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How to Launch an iOS App: The First 30 Days
Most new apps start low and climb slowly. Here is what to have ready before release day, where the first downloads come from, and what the young apps that reached the top had in common.
Quick answer
Launch an iOS app in three stages. Before release day, write a name and subtitle that say what the app does, make the first screenshots show it working, put Apple's rating prompt into version one, test with TestFlight, and submit a few days early so you choose the release moment yourself. In the first week, bring downloads from outside the store: a common answer among makers on Reddit is that ASO amplifies downloads you already have, so reach people in your niche directly, and in what we see, aim at one narrow keyword that returns fewer than 10 apps. For the rest of the month, aim for 50 ratings in one storefront before you spread out, and ship a first update. Expect to start low. Across ranked AppTierList list entries on 2 November 2026, only 2.1% of S-tier entries are apps first released in the past year, against 16.9% in F. Still, 276 of 1,235 lists have an app under a year old in S or A. Rating count is one input to the score, so part of that gap is by construction.
Before launch day, get the page and the prompt ready
Launching an iOS app is more than pressing the release button. The first month is when the app starts to collect the downloads and ratings that App Store search, and later AI assistants, pick up on. So do the slow parts before the date.
- Write the listing first. The name and the subtitle hold up to 30 characters each. Use them to say what the app does, in words people actually type. Our ASO guide explains the keyword field and how to choose a first phrase.
- Make the first screenshots carry the page. Apple allows up to 10 screenshots, and the first one to three appear in search results when there is no app preview. Each should show the app doing its one job, with a short caption on top.
- Put the rating prompt into version one. Apple’s prompt can show at most three times a year to each person, and Apple suggests asking right after someone completes an action, a level or a task. Ship it in the first release so your earliest happy users can rate. The ratings guide covers the API and the moments that work.
- Test with real people. TestFlight lets you invite up to 10,000 external testers, and the first build you share with them goes through App Review. A small group of people from your target audience will find the confusing screen before the public does.
- Separate approval from launch. Apple says App Review typically handles at least 50% of submissions in less than 24 hours and 90% in less than 48 hours. Submit a few days early and set the version to release by hand, or automatically no earlier than a date you pick. After a manual release it may take up to 24 hours to show on the store, so release the day before you announce.
- Consider a pre-order. If you already have an audience, a brand-new app can open for pre-order with a release day 2 to 180 days later. On release day it downloads by itself to the devices of everyone who ordered it.
The first week needs downloads from outside the store
On day one a new app has no downloads, no ratings and a name nobody searches for. Apple says search results rest on text relevance and on what people do with an app: its downloads, its ratings, its reviews. That second part is empty for a new app, so App Store search alone will not carry launch week.
A common answer among makers on Reddit is that ASO amplifies downloads you already have; it does not create them. That is a community view rather than a measurement, but it matches Apple’s own description of search. The first users come from people you reach yourself: a community where your users already talk, your own followers, a short list of people you write to one at a time.
In what we see, the store’s part of week one is a narrow keyword. Type candidate phrases into App Store search on your phone and count the results. A phrase that brings back fewer than 10 apps gives a new app a real chance to be one of them, while a phrase that returns nothing is a sign that nobody types it. Put the one you pick in the tag: the short phrase after the colon in your app name, as in Swerve: AI Chat & Stories.
The same week, add your app to AppTierList. It is free, and it places your page beside the apps people already compare. In what we see, AI assistants place an app by the apps it is compared with, which is what a list beside its rivals gives them. Expect a new app to start low. The order rests mostly on public App Store data, which a new app has little of yet, and How we rank lists every part.
Young apps rarely start near the top, but some get there
We looked at every ranked entry in the 1,235 active AppTierList lists on 2 November 2026 and asked when each app first came out. Across all of them, 6.0% are apps first released less than a year earlier.
The share falls with each tier. Apps under a year old are 16.9% of F-tier entries, 9.2% of D, 7.9% of C, 6.7% of B, 4.6% of A and 2.1% of S. At the top, older apps are the norm: 75.5% of S-tier entries are apps more than five years old.
Young apps are not shut out, though. In 276 of the 1,235 lists, at least one app under a year old already sits in S or A. One example is Swerve: AI Chat & Stories, first released in November 2025 and now the top app in our AI roleplay chat list.
What those young apps share is a real rating count. Young S-tier entries have a median of 11,098 ratings and young A-tier entries 3,661, summed across the storefronts we read. That is far below the 77,582 of a typical S-tier entry of any age, but it is still thousands, not dozens. They also keep shipping: 84.8% of young entries in S or A released a version in the last 60 days, against 72.7% of young entries in the lower tiers.
Read this with care. Our tiers rest mostly on public App Store data, with rating count and update recency among their inputs, so part of each gap is there by construction. Much of the age gap is likely time: an app with more months on the store has had longer to gather ratings.
For the rest of the month, chase ratings in one storefront, then update
Once the first users arrive, the work turns to ratings. In what we see, a new app does best when it aims for 50 ratings in one storefront before it spreads out. Ratings are counted per country, and below that line each new one changes how the page reads to a stranger. Once a storefront passes 100, move the effort to the next markets, such as the UK and Germany.
If you spend money in the first month, in what we see Apple Ads pay off best when they bring in the early users who leave your first ratings, not as a way to inflate installs. Keep them in one storefront, the US or a big European market, until that country has 50 ratings. Ads cost real money, so set a small budget and compare it with what those early users are worth to you.
Plan a first update inside the month. Early users find bugs and confusing screens, and a quick fix with a clear note in What’s New tells new visitors the app is alive. After launch, in what we see, a release every couple of months is a good pace, and half a year without one is too long. Our update study shows how current the versions of top-ranked apps are.
While you wait for ratings, make the store description say plainly what the app does and for whom. In what we see, that page counts most when AI assistants describe an app, as the GEO guide explains, and our promotion guide ranks the channels worth adding after launch month.
Claim your page, then make your launch page work for you
A new app has few places on the web that describe it, so give its AppTierList page the same care as the store listing.
- Claim the page in launch week: submit the app by email, or tap Claim if it is already listed.
- Fill in the page: your website, and a short description in the words your listing uses; readers see them from the day the app is Verified.
- Share the page in your launch posts, on your website and with your testers.
Then come back at the end of the month, check your ratings storefront by storefront, and plan the next update.
The numbers
- 2.1%of S-tier list entries are apps first released less than a year before 2026-11-02As of
- 4.6%of A-tier list entries are apps first released less than a year before 2026-11-02As of
- 6.7%of B-tier list entries are apps first released less than a year before 2026-11-02As of
- 7.9%of C-tier list entries are apps first released less than a year before 2026-11-02As of
- 9.2%of D-tier list entries are apps first released less than a year before 2026-11-02As of
- 16.9%of F-tier list entries are apps first released less than a year before 2026-11-02As of
- 6.0%of all ranked list entries (1,810 of 30,075) are apps first released less than a year before 2026-11-02As of
- 75.5%of S-tier list entries are apps first released more than five years before 2026-11-02As of
- 276active lists (22.3% of the 1,235 with ranked members) have at least one app first released in the past year in S or A tierAs of
- 1,235active AppTierList lists with ranked membersAs of
- 11,098median rating count of S-tier list entries first released in the past year, summed across the storefronts we readAs of
- 3,661median rating count of A-tier list entries first released in the past year, summed across the storefronts we readAs of
- 77,582median rating count of S-tier list entries of any age, summed across the storefronts we readAs of
- 84.8%of S and A-tier list entries first released in the past year shipped a version in the 60 days to 2026-11-02As of
- 72.7%of B to F-tier list entries first released in the past year shipped a version in the 60 days to 2026-11-02As of
- 60days: the update window used in the two shares above (a version released on or after 2026-09-03)As of
- 2 November 2026the date of the catalogue data behind every stat in this guideAs of
- November 2025first release month of Swerve: AI Chat & Stories, the top S-tier app in the AI roleplay chat listAs of
- 30characters at most in an app name, and in a subtitleAs of
- 10 screenshotsat most on an App Store product page; the first one to three appear in search results when no app preview is availableAs of
- 10,000external testers at most in a TestFlight beta; the first build for external testers is reviewed by App ReviewAs of
- 50%of submissions App Review typically reviews in less than 24 hoursAs of
- 90%of submissions App Review typically reviews in less than 48 hoursAs of
- 24 hoursthe most it may take a manually released app version to appear on the App Store; also the first review window aboveAs of
- 48 hoursthe window in which App Review typically reviews 90% of submissionsAs of
- 2 to 180 daysafter the pre-order is published: the range for a brand-new app's release dayAs of
- 10apps: the most a good starting keyword should return in App Store searchAs of
- 50ratings in one storefront: the first ratings target before spreading outAs of
- 100ratings in a storefront: the point to move effort to the next marketsAs of
Method: Ranked members of active AppTierList lists on 2026-11-02 (6,601 S, 7,414 A, 6,116 B, 6,546 C, 2,223 D and 1,175 F memberships; an app in three lists counts three times). Age is the App Store first release date; young means first released on or after 2025-11-02. Rating counts are summed across the storefronts AppTierList reads (mostly US, UK, Canada, Australia and Germany). Rating count and update recency are inputs to the score, so part of each gap is by construction. The planned measure, days from release to a first tier, was not used: our lists only began in late September 2026, so it would time our own discovery, not the apps.
Reproduce it: GET https://apptierlist.com/api/v1/lists/ai-roleplay-chat
Keep reading
- ASO · 7 min read
App Store Optimization for iPhone Apps
ASO is the work of being found inside the App Store. Here are the fields Apple reads, a way to pick a keyword a new app can own, and the order to do it in. - Ratings · 6 min read
How Many App Store Ratings You Need
The star average gets the attention, but the number of ratings behind it is what people and rankings trust. Here is the target, the timing and the rules. - Data · 5 min read
How Often Do Top Apps Update?
We measured how long ago every ranked app in every active list shipped its current version. The top of each list is almost always fresh; the bottom has mostly stopped. - Launch · 7 min read
Best Ways to Promote Your App in 2026
Ten promotion channels for a small iPhone app, compared on what they cost, how much work they take and how long they keep paying back. - GEO · 7 min read
Get Your App Recommended by AI
AI assistants name apps from pages their crawlers can read. Here is how each one finds those pages, and the three places a maker should work on, in order.
FAQ
How long does App Store review take for a new app?
Apple says App Review typically reviews at least half of submissions in less than a day and nine in ten in less than two days, and an incomplete submission can take longer or fail. Submit a few days before your launch date and set the version to release by hand or no earlier than a chosen date, so approval and launch are separate steps.
Does ASO work for a brand-new app?
A little, and mostly later. Apple says App Store search uses text relevance and user behavior such as downloads, ratings and reviews, and a new app has none of the second kind yet. A common answer among makers is that ASO amplifies downloads you already have, so bring the first users from outside the store and use one narrow keyword the app can actually show up for.
How many ratings should a new app aim for first?
In what we see, about fifty in one storefront before you spread effort to other countries. Ratings are counted per storefront, so a strong count in one country does not show in another. Ask with Apple's own rating prompt right after someone completes a task in the app.
Can a new app reach the top tier of a category list?
Some do, but few in their first year. Across ranked AppTierList list entries on 2 November 2026, apps first released in the past year were 2.1% of S-tier entries and 16.9% of F-tier entries, yet 276 lists had a young app in S or A. Rating count is one input to the score, so part of that gap follows from how tiers are built.
Should I open my app for pre-order before launch?
It can help if you have an audience to send to the page. Apple lets a brand-new app take pre-orders with a release day 2 to 180 days after the pre-order goes live, and on release day the app downloads by itself to the devices of people who ordered it.
Sources
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