Where to promote a Mac or iOS app: subreddit threads, catalogs, Setapp and Apple's own nomination form

The free places to promote a Mac app are few, and each has a rule. r/macapps takes promotion in a monthly megathread and removes posts that skip its format. Apple lets you nominate your app for App Store featuring from App Store Connect. And catalogs such as App Rater, Indie App Catalog and MacUpdate list indie apps. For an iPhone or iPad app, r/iosapps works like r/macapps, with its own monthly thread and format; r/TestFlight finds beta testers, and r/AppHookup takes real price drops. Setapp is a different deal: its price is a commission on your sales.

This guide covers those places as their own pages state them, read on 29 and 30 September 2026, plus Apple's featuring pages, read on 2 October 2026. Paid review blogs have their own guide, app review sites. We don't measure the downloads or sales a listing brings, and we take no money from the places we list.

01The short list

Each place with its kind, its cost where it states one, and the date of our last check. Subreddits show "couldn't check" because Reddit blocks our checker; their rules are below.

02Apple's own route: featuring nominations

Apple's editors pick the apps the App Store features, and you can ask them to look at yours. Its page on getting featured (opens in a new tab), as we read it on 2 October 2026:

You can use Featuring Nominations in App Store Connect to share your new content, app enhancement, or app launch with our team. Featuring lead time varies — please give our team a minimum of two weeks notice. For wider featuring consideration, we recommend submitting a nomination up to three months in advance.

The App Store Connect help page on nominations (opens in a new tab) gives a longer minimum: it recommends "submitting plans as early as possible, with a minimum lead time of 3 weeks." Plan on three weeks at least, and on months for a launch. The same page names three kinds of nomination: new content, app enhancements, and an app launch, which covers "the launch or pre-order of your new app or game." You pick the platforms the nomination is for, and you need the Account Holder, Admin, App Manager or Marketing role.

What the editors weigh, in Apple's words: "While there's no checklist of requirements for getting featured on the App Store, our team considers the following factors". The list that follows is user experience, UI design, innovation, uniqueness, accessibility, localization and the App Store product page itself, including "positive ratings and reviews."

Neither page mentions a fee for nominating, and neither says how many nominations get picked. The route needs the app in App Store Connect, so a Mac app you sell only from your own site can't use it.

03r/macapps: the App Pile and the PCP format

r/macapps keeps promotion to a monthly megathread, the App Pile, unless your app qualifies for the main feed; read the megathread and the sidebar for who does. The format is not optional: "All promotion MUST follow PCP format or else we will remove it". PCP stands for problem, comparison and pricing. In our reading, that's what the app solves, how it compares with what people already use, and what it costs.

That is a good outline for any Mac app post, not only this one. Read the current App Pile before you post: it's replaced each month, and the rules sit in it.

04r/iosapps: the App Shelf and the ABC format

r/iosapps runs the same model with a monthly App Shelf megathread. You can post in the main feed only with at least 10 karma earned in the subreddit, and not for an AI wrapper or a vibe-coded app. Everyone else uses the App Shelf, and "All promotion MUST follow the ABC format or it will be removed". The megathread explains the format.

The karma rule means a new account starts in the thread. Comment in the subreddit for a while before you expect to post in its main feed.

05Price drops and betas: r/AppHookup and r/TestFlight

r/AppHookup is for deals, meaning real price reductions on apps for any platform, and its moderators are moving every deal post to approval first: "Every new deal/offer post in r/AppHookup is (soon) going to be pre-approved by the moderators before it appears in the subreddit." A launch discount or a sale fits. An app at its usual price doesn't.

r/TestFlight is for App Store betas; see where to find beta users.

All of these subreddit rules come from each subreddit's public feed and pinned posts, read on 30 September 2026, because Reddit blocks our link checker. The sidebar rules weren't in the feed. Read the sidebar before you post. The rules of other founder subreddits are in subreddits for founders, and how Reddit's own spam rules apply to a launch is in how to promote a startup on Reddit.

06Catalogs that list indie apps

Catalogs list apps rather than sell reviews. Of the ones here, only App Rater states a price for a listing, and it's free:

D062App Rater·Cost

“No. Submitting is free, being published is free, and staying in the archive is free. Promotion is optional, sold separately, and never a condition of being listed.”

Our reading: Free; optional paid promotion

App Rater takes iOS, Android, macOS, Windows and web apps. The catch is the queue: "It depends entirely on the queue, which one person works through, so expect a wait rather than minutes." It also says no account is needed to submit.

Indie App Catalog is for Apple platforms only, and its own About page gives its size:

D146Indie App Catalog·Kind

“The Indie App Catalog is a wonderful showcase of what our indie community creates, featuring 2350 apps from 2096 developers.”

Our reading: app directory

Its submission form has a hard rule: "Your app needs to be on the US App Store because that's where our API pulls info from." By that rule, an app sold only from your own site, or only in other countries' stores, doesn't qualify.

Other places on the list for Apple-platform apps, in a line each:

• MacUpdate: a Mac software directory, running since 1997, that takes app submissions.
• 9to5Mac Indie App Spotlight: a weekly feature; how to pitch it is on its page.
• appPicker: an indie iOS app blog; we found no submission form.
• BundleHunt: discounted bundles of Mac apps, sold to buyers.
• iOS Dev Weekly: a developer newsletter; suggest a post on how you built it.

07Setapp: a subscription catalog that takes a commission

Setapp describes itself as "a large collection of powerful Mac apps available by subscription." Its price works differently from a directory's: it's a share of what your app earns there. In its own words, from its page for developers as we read it on 30 September 2026:

For a single app, we take just 15% on subscription sales and 25% on one-time sales. For a membership, we take 10% and share 20% with partners who bring you users.

Its developer page promises a 24-hour app review, and it's clear about who it wants: "We’re always open to mature software with an excellent reputation and stable performance." So Setapp is a channel for an app with a track record, not a launch-day listing. The same commission terms also appear in paid startup directories, next to the other places that take a cut instead of a fee.

08Paid review blogs

App review blogs write up apps, mostly for a fee, and several of them belong to one network. What each charges, and which ones offer a free review, is in app review sites. Read it before you pay two blogs run by the same team.

09Put it in order

The rules above suggest an order. It's built from what each place asks, not from our own launches.

1. Months ahead: nominate the launch in App Store Connect. Apple's page suggests up to three months for wider consideration.
2. Beta: recruit testers on r/TestFlight.
3. Release day: post in the current r/macapps App Pile or r/iosapps App Shelf, in the required format, and submit to the catalogs. Indie App Catalog needs the app live on the US App Store, and one person works through App Rater's queue, so expect a wait.
4. Later: a sale or a launch price on r/AppHookup, and Setapp once the app has the reputation it asks for.

Shipping on Android too? Where to promote an Android app covers Google Play's tester rule and the Android subreddits and catalogs.

Add each place to My launch with the + on its poster to keep track:

10How we checked

The facts about each place come from its own pages, read on 29 and 30 September 2026, and its page on the list shows the source and the date. Subreddit rules come from each subreddit's public RSS feed (its description and pinned moderator posts), because Reddit blocks our link checker; the sidebar rules weren't in it. Apple's featuring rules come from its getting featured (opens in a new tab) page and its App Store Connect help page (opens in a new tab), both read on 2 October 2026. We don't measure downloads or sales. Nobody pays to be listed or to appear in a guide. Read how we check for the details.

11Questions

01

Where can I promote my Mac app for free?

In r/macapps's monthly App Pile megathread, in its required PCP format; on App Rater, which says listing is free; on Indie App Catalog and MacUpdate, which state no price on the pages we read; and through Apple's featuring nomination in App Store Connect, for which Apple's pages mention no fee. Indie App Catalog needs the app on the US App Store. Read each place's rules first.

02

How do I get my app featured on the App Store?

Submit a Featuring Nomination in App Store Connect for new content, an app enhancement or an app launch. Apple's getting featured page asks for at least two weeks' notice and suggests up to three months for wider consideration; its help page recommends at least three weeks. Editors weigh user experience, design, innovation, uniqueness, accessibility, localization and the product page.

03

What is the PCP format on r/macapps?

Problem, comparison and pricing: what your app solves, how it compares with alternatives and what it costs. r/macapps says all promotion must follow it or the post is removed. Promotion goes in the monthly App Pile megathread unless your app qualifies for the main feed.

04

Can I post my iOS app on r/iosapps?

Yes, in the monthly App Shelf megathread, in the ABC format the megathread explains. The main feed is only for accounts with enough karma earned in the subreddit, and not for AI wrappers or vibe-coded apps.

05

Does Setapp charge developers?

It takes a commission on sales, with different rates for subscription sales, one-time sales and its membership program. The Setapp section of this guide quotes its own figures. It also says it's open to mature software with a good reputation, so it suits an app with a track record.