Not visible in the iMessage App Store

My iMessage App + container app was approved yesterday, and the container app is visible in the main App Store, but no sign of it in the iMessage App store. Is there a separate review/approval process for the iMessage App Store, or anything extra I need do, beyond providing the screens shots?

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Okay, I just realized App is visible in iMessage App store if you search for it. So, what do you need to do be visible under a category?

What do you need to do be visible under a category?.... Pray. I think there's like 10,000 Sticker Packs / iMessage Apps now, and you'll notice browsing by category in the store only brings up a handful. Those are curated selections. With some luck though, you might get noticed and featured.

Okay, I get it with the sticker packs, where there are 1000's to choose from. Even if there was a comprehensive list, you woudl be buried in the volume. But, under "Photos and Video" there are only 11 items listed in total. What would lead a user to believe there are hidden items to search for?

Well I don't think any of us on these forums would disagree Apple could add more than 10 or so featured apps to those category pages. But only Apple knows what they know. I suspect the traffic to those category pages is far less than you'd think, and certainly with the iMessage Store (which in itself takes quite a few taps to drill down to), thats even more true. Maybe a day will come when we see a dedicated homescreen iMessage Store App (hint, hint, if anyone is listening =)


Here's some encouragement.... When Apple launched their Search Ads they had some stats posted on what percentage of users find apps through searches and its pretty high. Over 60%. So just because you're not Featured in a Category, doesn't mean your app won't find eyes on it. Being Featured is the Holy Grail of Store Visibilty of course, but no app stays featured forever. So thinking long term, its almost better to get a realistic idea of what to expect now. In probably a day you'll see the number of Impressions in the Analytics section.


And I don't think most users that end up in a Category assume those featured apps are the ONLY ones available. If someone is looking for say, an iMessage App that converts static images to gifs, they'll be searching for those terms, not simply giving up because the Photo / Video section doesnt show it.

I was not talking about "Featured". Under Categories tab, "Photos & Videos", they lead with "Our favorites", which lists 7 apps. Then there is "More to Explore," which shows 11 app if you hit "See all". I get your point about keyword search, but my app is not even visible with keyword search, only if you search for the app name. I should mention, this is in Australian store. I was holding off on US release, hoping to do a bit of testing first with smaller number of users. I guess I should release in US and see if behavior is the same. It seems broken to me.

Yes, you should definitely release worldwide! My feeling is, we have app versions for a reason. No harm in getting more testers for version 1.


And yeah, I know what you mean. The "See All" links don't usually show much more.


The keyword search will probably start to show some better results in time. I think their search algorithms take time to make sense of how your keywords fit in with everything else in the store. Try not to take it personal the first week or so. Release and forget it for a bit. Then see where you're at in a week.