Pre-registration is a store feature that lets people sign up for a mobile app or game before it is available to download. On Google Play, a "Pre-register" button replaces the usual "Install" button on a store listing; when the developer launches, everyone who signed up receives a notification and, on eligible devices, the app installs itself automatically. The feature exists because launch day is when store rankings, featuring and word of mouth are decided, and a list of committed users turns weeks of pre-launch marketing into a concentrated burst of installs on day one.

Apple's App Store equivalent is called a pre-order, and Google Ads sells App campaigns for pre-registration to buy sign-ups before launch.

How Google Play pre-registration works

A developer sets up pre-registration in Play Console. According to Google's Play Console Help, Android App Bundles (AAB) uploaded to a dedicated pre-registration track declare which devices are supported, but are never released to users. The developer then picks countries, judged by the country of a user's Google Play account rather than physical location.

The constraints are tight. According to the same documentation:

  • A campaign lasts 90 days per country, counted from the day pre-registration first becomes available there. If the app has not launched within 90 days in any country, the campaign ends everywhere and a new one cannot start.
  • A developer can run pre-registration for at most two apps or games at a time.
  • Personal developer accounts created after November 13, 2023, must first meet Google's app testing requirements.

Auto-install is the mechanism that separates Play pre-registration from a mailing list. It requires a device on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) or later and Play Store version 19.2 or higher. Apps up to 200MB install over Wi-Fi or mobile data, apps up to 2GB over Wi-Fi only, and larger apps are not auto-installed at all. Accounts of children under 13 and managed enterprise accounts are excluded. Ineligible devices still receive the launch notification.

Developers can attach a single optional pre-registration reward: a free one-time in-app product, typically premium currency or a cosmetic item, granted to everyone who pre-registered. Google allows one reward per campaign lifetime; once created, it cannot be edited or deleted, and subscriptions are not eligible. Play's policy states that failing to deliver a promised reward can lead to the app's suspension.

Play Console reports two numbers. Pre-registered users is the sign-up count. Conversions counts pre-registered users who installed within 14 days of the app becoming available to them, a figure that, according to Google, includes early access and other pre-launch testing installs.

Apple's pre-order model

Apple's version works on the same principle with different limits. According to Apple's developer documentation, a brand-new app can be listed for pre-order between two and 180 days before release; an app already live in some regions can take pre-orders in new regions up to 365 days ahead. A pre-order can only be published after the app has passed App Review. On release day the app downloads automatically to the device used for the pre-order.

Customers who pre-order a paid app are not charged until release, and pay the lower price if it changes in the meantime, according to App Store Connect Help. Apple does not offer a built-in reward system; instead, a preorder_date field in StoreKit's AppTransaction lets developers identify pre-order customers and unlock bonuses in their own code. Apple does not tell customers when a release date changes, leaving that to the developer.

Buying pre-registrations with Google Ads

App campaigns for pre-registration are a subtype of Google's automated App campaigns. According to Google Ads Help, the ads appear only on Android phones and tablets, link to the Google Play listing, and run on Google Play, YouTube (in-stream only) and Display Network apps and mobile sites. Bidding uses a target cost per pre-registration (tCPpre), with the campaign optimising "exclusively for pre-registrations". In the Google Ads API the corresponding goal is OPTIMIZE_PRE_REGISTRATION_CONVERSION_VOLUME, which PPC Land listed among existing App campaign bidding goals when API v22 added targetless bidding in October 2025, and the ad itself is defined by an AppPreRegistrationAdInfo object.

Once the app is released in a targeted country, Google Ads stops serving there while continuing elsewhere. Child-directed apps are not eligible. Google recommends switching on pre-registration at least two weeks before launch, says three to six weeks suits most campaigns, and suggests nine to 12 weeks for titles with high expected interest. On iOS, Apple Ads can promote an app during its pre-order period, according to Apple.

Origin and evolution

Google introduced pre-registration on Play in 2016. In a post dated November 3, 2016, the Android Developers Blog said the program had started "earlier this year" with select developers, citing Supercell's Clash Royale and King's Candy Crush Jelly Saga, and described it as "limited at this time". Google's post gives no month.

Apple moved in steps. In September 2016 it let users ask to be notified about upcoming apps, with Nintendo's Super Mario Run the first prominent example, according to TechCrunch. In December 2017 it opened pre-orders to all developers, with a window of up to 90 days for new apps. On October 15, 2020, according to AppleInsider, the window grew to 180 days. At WWDC in June 2023, Apple added regional pre-orders, allowing an app already on sale in some countries to take pre-orders elsewhere with release dates up to 365 days out.

Google's paid layer came in March 2019, when it announced pre-registration ads for Android; according to MarTech, Line Games had tested the format for Destiny Child. Google does not publish a changelog dating later Play Console rules such as the 90-day limit and the two-campaign cap.

Why it matters for marketers

For game publishers, pre-registration is primarily a launch-day lever. Concentrated installs feed store charts, which drive organic discovery. Google's own case study from August 2019 described Nexon's MMORPG FAITH in Japan: about 50% of pre-registrations had historically converted to installs, a 300-diamond reward lifted that rate by 20%, pre-registrants showed nearly 50% higher day-60 retention, and their average revenue per daily active user was more than 70% higher. "Google Play pre-registration is now a 'must-do' strategy when Nexon launches games," Hyomin Kim, head of platform partnerships at Nexon Korea, said in the post. The figures come from Google and a single title.

Large games treat sign-up counts as marketing in their own right. Krafton reported more than 20 million Google Play pre-registrations for PUBG: New State in July 2021, excluding China, India and Vietnam.

Pre-registration also changes measurement. The paid conversion event becomes a sign-up rather than an install, so cost per pre-registration sits upstream of the cost per install metric that normally anchors app acquisition, and it runs inside the same automated App campaign bidding that later gained seasonality adjustments in September 2025.

Limitations and disputes

Counts do not match. Google Ads Help lists several discrepancies with Play Console: Google Ads counts only sign-ups it drove, while Play counts every sign-up; Google Ads keeps a pre-registration even if the user later unregisters, while Play counts only current ones; and a user who unregisters and re-registers after another ad interaction can be counted twice by Google Ads.

Conversion is not guaranteed. Signing up costs one tap, and nothing obliges an install later. Google has not published an average conversion rate. Third-party guidance also conflicts with Google: a June 2026 analysis by the app tool vendor Sonar asserted that Google does not enforce a time limit on pre-registration, while Play Console Help describes a 90-day limit per country.

Platform asymmetry. A Devcom presentation by Anna Gruzina, senior performance marketing manager at InnoGames, reported by PocketGamer.biz, described 180,000 pre-registrations for one launch, with Google Play converting more but iOS users retaining better.

Stale documentation. Google Ads Help still says an APK must be uploaded to a Play release track, while Play Console Help describes AAB files on a pre-registration track.

Self-reported milestones. Headline counts such as PUBG: New State's are publisher announcements with no independent audit.

Not the same as

Pre-order is Apple's term for the App Store equivalent. It differs in practice: pre-orders can be paid, last up to 180 or 365 days rather than 90, require App Review first, and carry no store-level rewards.

Early access and open testing on Google Play let users install an unfinished build. Pre-registration installs nothing until launch; according to Google, users already in a test track cannot pre-register until they uninstall and leave the test.

Pre-registration in research means publishing a study's hypotheses and analysis plan before collecting data, common in clinical trials, psychology and economics. It shares only the name.

Event or account pre-registration, such as conference sign-ups, involves no store mechanics.

Recent developments

The economics around Google Play launches are shifting. PPC Land reported that Google Play developers face a 25% fee on non-recurring purchases by existing installs under a new structure from June 30, 2026 in the US, UK and EEA, with new installs charged 20%. Tying fees to install status gives a launch-day cohort, pre-registered users included, a different rate card from long-standing users, though Google has not addressed pre-registration specifically. The rollout runs by region through September 30, 2027.

On Apple's side, PPC Land reported on new App Store creative assets that must meet a 4+ rating in August 2026 and Apple's plan to add search ad placements beyond the top slot, both of which affect how a pre-order product page is presented and promoted. As of October 2026, Google Play pre-registration, App Store pre-orders and Google Ads pre-registration campaigns all remain available.

Timeline

  • 2016 - Google begins Google Play pre-registration with select developers.
  • September 2016 - Apple lets users register for notifications about upcoming apps, starting with Super Mario Run.
  • November 3, 2016 - Android Developers Blog describes the pre-registration program as limited, citing Clash Royale and Candy Crush Jelly Saga.
  • December 2017 - Apple opens App Store pre-orders to all developers, up to 90 days before release.
  • March 2019 - Google announces pre-registration ads for Android in Google Ads.
  • August 13, 2019 - Google publishes the Nexon FAITH case study on pre-registration rewards.
  • October 15, 2020 - Apple extends the pre-order window to 180 days.
  • July 2021 - Krafton reports more than 20 million Google Play pre-registrations for PUBG: New State.
  • June 2023 - Apple adds regional pre-orders with release dates up to 365 days out for existing apps.
  • November 13, 2023 - Cut-off after which new personal Play developer accounts must meet testing requirements before using pre-registration.
  • October 15, 2025 - Google Ads API v22 released, with pre-registration among App campaign bidding goals.
  • June 30, 2026 - New Google Play fee structure takes effect in the US, UK and EEA.

Summary

Who: App and game developers run pre-registration and pre-order campaigns; Google operates Play pre-registration and the Google Ads pre-registration campaign subtype; Apple operates App Store pre-orders; users sign up to receive the app at launch.

What: Pre-registration lets people sign up for an app or game before release, then receive a launch notification and, on eligible Android devices, an automatic install. It can carry one in-app reward, and Google Ads can buy sign-ups on a cost-per-pre-registration basis.

When: Google started the program in 2016 and added paid campaigns in March 2019. Apple opened pre-orders to all developers in December 2017 and extended them to 180 days in 2020 and to 365 days for regional launches in 2023.

Where: Google Play and Google's ad network (Play, YouTube, Display Network) on Android, and the App Store on Apple platforms, in countries chosen by the developer.

Why: It concentrates installs on launch day to lift store rankings and visibility, and gives publishers a measurable signal of demand before release, though sign-ups do not guarantee installs and counts differ between Google's own tools.