App Store Pre-Orders Before Launch Day
A pre-order publishes a limited product page before the binary is public. The screenshots and metadata have to be ready, because that page is what people order from.
Quick answer
How do App Store pre-orders work before launch?
A pre-order publishes a limited product page so people can order the app before release. For a brand-new app, Apple allows a release day 2 to 180 days after the pre-order goes live. The page must already show real screenshots and metadata. On release day the app downloads for people who ordered. A meteor shower is a reason to pick a date, not an Apple rule.
On this page
Night Window is an astronomy app you want on phones before a known meteor shower. The shower is your reason. It is not an App Store rule, and this guide will not invent a date for it. What Apple does specify is a window: for a brand-new app, the release day can be 2 to 180 days after the pre-order is published. You pick the day inside that window, in Pricing and Availability, after App Review has accepted the app.
A pre-order does not hide the listing. Apple’s pre-order page says a limited version of the product page goes live, people can order before release, and the page can show up in search. It can also show on the Today, Games, and Apps tabs if the app is being featured. The screenshots, name, and description on that page are public the whole time. The launch checklist still applies. Pre-order is not a shortcut around it.
The page exists before the binary is public
People are not buying a teaser. They are ordering the app your product page describes. Night Window’s first screenshot should be the sky map with a shower radiant marked the way the shipping app will mark it. The subtitle should say what the app does on the night, not “coming soon.” If the map in the screenshot is a mock the build will not contain, you have a metadata problem waiting for review, and a trust problem with everyone who pre-ordered.
You configure the pre-order in App Store Connect, under Pricing and Availability. You choose an expected release date and the regions. App Review has to accept the submission before you can publish the pre-order. Pre-orders can be made on devices running iOS 11.2, iPadOS 13, tvOS 11.2, macOS 10.13.2, and watchOS 6 or later. That is a device floor, not a marketing plan. Your job is the page and the date.
The day range is Apple’s, not the shower’s
Brand-new apps, ones that have never been on the App Store, can set a release day 2 to 180 days after the pre-order is published. Existing apps entering a new region get a different range: 2 to 365 days after the pre-order is published in that region. You can also set a different release date per region. Night Window’s first launch uses the 2-to-180 range. If you later open Japan with a pre-order, that region uses the longer range. Do not quote a meteor calendar as if Apple required it.
The product page shows the expected release date. Apple recommends you leave that date out of your own marketing if it might move. People who pre-ordered are not notified by Apple if you change the date or if you remove the pre-order. You have to tell them. On release day, update your site, your emails, and any pre-order badge so they say the app is available, not that it is still coming.
What happens to the order
| Moment | What the customer gets | What you must already have done |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-order goes live | A limited product page with an expected release date, and a way to order. | Reviewed build, screenshots, metadata, and a date 2 to 180 days out for a new app. |
| While they wait | The page stays public in the regions you chose. Search can find it. | Do not change the sky-map story. If the date slips, tell people yourself. |
| Release day | The app downloads onto their devices and they get a notification. | The binary you promised is the one that ships. Badges and your own posts switch to “available.” |
On release day Apple downloads the app for people who pre-ordered and notifies them. The product page they ordered from has been public since the pre-order started.
A pre-order counts once
Apple counts a pre-order in the conversion metric once. The later download is not a second conversion. The formula itself, impressions included, is the subject of the conversion rate guide. Use that page if you are reading App Analytics. Use this page to decide whether a pre-order is the right launch shape. A spike of orders on a weak screenshot set is still a weak page. You will see it as orders against impressions, not as a mystery rank jump.
Sales and Trends also reports purchased pre-orders and cancellations, and you can download that report. App Analytics can break pre-orders down by date, region, and source type. Those are the numbers Apple gives you. Do not invent a “pre-order conversion bonus” on top of them. If Night Window’s page gets impressions and almost no orders, the sky map or the subtitle is not doing the job. Fix that while the pre-order is still the page people see.
Pre-order is not a soft launch
A soft launch limits Availability to a few storefronts so you can watch crashes and the funnel, then add countries. A pre-order is a public order for a future release date. You can pre-order in specific regions, and that is still not the same thing as hiding the app to “test search.” Metadata localizations are not country availability either. The soft launch guide is the availability job. This post is the order-ahead job. Mixing them produces a page that is public in a country where you thought you were invisible.
An in-app event is also a different object. You might run a shower-night event after release. You do not need an event to offer a pre-order. If you want editors to have a timed story, that nomination is covered in the featuring guide, and event setup is in the in-app events guide. Seasonal wording on the screenshots, if you change it every year, belongs with seasonal ASO, and on iOS those screenshot changes ship with a version.
What to put on Night Window’s page
AppGrowthKit can frame the real sky-map screens once they exist. The first frame should show tonight’s sky, or the shower’s radiant, in the UI. The second should show how you set a reminder or a location. The third should show what the app does during the night, not a stock photo of a field. The description should say the app helps you find and watch the shower, and it should not promise a date you are not willing to keep. Support URL and privacy policy URL still have to work. A pre-order does not waive them.
Google Play’s equivalent awareness tool is pre-registration, not a clone of this date math. The windows, the notification, and the custom listing rules are different. Read the Play pre-registration guide before you paste an App Store release day into Play Console. Existing apps, not brand-new ones, can use custom product pages and product page optimization on a pre-order page. Night Window’s first release should not depend on those tests. Get one honest page live.
Put Night Window on pre-order
Pick the release day from your build, inside Apple’s 2-to-180-day range for a new app. The shower can influence the day. It does not replace the range.
Choose a release day you can hit
Look at the binary, not the astronomy calendar alone. For a brand-new app the release day must fall 2 to 180 days after you publish the pre-order. If the shower is outside that window, either wait to start the pre-order or ship without tying the listing to that night. Write the date down. If you are not confident, keep it off your own ads, because the product page will show it and Apple will not email customers if you move it.
Finish the product page first
Screenshots, subtitle, description, icon, support URL, and privacy policy URL have to be the ones you want public. The pre-order publishes a limited product page. Night Window’s sky map has to be the map in the build App Review is looking at. A “launching soon” screenshot with no UI is not a pre-order asset. It is a placeholder customers will order.
Submit and clear review
Upload the build and submit. Apple says you can publish the pre-order once the app has been submitted and reviewed. Do not announce the pre-order URL the same hour you upload if review has not finished. Regions are part of the pre-order setup in Pricing and Availability. Turn on only the storefronts where the page’s language and the sky data make sense.
Publish, then send your own link
When the pre-order is published, the page is live and searchable. Use a direct link and a clear line such as “Pre-order on the App Store” in your own email or site. Apple offers a pre-order badge for that marketing. You can also use Apple Ads while the pre-order is up. None of that notifies people later if you change the date. Keep a list you can email yourself.
Fulfill on release day
On the release day you set, the app downloads for people who pre-ordered and they receive a notification. Confirm the build that lands is the sky map you showed. Update every badge and post so it no longer says pre-order. If you identified pre-order customers with the preorder_date field on the receipt, a short in-app thanks is enough. Do not invent a bonus the product page never mentioned.
Key takeaways
- A pre-order publishes the product page before the app is publicly released. Screenshots and metadata have to be finished.
- A brand-new app’s release day can be 2 to 180 days after the pre-order is published. A new region on an existing app can be 2 to 365 days.
- Release day downloads the app for people who ordered and sends them a notification.
- Apple does not email those people if you move or remove the date. You do.
- A pre-order counts once in Apple’s conversion metric. The download is not a second count.
Frequently asked questions
How long can an App Store pre-order run?
Apple’s pre-order page ties the length to the app’s status. A brand-new app can have a release day 2 to 180 days after the pre-order is published. An existing app offered as a pre-order in a new region can have a release date 2 to 365 days after that pre-order is published. You can set different dates per region. A meteor shower does not add a special window. If your night falls outside the range that applies to Night Window, change your plan, not the rule.
Can people download the app during the pre-order?
They can order it. The binary becomes theirs on release day, when Apple downloads it onto their devices and notifies them. Until then they have a product page with an expected release date. That is why the screenshots have to match the app you will ship. Review happens before you publish the pre-order, so the build is not a rumor, but customers still cannot open it early just because they ordered.
What if I need to move the release date?
You can be wrong about the day. Apple will not notify people who pre-ordered if the date changes or if you remove the pre-order. The product page itself displays the expected date, so update it in App Store Connect and tell your own list. Apple also suggests you avoid printing the date in marketing if a slip is likely. A shower you advertised for a Thursday, with the app arriving the next month, is a support problem you created.
Does a pre-order help search ranking?
The page can appear in search results, which means your name, subtitle, and keywords need to be real before you publish. That is discoverability of a page, not a trick. Pre-order is not a way to manipulate search, and it is not a soft launch. Soft launch is about which storefronts are available while you watch quality. If you want the conversion definition, including the fact that a pre-order counts once, use the conversion guide rather than a rank theory.
Should Night Window pre-order on Google Play the same way?
Play uses pre-registration, with its own 90-day campaign limit, country rules, and a launch notification. It is not the App Store’s 2-to-180-day release date. A new personal Play account created after November 13, 2023, also has to clear closed testing before pre-registration is available. Set each store up in its own console. The sky map can be the same product. The listing mechanics are not.
Keep reading
Google Play Pre-Registration for a New App
Pre-registration lets people sign up on the store listing before you publish. It is not a closed test, and the listing they see has to be the game you will ship.
App Store In-App Events: Limits and Setup
A live language hour inside a tutoring app is an event, not a new binary. Fifteen approved, ten published, ten with overlapping starts. The card and the screenshots are shown to different people.
How to Soft Launch an iOS App
A soft launch limits App Store Availability to a few storefronts so you can watch crashes and the real install funnel, then add countries. It does not game search.
App Store Launch Checklist: From Screenshots to First Users
A practical launch plan for indie app developers: get your listing compliant, make screenshots convert, recruit useful early feedback, then improve with evidence instead of post-launch guesswork.
Seasonal App Store Keywords and When to Swap Them
Research before the season, ship keywords with a version, change promotional text when the date arrives, and pull dead terms after. Screenshots move with the keywords.
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The pre-order page is the product page
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