App Store In-App Events: Create One That Gets Approved

In-app events are dated moments in your app: a tournament, a new season, a live session. Apple shows them as cards on your product page, in search and in the Today, Games and Apps tabs, and each one lasts 31 days at most. You create them in App Store Connect with a 30-character name, a 50-character short description and a 120-character long description. App Review checks them before they go live.

I publish my own iOS apps, including Solys and TradaZen, with product pages in 38 languages. In October 2026, I published a "League" event on TradaZen. This guide is based on the App Store Connect help pages, reread on October 15, 2026, and on what that league taught me.

App Store in-app events: where they show up

An event takes the form of a card: an image or a video, its name and a short description. A tap opens a details page with the long description. According to Apple's page on In-App Events, the card shows up in three places:

• On your product page, which lists all your published events.
• In search results. The card replaces your screenshots only for people who have already downloaded your app. Everyone else sees your screenshots. People can also search for an event directly.
• In editorial selections and recommendations in the Today, Games and Apps tabs.

From the card or its page, people can download the app, open it at the right spot, share the event or ask to be notified when it starts.

In search, an event speaks first to people who already know your app. It's a tool to bring people back as much as to help them discover you.

Apple lists challenges, competitions and special content launches as good candidates. It rules out repetitive activities (a daily reward), a price drop with no new content, and general promotion of the app. If you want to announce an offer, that's what promotional text is for.

Event fields: limits and tips

This is the table missing from every guide I've read. The limits come from the help page on creating an event and the media specifications. The tips are mine.

Field	Limit	Tip
Reference name	64 characters	Only you can see it
Name	30 characters	The real name, not a slogan
Short description	50 characters	What people do, in a sentence
Long description	120 characters	Rules and reward
Badge	7 options	As precise as possible
Card media	16:9, from 1920 x 1080	No text or logo
Details page media	9:16, from 1080 x 1920	Same style as the card
Video	30 or 60 fps	A seamless loop
Duration	15 minutes to 31 days	A real end date
Publish	Up to 14 days before	Time to request a reminder
Deep link	Universal link advised	Test it from the Notes app
Purpose	4 options	Used for recommendations
Priority	Normal or high	High goes first
Purchase required	Yes or no	Yes if it costs extra
Primary language	One language	Shown if no translation

Media can go up to 3840 x 2160 pixels and 500 MB. They don't use the same sizes as your screenshots, which are covered in App Store screenshot sizes.

Apple's writing rules, in short:

• No prices in the text. Apple says a specific price leads to rejection: it varies by country.
• No "the best" or "#1", no all caps, no strings of exclamation points.
• The name is the event's name, not a call to action. In English, it uses title case.
• No borders or gradients on the media: the App Store crops them and adds its own gradients.

Which badge to pick

The badge shows above the name. Apple offers seven, described on its badges page:

Badge	What it's for
Challenge	Goal before the end
Competition	Leaderboard, rewards
Live Event	Live, for everyone
Major Update	Big new feature
New Season	New season
Premiere	First new content
Special Event	Other limited-time moment

Don't pick a badge for the effect. A bug fix isn't a Major Update, and a Live Event happens at the same time for everyone.

Dates, duration and number of events

• Duration: 15 minutes to 31 days.
• Publish: up to 14 days before the start. That's the day the card becomes visible and people can ask to be notified.
• Countries: all by default, limited to the countries where your app is on sale. You can stagger the start by country, as long as all the starts fall within 48 hours.
• Caps: 10 published events at a time and 15 approved per app. The App Store Connect release notes date these caps to April 15, 2025: lots of guides still say 5.
• Order on your product page: by start date. A high-priority event goes first.

Once the event is approved, the help page on managing events lets you change countries, priority and future dates. Once it's published, only the start and end dates can still change, and after it starts, only the end date. So prepare your text and media for the whole run.

Review: guideline 2.3.13 and submission

Guideline 2.3.13 of the App Review Guidelines boils down to five requirements:

1. The event fits one of the types offered in App Store Connect.
2. Its text is accurate and about the event, not the app in general.
3. It happens on the chosen dates and times, in every country.
4. If it's paid, it follows the purchase rules in section 3.
5. Its deep link goes to the right place in the app.

Its text also follows the rules for your product page, covered in the guide on guideline 2.3.10.

For submission, according to the help page on submitting an event:

• For your app's first version, the event goes in the same submission.
• After that, it can go with or without a new version. On its own, it's reviewed with the platform's latest version.
• During review, only countries can be edited. To change anything else, remove the event from review.

Apple doesn't give a specific review time for events: you'll find benchmarks in App Store review time. If you get rejected, read replying to App Review.

The deep link: where to send people

The card's Open button follows your deep link. Apple recommends a universal link, more reliable than an app-specific URL scheme, and advises against URL shorteners. To test it, paste it into the Notes app and tap it.

• Event in progress: the event itself.
• Not started yet: a waiting screen that says when to come back.
• New user: onboarding first, then the event.
• In every case: a way back to the normal app.

Also test the link on a fresh install: from my submissions, that's often how a reviewer opens the app.

My case: the TradaZen league

TradaZen is my trading simulator, and I tell its story in my case study. Its league ranks players based on their duels. Here's how I built the event, without results numbers.

• Competition badge: players compete for a ranking.
• One text per language, across the product page's 38 languages. In French, the name "Ligue trading de la semaine" is 27 characters. The short description, "Jeu de bourse : des duels de trading classés.", is 45: it reuses words people search for, but it describes the league.
• Media with no text: the app's mascot holding a trophy, in 1920 x 1080 and 1080 x 1920.
• Goal: bring back past players, high priority, no purchase required.
• An app-specific deep link that opens the Parcours tab.
• A tight schedule: published the day before the start, then two weeks of league.

The trap came from submission. I had attached the event to a version that got rejected for another reason. When I went to resubmit, the event's publish date had passed. App Store Connect blocked the whole submission with the message "Supplied date must be in the future".

The fix: remove the event, push back its publish date and submit it on its own. App Store Connect accepted that separate submission while the version was in review, and the event was published. Since then, I check every event's dates before any new submission.

An event attached to a version shares that version's fate. If the version is rejected, the event's dates keep running.

One last point: a weekly league is close to the repetitive activities Apple rules out. Mine was accepted with specific dates and a real leaderboard. Nothing guarantees an identical copy would get through every week.

Measuring an event

The numbers are in Analytics, under Acquisition, then In-App Events. According to the App Store Connect Analytics help, they show up after the first 5 downloads attributed to the event. Seven metrics are specific to events:

Apple's metric	What it counts	Stage
Event Impressions	Cards and pages viewed	Discovery
Event Impressions (Unique)	Distinct devices	Discovery
Event Page Views	Details pages viewed	Discovery
Event Page Views (Unique)	Devices on the page	Discovery
Reminders	Reminders requested	Interest
Notification Taps	Taps on the reminder	Interest
App Opens	Opens from the card	Return

You can also filter downloads, usage and sales by event. Read these numbers against the goal you picked: opens and redownloads to bring people back, first-time downloads to attract new ones. Note the date of each event, just like when you track your app's ranking.

For the rest of your product page

An event complements a product page, it doesn't replace it. The ASO Kit bundles my keyword method, product page templates and the skill that translates your page into 30 languages and then uploads it to App Store Connect. To test your screenshots and icon, read the guide on product page optimization.

Getting ready to submit? The free diagnostic sends you my Apple anti-rejection checklist and tells you what's left to do. The full product page method is on the App Store ASO page.

Frequently asked questions

What is an in-app event on the App Store?

It's a dated moment in your app, like a competition or a new season, shown as a card on the App Store. You create it in App Store Connect.

How many in-app events can you publish at the same time?

Ten at a time, and fifteen approved per app in App Store Connect, since April 15, 2025. Guides that say five are outdated.

Do you need a new app version to publish an event?

No, once your app is approved: the event can go to review on its own. For the very first version, it has to be part of the same submission.

How long can an in-app event last?

From 15 minutes to 31 days. The card can show up to 14 days before the start, so people can ask to be notified.

Does an in-app event help your app's search ranking?

Apple says people can search for an event directly, but it doesn't say the event improves the app's ranking. To get found, work on your name, subtitle and keywords first.

Why does an in-app event get rejected?

What Apple's rules target most clearly: a price in the text, plain promotion of the app, a repetitive activity, a badge that doesn't fit, or a deep link that doesn't open the event.