App Discovery

• The Meta Horizon Store is the main commerce surface intended to help customers discover and buy apps they will enjoy. The Store requires an extra click to visit, and customers that do this are actively seeking to browse and download new apps. Often, when customers discover an app off-platform, they visit the Store directly to search for it.
• The Feed is the first discovery surface users encounter, both in-headset and on mobile. Feed reaches more users than any other on-platform surface. However, it also accounts for the lowest impression-to-entitlement conversion rate because customers often see the Feed without intending to browse or purchase apps.
• Search systems on Horizon OS support high, medium and low-intent users. These users might be searching for specific apps to download or casually browsing recommended titles before entering a query in the search bar. Search has the highest impressions-to-entitlement conversion rate among on-platform discovery surfaces. Many users who discover an app off-platform use Search as a fast route to the PDP to make a purchase, resulting in high conversion rates. Others use search to explore possibilities, or look for apps of a particular type without a specific title in mind. Ensuring your app metadata is accurate and current helps your app appear in relevant search queries.

• App relevance is determined by overlapping an app’s metadata with customer’s past behavior. Signals such as search queries, prior downloads and the length of time a customer has been on the platform contribute to user behavior in this context and influence what we consider to be relevant.
• An app’s likelihood to engage users is a key signal we use in our ranking systems. We consider an app to be engaging when users are spending a lot of time in it, whether during a single session or in recurring sessions over time. Simply put: If users are spending more time in your app because they are enjoying it, we consider that to be a positive signal.

• To keep discovery surfaces fresh and create paths for new apps to be successful, our ranking systems also promote new, high-quality apps by way of our content exploration system, along with product spaces such as the ‘New Release’ Store shelf that are designed to promote new apps.
• Quality is an integral part of the ranking system and affects how apps are promoted throughout the platform to different audiences. We evaluate app quality and review metadata to avoid promoting low-quality apps in the ranking system. For new users, we recommend high-quality apps to create good first impressions and foster long-term retention.
• We regularly review apps to ensure their ongoing platform compliance with our developer policies and VRCs. Compliance issues restrict your app’s distribution within the Store. Our policies are updated over time, so it’s important to regularly check your app to ensure it remains compliant and discoverable.

• Spotlight Carousel placements: Throughout the year, we highlight different apps in a spotlight carousel based on their likelihood of resonating with a broad audience and delivering a replayable, high-quality experience.
• Store shelving and collections: Several Store shelves are automatically programmed, including Top Charts, New Releases, and genre-based shelves, while others are manually curated, such as “Best of 2025.” Automatically programmed shelves rely on factors such as metadata, launch date and a variety of performance metrics, while manually programmed shelves are hand-picked after reviewing metrics and an app’s relevance to a topic, such as a holiday-themed shelf.
• Store views and categories: The Store enables users to segment viewable apps by relevance factors, such as games, apps and worlds. Below this top-level segmentation, users can filter results to further segment the catalog by genre or categories. After filtering, the remaining apps are automatically prioritized according to metadata alongside relevance and engagement likelihood. This ranking further emphasizes the importance of accurate and up-to-date metadata.

• Focus on retention and stickiness. The more effective your app is at driving repeat sessions and higher time spent, the more it will be prioritized. Putting effort towards an evergreen engagement strategy that introduces frequent app updates can be an effective mechanism for incentivizing users to engage with your app regularly.
• Effective user onboarding can also drive repeat sessions by reducing user confusion and empowering your audience to feel more competent and confident. Consider exploring different engagement tools and the user onboarding edition of ourGrowth Insights Series, which can help you foster higher retention and average session duration by optimizing users’ first impressions with your app experience.
• Regularly update your on-platform marketing assets. Refreshing cover art, trailers and other metadata regularly can increase the likelihood a user visits your PDP while decreasing fatigue that occurs when users see the same marketing assets repeatedly over time. Consider using the creative A/B testing tool to compare the effectiveness of assets like cover art, app descriptions and more. Tailoring your key art and video trailers to coincide with sales and highlight new content like in-app purchases (IAP), level updates or new features can also improve discovery with prospective users.
• Localize your app’s metadata. As the Horizon audience expands to more regions across the globe, it’s important to localize content that users see in the Store. You can learn more about localization by visiting our documentation.
• Build organic interest and streamline distribution on and off-platform. A significant amount of discovery occurs off-platform via social media, news platforms, etc. To reduce the steps users need to take to purchase or download your app, we recommend linking off-platform promotions directly to your PDP. To garner more interest, you may want to work with influencers to promote your apps. Consider offering custom promo codes and developing short links to track traffic and conversions for specific campaigns. You can also leverage App Ads to promote your experience across several platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
• Participate in Meta promotions: Meta offers promotions and sales throughout the year that are highlighted at the top of the Store and on dedicated shelves. A front-and-center placement in the Store can help you gain clicks, and all it takes to opt-in to Meta’s yearly promotions is visiting the Promotions page in the Developer Dashboard. Keep an eye out for our regular email reminders announcing when opt-in periods for sale events are open.
• Evaluate your app’s pricing in relation to its demand. Beyond participating in platform sale events, consider running your own sales, offering custom promo codes and running price A/B tests to better understand whether frequent discounts or a change to your app’s baseline price will yield better long-term results. It’s also important to localize your app’s pricing to stay competitive across different regions, and you can get started by visiting the Adjust Local Pricing documentation.

• Deliver fresh content regularly: Generally speaking, teens don’t have nearly as much disposable income as working adults, but they have shown a tendency to spend the money they do have incrementally on IAP versus splurging on higher priced, premium apps. Regularly updating your experience with themed or seasonal cosmetic items, weapons and other digital goods can incentivize engagement and retention, especially with teens and young adult users.
• Build “snackable” content: Focusing on gameplay that delivers immediate engagement with low commitment can enhance replayability and make your experience more enticing for teens and young adults looking to jump in with friends.
• Encourage social interactions: Developing core mechanics that naturally encourage conversation and interactions between friends and family can lead to stronger connections that provide more reasons to come back to your experience. Social interactions can also be nurtured off-platform by creating a strong social media presence that encourages engagement and sharing user-generated content.
• Leverage other Meta platforms: Reaching teens and young adults on their favorite social media platforms like Instagram or Facebook can make your user acquisition funnel more effective by getting more clicks to your app’s PDP. On the flip side, facilitating easier content sharing to social media platforms can help you gain organic traffic without much investment.