Mobile App Showcases: Free Places That Display a New iOS or Android App
A mobile app is shown in three kinds of place: the stores’ own editorial and testing tools, such as Apple’s featuring nominations and Google Play’s open testing; developer newsletters like iOS Dev Weekly and Android Weekly, which take submitted links; and communities such as r/iosapps and r/androidapps. All three are free, and none promises downloads. The store page you point people to decides whether any of it converts.
What counts as a showcase for a mobile app?
A showcase is any place that shows people a mobile app and sends them to install it. That excludes the store search box, which people use when they already know what they want. It includes editorial features inside the store, newsletters that point at new work, and communities where someone asks “is there an app for this?” and gets an answer.
Mobile has a quirk that other products lack: the destination is a store page, not your website. Every showcase below ends in a store listing you do not fully control, so the first ten minutes of your showcase work should go to that page. Apple’s own documentation says every element of a product page can drive downloads, and it lists the pieces: the name, the icon, the subtitle, screenshots, app previews and the description.
Facts below come from each site’s own pages, read on 13 November 2026. Reddit and Product Hunt refused automated checks, and we say so where it applies.
Where can you show a mobile app?
01 Apple featuring nominations
A way to tell the App Store team about a launch, an update or an in-app event, through App Store Connect.
- Cost
- Free
- Lead time
- At least two weeks; up to three months ahead for wider consideration
- Also on the page
- Stories, collections and in-app events as ways Apple highlights developers
The submission lives inside App Store Connect, so you need an app record first. The page names in-app events as a format: timely content such as a challenge, premiere or seasonal event that people can jump into from the store. If your app has something time-boxed, an event gives the nomination a concrete hook.
Nothing says a nomination is accepted. Its value is being on the team’s radar and being forced to plan a date. The app store launch checklist lists what to have ready.
02 Google Play open testing
A test track that shows your test version on Google Play so anyone can join and send private feedback.
- Cost
- Free within a Play Console account
- Visibility
- Surfaced on Google Play, so the listing must be ready for public eyes
- Feedback
- Private, to you
It is closer to a soft launch than a showcase, but it works as one for a small app: people browsing Play can find your test and install it. Google’s page warns to verify that your app and store listing are ready for public visibility first.
Use it when you want real installs without public star ratings, and when you have a way to read the private feedback every day.
03 TestFlight public link
A shareable link that lets people install a pre-release iOS build.
- Capacity
- Up to 10,000 external testers
- Review
- The first external build is approved by App Review for TestFlight
A public link works anywhere you can paste a URL: a post, a thread, a newsletter note. As a showcase it is a way to let readers try the app before it is in the store, which is persuasive because there is nothing to imagine.
04 iOS Dev Weekly
A free Friday newsletter on Swift and Apple platform development, with a “Submit a Link” item in its menu.
- Route
- Submit a Link
- Readers
- Developers on Apple platforms
- Catch
- We could not confirm it features new consumer apps
A newsletter about building apps is more interested in how than in what. Submit a link to something instructive, such as a write-up of a hard problem the app solved, with the app as the example, and not a plain announcement.
05 Android Weekly
A free weekly newsletter for Android and Kotlin developers, with a submission form on its homepage.
- Route
- A form for conferences and for writing you want covered
- Readers
- Android developers
The homepage says to submit an Android development conference or your own writing to be covered. The same advice applies as above: send something a developer can learn from.
06 r/iosapps and r/androidapps
Two well-known subreddits where people ask for and recommend apps for each platform.
- Fits
- Consumer apps people ask about
- Catch
- Reddit refused our automated check; rules on developer posts differ and change
The best use is answering a question, not starting a thread about your app: when someone asks for a habit tracker with no account, say you built one, once, and say what it lacks. Read each community’s sidebar for rules on developers, and use one community per post.
07 Product Hunt
A launch site with a daily ranking that features many mobile apps.
- Cost
- Free to submit; sign-in required
- Catch
- Its pages refused our automated check
Mobile makers use it widely, but a daily ranking rewards early votes, which a new app with no audience will not have. Consider it after you have a few reviews and an audience to ask. See Product Hunt alternatives for mobile apps.
08 Post your build ideas (our launch board)
A free launch board, ours, where an app’s website gets a permanent page with votes and comments.
- Cost
- Free; one verified email
- Catch
- Four screenshots at most; small audience
The listing is text and a link, so it will not do a store’s job. Launch the app’s landing page for free, put the store links on that page, and use the board URL wherever a place wants one web address.
What should the store page say before you show it anywhere?
- Name and subtitle: the job in plain words, readable at the size of a search result.
- The first two screenshots: these are what most visitors judge; they should show the main action working.
- A preview video, if you have one; Apple’s page says previews can run up to 30 seconds and should show footage captured on the device.
- A privacy answer that matches what the app does; stores check this.
- One recent update or event, so the page does not look abandoned.
Check required sizes and limits on each store’s page the day you upload; they change. If you are still deciding which app to make, browse the app ideas on the board before you build.
What is a sensible order?
Open a test track and send a public link to a few people who match the user. Fix the first-run flow. Then nominate for featuring if you are on Apple, post the instructive write-up to a newsletter, answer one question in one community, and publish the board page the day the store listing goes live. The mobile apps guide covers the store routes, and the app promotion list covers desktop and open-source stores.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get my mobile app featured?
Apple has a featuring nomination in App Store Connect for new apps, updates and in-app events, and asks for at least two weeks’ notice, or up to three months for wider consideration. Nobody can promise a feature, so treat it as free and uncertain, and build the rest of your showcase work around it.
Where can I show my app to people before it is in the store?
On iOS, use a TestFlight public link, which lets up to 10,000 external testers install a build after its first review. On Android, an open test on Google Play shows the test version to anyone and sends their feedback privately. Both are free and need a finished build.
Do developer newsletters feature new apps?
iOS Dev Weekly and Android Weekly both accept submitted links, but they serve developers, so they favour instructive write-ups over announcements. We could not confirm that either features new consumer apps. Submit something a developer can learn from, with the app as the example.
Is Reddit a good place to promote a mobile app?
It can be, if you answer a question and say you built the app. Rules on developer posts differ by community and change, and our automated check could not read Reddit. Read the sidebar, use one community, and do not paste the same message into several.
Should I use Product Hunt for a mobile app?
You can, but its daily ranking rewards early votes, which a new app with no audience will struggle to gather. A mobile app with reviews and a few hundred followers is better placed. Start with a launch board and a store test track instead.
Post your build ideas publishes this page and runs a free launch board that competes with some of the sites it names. Facts about other sites came from their own pages on the date shown above; terms, queues and prices change, so confirm on their sites before you decide. About the publisher.