App Store in-app events: limits, badges, examples, calendar

What are in-app events?

In-app events are time-limited moments inside your app or game that the App Store promotes for you. Each one gets an event card (image or video, name, short description) and a details page. People can download the app from the card, open the event directly, share it, or ask the App Store to notify them when it starts.

Apple shows event cards in four places:

Your product page, which lists all your currently published events.
Search results. People who already downloaded your app see the event card next to it; people who never did see your screenshots instead. People can also search for events directly.
Editorial selections and personalized recommendations on the Today, Games and Apps tabs.
Apple Games, which App Store Connect Help names next to the App Store.

You can submit events for review on their own, without a new app version.

What are the limits?

All values come from Apple's In-App Events page and App Store Connect Help.

Limit	Value
Published on the App Store at once	Up to 10 per app
Approved in App Store Connect at once	Up to 15 per app
Overlapping start dates and times	Up to 10 events, approved or draft
Event length	At least 15 minutes, at most 31 days
Earliest publish date	Up to 14 days before the start
Different start times by region	All starts within 48 hours of each other
Reference name (internal)	Up to 64 characters, unique
Event name	Up to 30 characters, title case
Short description (event card)	Up to 50 characters, sentence case
Long description (details page)	Up to 120 characters, sentence case
After the event is published	Only start and end dates can change
After the event begins	Only the end date can change

Event name, short and long description, card media and details page media are localizable; badge, priority and dates are not.

What media does an event need?

Every event needs card media (landscape) and details page media (portrait). Images cannot have alpha channels or transparency.

Placement	Aspect ratio	Size	Image	Video
Event card	16:9	1920×1080 to 3840×2160 px	.jpeg, .jpg, .png	.mov, .m4v, .mp4; 15–30 s; 30 or 60 fps
Event details page	9:16	1080×1920 to 2160×3840 px	.jpeg, .jpg, .png	.mov, .m4v, .mp4; 15–30 s; 30 or 60 fps

Image files can be up to 500 MB. Videos are muted in search results and loop in every placement, so design a seamless loop. Apple asks you to avoid text and logos in the media, and not to add borders or gradients, because the App Store crops and applies gradients itself.

Which event badge should I choose?

The badge sits above the event name on the card and details page. Apple offers seven:

Badge	Apple's meaning	Example
Challenge	Reach a goal before the event ends	A 30-day fitness challenge
Competition	Users compete for ranking or rewards	A weekend tournament
Live Event	Happens in real time for everyone at once	A livestreamed concert or match
Premiere	First-time availability of content or media	A new film or audio release
New Season	New content, storylines or media libraries on established content	A new season of a show, a new battle pass
Major Update	Significant new features, content or experiences	New game modes or levels; not UI tweaks or bug fixes
Special Event	Limited-time events no other badge captures	A collaboration spanning several activities

Live Event, New Season, Premiere and Special Event should offer new content, features or goods, not general awareness.

A badge decision tree

Ask these questions in order and stop at the first yes:

Does it happen in real time, for everyone at once? Live Event.
Do users compete against each other for a rank or reward? Competition.
Does each user try to reach a goal before the end date? Challenge.
Is a piece of content or media available for the first time? Premiere.
Is it a new chapter of content you already run, like a season or pass? New Season.
Is it a significant new feature or mode that stays after the event? Major Update.
Is it limited-time, with new content, and none of the above? Special Event.
None of these? It is probably not an event. Apple lists daily tasks, price promotions without new content, and general app awareness as poor candidates.

How do I write the event name and descriptions?

Apple's guidance is short and strict:

The name is the event's real name, such as "June Leaderboard Climb", not a call to action like "Watch the livestream". Do not repeat the event type; the badge already shows it.
No all capitals, no stacked punctuation, no unverifiable claims like "the best" or "#1", and no filler like "game event".
No specific prices. Apple says prices in event metadata lead to rejection.
The short description says what the person will do; the long description can add details such as rewards.

Ten example events

These are invented examples. Character counts were checked against the 30 and 50 character limits.

Badge	App type	Event name	Chars	Short description	Chars
Challenge	Step counter	May Ten Thousand Steps	22	Hit 10,000 steps every day this May	35
Competition	Word puzzle game	Autumn Word Duel Cup	20	Top the duel table by Sunday night	34
Live Event	Cooking app	Sunday Fresh Pasta Class	24	Cook along with a chef, live at 7 pm	36
Premiere	Sleep and meditation app	The Quiet Forest	16	A new 40-minute sleep story tonight	35
New Season	Language-learning app	Kitchen Spanish: Market Days	28	Twelve new lessons on food and markets	38
Major Update	Budgeting app	Shared Budgets for Two	22	Plan bills and goals with a partner	35
Special Event	Photo editor	Retro Film Week	15	Seven vintage film looks, one week only	39
Challenge	Reading app	June Five-Book Sprint	21	Finish five short books before July	35
Competition	Puzzle game	Lantern Night Puzzle Race	25	Fastest solvers earn a lantern badge	36
Live Event	Running app	City Marathon Live Map	22	Follow every runner on a live race map	38

How do I create an in-app event in App Store Connect?

These steps follow App Store Connect Help. You need the Account Holder, Admin, App Manager or Marketing role.

Open your app, then click In-App Events in the left sidebar.
Click Create In-App Event (or the add button (+)), enter a reference name and click Create.
Enter the event name, short description and long description, and upload card and details page media. Browse Assets reuses approved media from the Asset Library.
Choose the badge.
Add localizations from the language pop-up menu.
In Country or Region Availability, set the start and end dates and times and the publish date, then click Save. Events go to all storefronts where your app is available unless you change it. Customize Dates and Times sets different starts per region.
Add the event deep link (a universal link is recommended; for new users, Apple suggests onboarding first, then the event), test it, and choose the purpose: appropriate for all users, attract new users, keep active users informed, or bring back lapsed users. Apple uses the purpose for personalized recommendations; it is not shown on the card.
Set the priority. Events appear on your product page by start time; High Priority events come before Normal ones.
Say whether an in-app purchase is required. For subscription apps, only when the event costs extra on top of the subscription.
Choose the primary language, then click Add for Review, add it to a draft or new submission, and click Submit for Review.

A 12-month planning template

Use this as a blank plan, not a tool. Fill one row per event, check the limits before you add it, and keep three dates per event: submit, publish (up to 14 days early) and start. Before submitting, check that card and details media are ready and the deep link is tested.

Month	Moment (yours to fill)	Badge
January	New-year goals	Challenge
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September	Back to school or work
October
November
December	Year-end

Planning rules that come from the limits:

At most 10 events live and 15 approved, so a monthly event plus a few short live sessions fits easily; weekly events need archiving as you go.
31 days maximum: a month-long challenge fits, a season-long one must be split.
Leave review time. Apple does not publish a separate review time for events; plan to submit well before your publish date.
Localize the name and descriptions for your top storefronts, and keep the media free of text so it works in every language.

How do I measure an event?

App Analytics in App Store Connect shows event performance: downloads filtered by event, the sources where people found it, event impressions, details page views, app opens, and how many people asked to be notified. Compare the event period with the weeks before. For search, track the keywords around the event's theme so you see whether the event brought searches your way.

How do in-app events compare with Google Play promotional content?

Google Play's closest feature is promotional content in Play Console. It is available to all games, and to apps that meet Google's eligibility criteria for Premium growth tools.

	App Store in-app events	Google Play promotional content
Maximum length	31 days	Four weeks
Shown early	Up to 14 days before start	Preview up to 14 days before start
Submit	Apple publishes no earliest submit date; the event needs approval before it publishes	Earliest 60 days before start; approval can take up to four days
Featuring	Editors may pick events; you can share events with Apple's editors	Request featuring at least 14 days before start; app developers have up to 6 featuring slots per quarter for broad audiences
Limits	10 live, 15 approved	Any number of events without featuring; featuring requests are limited per quarter

Details are in Google Play promotional content.

How does Uptika help?

Uptika has no event calendar or event submission feature; events are created in App Store Connect. What it does help with is the search side. The free Chart Movers tool shows daily category top 10s, climbers and new entrants, and Keyword Atlas checks the popularity of an event's theme terms in up to 10 countries. In the panel, the free Keyword radar records your daily rank, popularity and difficulty per keyword, so you can compare the weeks around an event. Create a free account to start.

Questions

What are in-app events on the App Store?

They are time-limited events inside your app or game, such as challenges, competitions, live events, premieres, new seasons or major updates. Each event gets a card with an image or video, a name and a short description, and a details page. People can download your app, open the event or ask to be notified from the card.

How do I create an in-app event?

In App Store Connect, open your app, click In-App Events in the left sidebar and click Create In-App Event. Add a reference name, the event name, short and long descriptions, media, a badge, dates, a deep link, purpose, priority and whether a purchase is required, then submit it for review with or without an app version.

How long can an in-app event run?

An event can run for at least 15 minutes and at most 31 days. It can become visible on the App Store up to 14 days before it starts, so the longest total time on the store is about 45 days.

What are good in-app event examples?

Apple names challenges, competitions and special content launches as good candidates. Daily tasks, price promotions without new content and general awareness campaigns are not. A good event has a real name, a clear start and end, and something new to do.

How many in-app events can I have?

Up to 10 events published on the App Store at a time and up to 15 approved events per app in App Store Connect. Up to 10 events can have overlapping start dates and times, counting approved and draft events.

In-app events on the App Store: limits, badges, examples and a calendar