular themes." There is no separate form for these collections.

The year-end Best of Google Play awards are the biggest editorial moment. Google announced its Best of 2025 winners on November 18, 2025, and the Best App went to Focus Friend by Hank Green, a small focus app rather than a household brand. If you launch in the second half of the year, being polished and well rated before the awards season matters.

The quality signals behind every route#

Work back from the featuring date: eight weeks for a new app's nomination, 14 days for an event. Photo: Towfiqu barbhuiya / Pexels

Whatever the route, the same signals decide whether an editor or an algorithm can put your app in front of more people:

• Android vitals. Google's vitals page sets bad behavior thresholds of a 1.09% user-perceived crash rate and a 0.47% ANR rate overall, and 8% each on any single phone model. "If your app or game exceeds a bad behavior threshold, Play may reduce the visibility of your title. Play may also show users a warning on your store listing."
• App quality guidelines. Google's core app quality guidelines "define the minimum quality that all apps should meet," and following the adaptive app quality guidelines helps you "Get your apps ranked higher in Google Play listings and search."
• Ratings. The form's minimums are floors, not targets. Our guide to responding to app reviews covers the habits that keep ratings up.
• Store assets that fit featuring formats. Google's preview assets help says apps need "at least four screenshots with minimum 1080px resolution" to be eligible for recommendation formats that use screenshots, and the 1024 x 500 feature graphic must keep key elements out of the cutoff zones. A preview video is "highly recommended" for games. Our guides to app preview videos and app icon size cover those assets.
• Leave external marketing on. In Grow users > Store presence > Store settings, the "External marketing" box controls whether Google can promote your app across Google-owned properties. Unchecking it restricts that promotion.
• Localization. The form asks you to localize where you want to be featured. Our App Store localization guide covers Google Play listings as well.

A featuring timeline for a new Android app#

For the iOS side of the same launch, our guide to getting featured on the App Store covers Apple's nomination process, which is open to updates as well as launches.

How to tell if your app was featured#

Google does not always tell you. Check Play Console's store listing acquisition reports, which split traffic into "Google Play search, Google Play explore, or from ads and referrals," according to Google's help page. Featuring shows up as a jump in Google Play explore acquisitions, usually in specific countries, without a matching rise in search. Compare the spike's dates and countries with the regions you targeted on the form.

Do not build the launch around featuring#

Featuring is a bonus. Even a perfect nomination can be passed over, and a feature lasts days, not months. Plan launch traffic you control: your own audience, communities, press, directories and paid placements. AppRanker is one of those placements: a public app leaderboard where rank is set by what each listing has paid, so you know in advance exactly where you will appear. Paste your Google Play or App Store link on the AppRanker home page to see the price of each position at the time of writing, and see our list of where to submit your app for the rest.

Google Play featuring checklist#

• Rating at or above 3.0 (apps), 3.8 (games or family) or 3.6 (family subscription apps).
• Release build uploaded to a Play Console track before nominating.
• Nomination form sent at least 8 weeks ahead for a new app.
• Launch on all key platforms at the same time, with feature parity.
• Listing localized for every target market, including Japanese or Korean if you target those countries.
• Crash rate under 1.09% and ANR rate under 0.47%.
• At least four 1080px screenshots, a 1024 x 500 feature graphic and, for games, a preview video.
• "External marketing" left checked in Store settings.
• Short pitch deck in a shared Google Drive link.
• Explore traffic monitored in Play Console after launch.

FAQ#

Can you apply to get featured on Google Play?#

Yes, for new launches. Google has a featuring nomination form on Google Play Help with minimum requirements. Submit it at least three weeks before the date you want, eight weeks for a newly launched app, and make sure the build is already in Play Console. Updates are directed to promotional content instead.

What rating do you need to get featured on Google Play?#

Google's form lists a minimum rating of 3.0 for apps, 3.8 for games, and 3.8 for family titles, or 3.6 for family subscription apps. Google says meeting the minimum does not guarantee promotion.

How do I request featuring in Play Console?#

If your app has access to promotional content, create an event under Grow users > Store presence > Promotional content and request featuring. Submit it at least 14 days before the start date. Apps get up to six broad-audience featuring requests per quarter, and games four.

Why can't I see promotional content in Play Console?#

Promotional content is available to all games, but apps only get it if they meet Google's premium growth tool thresholds, which start in the millions of active users or tens of thousands of dollars of monthly consumer spend. New app titles do not get access.

How do Google Play editors choose apps?#

Google says its editors hand-select apps and games with the best experiences on Android. Its nomination requirements point to what they weigh: policy compliance, app quality, ratings, device support, Material Design, localization and launching on all key platforms together.

How do I know if my app was featured on Google Play?#

Look at Play Console's store listing acquisition report. A sudden rise in Google Play explore acquisitions in certain countries, without a matching rise in search traffic, usually means your app was placed in a collection or on the home page.

Image credits#

• Cover, Play Store icon on an Android home screen: photo by El Jundi on Pexels, Pexels License. Cropped to 1200x630.
• Hand holding an Android phone: photo by Zain Ali on Pexels, Pexels License. Resized.
• Marking a date on a calendar: photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Pexels, Pexels License. Resized.