How to submit your app for Shipaton

A detailed walkthrough of the five Devpost steps, what to prepare, and how to make sure your app gets judged

Your app is built, RevenueCat is integrated, and the store review is behind you.

There’s one job left: submitting it to Shipaton. Or maybe you’re not yet there, since there are still days left to submit. No matter what the case, you should start looking at how to submit your app to Shipaton at this point.

Shipaton submissions are sent through Devpost. The submission form has five sections: Manage team, Project overview, Project details, Additional info, and Submit. Here’s how to get through each step without a headache.

The submission deadline is Sep 30, 2026 at 11:45 pm PDT. You can save a draft and edit a submitted project until the deadline, but don’t leave the final click until the final minute.

First, make sure your app is eligible

For the main Shipaton competition (all other categories than Next Gen), your app must:

  • Be an iOS, iPadOS, macOS, or Android app; web apps are not eligible.
  • Use the RevenueCat SDK to power at least one in-app or web purchase, or serve ads through RevenueCat Ads.
  • Be a new app whose first public version was released during the Shipaton submission window.
  • Be fully published on the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Mac App Store, or Samsung Galaxy Store.
  • Work as shown in your submission video and description.
  • Be available to download in the United States.

Apps released before Shipaton don’t qualify, and moving an existing app to another store doesn’t make it new. An existing web app can qualify if your Shipaton submission is an iOS, iPadOS, macOS, or Android version of that app that users can download from the mentioned App Stores.

TestFlight or testing-track builds don’t count. Shipaton needs a live store listing, and app review can take days, so don’t leave it until deadline week.

Students entering the Next Gen Award get an exception: they can submit a demo video and public open-source repository instead of a store listing. You can enter both the Next Gen Award and any of the other categories by providing a public open-source repository, demo video, and an app store link.

Prepare these materials for your submission

Get these assets ready for your submission. All of them are required, and missing any of them will make your app not eligible for judging:

  • Your project name and a short tagline.
  • A description of the app and its main features.
  • A public App Store, Google Play, Mac App Store, or Galaxy Store URL.
  • A public YouTube or Vimeo demo video.
  • A 1024 × 1024 app icon.
  • RevenueCat project ID
  • At least one 1179 × 2556 app screenshot without a device frame.
  • A free trial or promo code that lets judges test all premium features.
  • Any category-specific links, IDs, metrics, or explanations.

Some sponsor categories might have extra requirements; see official rules for requirements on those. Everything you submit needs to be in English.

Filling the Devpost submission

Register for Shipaton, start a project, and save it as a draft. Devpost splits the submission into five steps.

Step 1: Manage your team

Start by adding everyone who worked on the app.

Solo project? You’re done here. For a team project, invite people with the email tied to their Devpost account or send them Devpost’s private invitation link. Add everyone before the deadline.

Step 2: Complete the project overview

The project overview is the card people will see in the Devpost gallery. It asks for:

  • Project name: Use the same recognizable name as your store listing.
  • Tagline: Explain what the app does in one short sentence.
  • Thumbnail: Upload a clean image that remains readable at a small size. Devpost recommends a 3:2 image in JPG, PNG, or GIF format.

Here's my tip on how to do this well: skip taglines like “An AI-powered productivity platform.” Say what the product actually does: “Practice difficult conversations before having them with your team.”

Step 3: Tell your project’s story

Project details are the core of the submission: what you built, why it matters, and a working demo. Devpost’s submission guide divides this into the project story, technology tags, links, images, and demo video. Let’s go through each part in detail:

Write a description judges can scan

Answer the basics first:

  1. What problem does it solve?
  2. Who is it for?
  3. What does it let them do?
  4. How does it make money?
  5. What makes it interesting or different?
  6. Which award categories are you targeting?

Add the build story: what was hard, what you learned, and what comes next. Break it up with headings and short paragraphs. You can use AI to correct spelling and formatting, but don’t let AI write your whole description. No one will like reading that.

Include the proof each category asks for. Make the job for judges easier by explaining why your app qualifies for selected categories, and what makes it stand out.

Add your technology tags

Tag RevenueCat and the main tools you used. Devpost allows up to 25 tags. If you’re entering a sponsor category, tag that product too: Kotlin Multiplatform, Replit, OneSignal, Layers, Stripe, or whichever one applies.

These are mainly used for explaining your project; they don’t affect judging.

Add the public app link

For a standard entry, link to the fully published app on:

  • Apple’s App Store or Mac App Store.
  • Google Play.
  • Samsung Galaxy Store.

Test the store link in a private browser window. The app needs to be downloadable in the US.

The store-link exception applies only to Next Gen. In any other case, you need to have a store link in your submission to be considered eligible.

Upload your images

For Shipaton, that means:

  • A 1024 × 1024 app icon.
  • At least one screenshot at 1179 × 2556.
  • Screenshots without device frames.

Pick screenshots that tell the story. Five near-identical screens won’t help; a good set should show the core experience, the monetization, and the product’s strongest visual details. If you end up winning we will use the app icon and one of the screenshots in the marketing materials.

Add your demo video

Upload the video to YouTube or Vimeo. Unlisted YouTube videos are fine; private ones won’t be viewable by the judges, so don’t do that.

Keep the essential demo under two minutes, as judges aren’t required to watch beyond the 2 minutes. Show the app running on the device it was built for, and highlight the most important features and aspects of your app.

In the first two minutes, cover:

  • Your app’s elevator pitch.
  • The app’s core experience in use.
  • Its purchase, subscription, web-payment, or advertising experience.
  • The prize categories you are targeting and why the app fits them.

Don’t spend the week making a trailer for your app or game. A clear screen recording with concise narration beats a long intro or elaborate title sequence.

As explained in How we judge Shipaton, judges make most of their decisions from the description, video, and screenshots. Lead with the stuff that makes your app stand out, and mention which categories you are targeting.

If you haven’t made one before, keep it simple: record the screen, add a clear voice-over, and tell one coherent story. Our guide to storytelling can help you structure the pitch. Avoid copyrighted music, third-party trademarks, and other protected material unless you have permission to use them. For the influencer categories, do not use the likeness or brand of the influencers.

Step 4: Choose your categories and complete the additional information

Additional info holds the Shipaton-specific fields: media, store links, your RevenueCat project ID, and any promo code judges need for premium features.

You can enter several compatible categories, but don’t tick boxes for the sake of it. Each one may need its own explanation, link, account ID, or proof.

The official Shipaton rules contain the complete category requirements and judging criteria.

RevenueCat awards

  • Grand Prize: Share what happened after launch, using the numbers that best make your case: downloads, revenue, active users, paid customers, conversion, retention, or something else.
  • HAMM Award: Explain the business model, pricing, paywall, conversion, and revenue, including what you changed or learned.
  • Catvertising Award: Show where RevenueCat Ads appear, why those placements fit the experience, and how ads work alongside other revenue.
  • RevenueCat Design Award: For exceptional craft, interaction design and animation. Point judges to the details worth noticing.
  • RevenueCat Peace Prize: For apps with a positive impact on people, communities or society. Be specific about who benefits and what changes for them.
  • Best Game Award: For the strongest mobile game. Cover the gameplay loop, progression or replayability, art direction and why the monetization belongs.
  • #BuildInPublic Award: For the best public build story. Link to your posts and show how feedback, accountability or the community changed the app.
  • Next Gen Award: For qualifying student projects. Use an academic email and submit a demo plus a public repository with code, setup instructions and a visible open-source license.
  • Conflict of Interest Award: Only for eligible RevenueCat and sponsor employees.

All eligible projects can be considered for the Grand Prize, but you still need to show what happened after launch. Revenue made by the app is used for the shortlist, but it does not decide the winner. Making the most money will not automatically make you the winner of the Grand Prize award.

Influencer Awards

The five briefs are:

  • Productivity — Christopher Lawley: A focused tool for Apple power users to save and retrieve reusable text, documents, files, and images.
  • Nutrition and Healthy Eating — Abbey’s Kitchen: A flexible nutrition app inspired by the Hunger Crushing Combo framework, without calorie counting or restrictive meal plans.
  • Yoga and Fitness — Simone Sharice: A personalized companion that turns movement, Pilates, recovery, and wellness needs into a clear daily plan.
  • Career Coaching — Leadership Heather: A practice environment for new managers preparing for difficult workplace conversations.
  • Gaming — Mr Lewis Blogs Gaming: A gaming bucket-list app for saving, organizing, completing, rating, and sharing games.

You can enter one Influencer Award per project and still enter other eligible categories. State which brief you chose and how the app fits that audience in the Devpost submission.

Building for an influencer’s audience doesn’t give you permission to use their name, image, voice, logo or likeness. Get express written consent before using any of it in the product, store listing or marketing.

  • Ship Kotlin Everywhere — JetBrains: Publish for both iOS and Android using Kotlin Multiplatform, Compose Multiplatform, or both. Include both store links and explain the implementation.
  • Most Viral App — Noise: Use Noise to promote the live app during Shipaton. Include the app URL and the email associated with your Noise account.
  • Best App for Galaxy — Samsung: Publish on the Galaxy Store and explain Galaxy-specific work such as foldable support, Samsung features, or device optimization.
  • Idea to Income — Replit: Build and publish using Replit and RevenueCat through Replit Agent. Include at least three public build posts, the Replit preview URL, username, and an explanation of Replit’s role.
  • Keep Them Coming Back — OneSignal: Integrate OneSignal and deploy at least one campaign. Include the OneSignal App ID and describe the messaging experience.
  • The Growth Loop Award — Layers: Install the Layers SDK and describe the audience, hypothesis, experiment, observed signal, lessons, and next step.
  • Funnel Vision Award — Stripe: Launch a live web-to-app funnel using RevenueCat Funnels with Stripe. Include the funnel URL and Stripe Project ID.

Only enter a sponsor category once the integration works, and you have every requested detail. A technology tag on its own won’t qualify.

Step 5: Review and submit

The last screen is a short rules-and-terms confirmation.

Before you press Submit project, check:

  • Is the store link live and available in the US?
  • Does the app install and behave like the version in your video?
  • Is the video public, and is the essential footage under two minutes?
  • Have you uploaded the correctly sized icon and screenshot?
  • Can judges access premium functionality through a free trial or promo code?
  • Have you answered the additional questions for every selected category?
  • Are your teammate details correct?
  • Are your written materials and testing instructions in English, or accompanied by an English translation?

After submitting, click View and inspect the public entry. Check the formatting, embedded video, gallery, links, and category answers.

You’re only done when Devpost shows Submitted and 5/5 steps done. A saved draft doesn’t count.

You can still edit after submitting

Submitting early doesn’t lock the entry. You can make changes until the deadline. After that, edits to your Devpost portfolio won’t change the version entered into Shipaton.

That extra time is useful for:

  • Catch private or broken video links.
  • Fix missing fields.
  • Improve your description.
  • Replace weak screenshots.
  • Add post-launch growth results.
  • Confirm that the store listing and promo code work.

You can submit more than one app, but each entry must be unique and substantially different. When yours is ready, submit it and click View for one last look at the public entry.

Frequently asked questions

Still unsure whether your app qualifies? Here are the answers to some of the most common submission questions. See also our frequently asked questions section on shipaton.com if your questions are not answered here.

Can I submit more than one app?

Yes. Each app must be a separate, eligible project whose first store release happens during the Shipaton window, from August 1 to September 30, 2026.

Does releasing an existing app on a second store count as a new launch?

No. If the app was already available in one app store before August 1, releasing it in another store during Shipaton does not make it a new app.

There is an exception for web apps. A project that previously existed only on the web can qualify if its first native app-store release happens during the Shipaton window.

What if my app is still waiting for store review at the deadline?

It will not qualify. Judges need to be able to download the published app from a supported store.

Store review can take several business days—and longer if the build is rejected—so RevenueCat recommends submitting it for review at least one week before the Shipaton deadline.

Can I participate without an Apple or Google developer account?

Possibly, through the Next Gen Award. Eligible students can submit a demo and public open-source repository instead of publishing the app to a store.

You will need a verifiable academic email address from a school, university, bootcamp, or another academic program. Standard Shipaton categories still require a published app and working RevenueCat integration.

Can I enter the Next Gen Award and another category?

Yes, provided you meet both sets of requirements. That means submitting the code required for Next Gen and publishing the app to a supported store for the other category.

The store release is not considered when judging the Next Gen Award itself.

Does every submission need to use RevenueCat?

Yes. Standard entries must use the RevenueCat SDK for purchases, subscriptions, or RevenueCat Ads.

Is there a limit to the number of teammates?

No. Your team can have any number of members. However, if an eligible prize includes travel to New York, RevenueCat will fly one team member.