How do you pitch your iOS app to the press?

Launch advice often says "reach out to press" and stops there. Reach out to whom? With what?

This is the part they skip: who actually writes about indie iOS apps, what each of them asks for in their own words, and what to have ready before you write to anyone.

Is press worth chasing for an indie iOS app?

Yes, if you aim small and specific.

The biggest Apple sites mostly cover Apple. The writers who cover indie apps are a smaller group: a few Apple-focused sites, games sites if you made a game, and newsletters about indie developers. One of them trying your app and writing three honest paragraphs is worth more than a release sent to five hundred inboxes.

It also takes less than you think. A press page you make once, and one email per writer.

Who writes about indie iOS apps, and how do they want to hear from you?

Each of these says on its own site what it wants. Read the page before you write, because they differ a lot:

Every row was checked on its own site on November 3, 2026.

Two things come up again and again: know what they cover before you write, and give them a way to try the app.

Do you need a press release for an app launch?

No. For an indie app, write a pitch instead.

TidBITS says it plainly on its contact page: "We crumbled under the load years ago and no longer read any of them." The writers who cover small apps want a short email from the person who made it, about why their readers would care.

The exception is games. TouchArcade still welcomes news releases. If you made a game, keep a short release on your press page and send the link with your email.

I'd skip paid press release distribution entirely. It puts your app in front of the inboxes least likely to read it.

What goes in an iOS app press kit?

Everything a writer needs to cover your app without emailing you back:

Screenshots can be the same ones you made for the App Store. If you haven't made those yet, the screenshot generator frames and captions them at Apple's sizes.

What does Apple let you use in a press kit?

More than you'd guess, with rules. Apple's marketing guidelines cover all of it:

• The App Store badge. Use the black badge. The white one is for layouts where black looks heavy. On screen it should be at least 40 px tall, with clear space of a quarter of its height around it, and you can't modify it.
• Device frames. Only Apple's own product bezels, from Apple Design Resources, used as they are. No tilting, cropping or shadows, and the latest devices your app supports.
• The name. Write App Store with a capital A and S, and say "available on the App Store", never "Apple App Store" or a device name in front of it.
• Screen content. Show the app as it looks when it runs, on the current iOS, with made-up account details.
• The Apple logo. Don't use it on its own, or in place of the word Apple.

Apple's App Store marketing tools make most of this easy: a linked badge for your app, the icon artwork, a QR code and promotional images in social media sizes.

Should your press kit be a web page or a zip file?

A page. Put it at yourapp.com/press, linked from your site's footer, with every file downloadable from it.

A writer deciding whether to cover you wants to see the app in ten seconds. A page shows it. A zip has to be downloaded and unpacked first, and some won't bother. Offer one big download of everything at the bottom of the page for the writers who do want it.

You can build it yourself in an evening, or use a tool:

Prices are from each tool's own site on November 3, 2026.

What should the pitch email say?

Less than you want it to. A writer reads the first two lines and decides.

One app per email, one writer per email. No attachments; link the press page instead.

And if you draft it with AI, TidBITS has a request: "edit it hard so it doesn't sound so generated." Read it aloud before you send it. If you wouldn't say it to the writer's face, cut it.

How do you let a writer try a paid app?

With a promo code. You can request up to 100 per version for each platform your app supports. Each one works once and lasts four weeks from the day you make it, so make them just before you send. They also work for unreleased versions of apps already on the App Store, which lets a writer try an update before it ships. People who redeem a code can't rate or review the app.

Promo codes for in-app purchases ended on March 26, 2026. For a subscription or a one-time purchase inside the app, use offer codes instead.

Not released yet? Use TestFlight. External testing takes up to 10,000 people, the first build goes through a beta review, and each build lasts 90 days. A public link is easy to send, but anyone can share it. For an app you haven't announced, invite writers by email instead.

One side effect: downloads through a promo code show up as "Unavailable" in your analytics sources, not under any campaign link. That's fine. Press shows up in your numbers as the readers who come after.

When should you send it, and what if nobody answers?

Send it a week or two before launch day, so a writer who's interested has time to try the app. Ask in the email if they'd like to wait until launch day to publish. Don't assume it. 9to5Mac, for one, treats anything sent through its tip form as permission to publish.

If nobody answers, send one short follow-up after a week. Then let it go, and pitch again when you have news: a big update, a milestone, a story about who uses it.

The same story works for Apple's own editors. Apple says it looks for a fresh approach to a familiar category, good design and accessibility, among other things, and asks for nominations through App Store Connect. A pitch that would convince a writer is a good nomination too. The launch checklist has the nomination step, and the 30-day launch plan puts press in week three or four, once you have something to say.