How to Get Featured on Apple News
Apple News is preinstalled on hundreds of millions of iPhones, iPads and Macs, which is why founders ask about it constantly. It is also one of the most misunderstood names in media.
Here is how it actually works.
What Apple News actually is
Apple News is a distribution platform, not a magazine. Apple does not run a newsroom writing profiles of founders and small businesses.
What it does is host content from publishers. A publication signs up through Apple's publisher programme, sets up a channel, feeds its articles in, and Apple's editorial team and algorithms decide what gets surfaced to readers.
That single fact explains everything else on this page. There is no Apple News inbox, no Apple News reporter to pitch, and no application a founder can submit as an individual. The organisation with the channel is the publication, not you.
What "featured on Apple News" really means
Almost every time someone says they were featured on Apple News, this is what happened: an article about them ran in a publication that has an Apple News channel, and that article then appeared inside the app.
It is worth separating two different things.
- Being available on Apple News. Your article is in the app because the publisher that ran it feeds Apple News. This is the ordinary case, and it is what "as seen on Apple News" nearly always means.
- Being editorially featured by Apple. Apple's own editors curate what appears in the prominent slots. That is their decision, it generally goes to major news, and it cannot be bought or requested.
Neither is dishonest to reference, but the second is rare and the first is what is actually on offer when someone sells you Apple News.
Why it is worth having
Reach is the obvious part. Apple News sits on the home screen of a very large number of devices and the audience is mainstream rather than industry-specific.
Recognition is the more useful part. The Apple name needs no explanation to a prospect, an investor or a client, which is more than can be said for most trade publications.
One caveat worth knowing up front: what appears in a news app moves through rotation. The permanent asset is the article on the publisher's own site. Treat the Apple News appearance as amplification of that, not as the thing itself.
How your story gets there
- Earn coverage from a publisher that feeds Apple News. Pitch a publication with a channel when you have genuine news. Free, slow, and entirely the editor's decision.
- Run your own channel. If you genuinely operate a publication with consistent original output, Apple's publisher programme is open to apply to. For almost every founder this is the wrong tool for the job.
- Use a professional feature service. A team writes the piece to the publication's standard and places it with an outlet that reaches Apple News. Faster and more predictable, which is why most people choose it.
What nobody can do is submit your article to Apple News directly or promise you a slot in Apple's curated selections. Anyone offering that is describing something they do not control.
What a strong piece looks like
The audience is general and mostly reading on a phone. That changes what works.
A strong piece explains why your work matters to someone outside your industry, in plain language, in the first two sentences. No jargon, no credential list, no press-release rhythm. A clear idea and a real point of view travel; a company announcement does not.
What we do
Digital Networking Agency writes and places features with outlets that reach large distribution surfaces, including publishers whose content appears on Apple News. You review the piece and nothing publishes without your approval.
We are candid about the limit here: publication is the outlet's decision and syndication is Apple's. We can put the story in the right place. We cannot promise where Apple's editors point their readers.
Frequently asked questions
Can you pitch Apple News directly?
No. Apple News carries content from publishers rather than producing its own, so there is no editor there to pitch. You reach it by being published somewhere that already feeds it.
Can you pay to be featured on Apple News?
Not for Apple's own editorial curation. Publishers sell advertising and sponsored content, and those are labelled as such — which is a different product from a story Apple's editors chose to promote.
How do I know whether a publication feeds Apple News?
Search for the publication inside the Apple News app. If it has a channel you will find it, and you can see what it publishes there before you invest any time in pitching it.