The internet is aflow with tears from developers bemoaning the oversaturation of the App Store. In truth, the App Store is now seeing the same saturation of other software markets. Developers are no longer finding themselves entitled to wild success on the basis of a swift release. Realities like promotion and strategy are taking hold, and if you want a lucrative place beside your competitors you’ll have to work just as hard at promoting your product as you always have.
Fortunately, the iPhone community is perpetually rapt with the buzz of new releases, a fact reflected in the innumerable review sites that have established themselves. I’ve compiled a list of some of these sites, along with statbrain‘s traffic estimates (which seem to error on the low side so far as I can tell) in order to help myself and other pureblood developers organize their promotional tactics.
148Apps (www.148apps.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games. You can find their submission guidelines here.
Visits/day: 8,328
App Chatter (www.appchatter.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games, and provides a developer-managed profile for your releases. See their submissions guidelines here, and manage a profile from here.
Visits/day: 322
App Podcast, The (theapppodcast.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games, but you must pay them for the privilege ($25-$100/review). You can find their submission guidelines here. You will need a video of your app in order to submit it for review and hosting on their video channels.
Visits/day: 3,773
App Safari (www.appsafari.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games. See their submissions guidelines here.
Visits/day: 17,245
App Store Apps (www.appstoreapps.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games. No guidelines, but contact them about a review here.
Visits/day: 7,187
AppCraver (www.appcraver.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games, and also conducts developer interviews. See their submissions guidelines here.
Visits/day: 10,412
AppRater (www.apprater.com)
Lists and “reviews” iPhone applications, but requires link sharing from participating developers. Details here.
Visits/day: 7,269
AppShopper (appshopper.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games, and doesn’t openly list their submission guidelines. You can try contacting them at arn@appshopper.com
Visits/day: 27,479
Apptism (www.apptism.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games, including previewing those that haven’t yet been released. See their submissions guidelines here.
Visits/day: 19,121
AppVee (www.appvee.com)
Gives *video* reviews of iPhone and iPod touch applications and games. See their submissions guidelines here.
Visits/day: 7,379
Apple iPhone Apps (appadvice.com/appnn)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games. You can find their submission guidelines here.
Visits/day: 9,890
Apple iPhone School (www.appleiphoneschool.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games from both the App Store and Cydia. No public submission guidelines, but you can contact them here.
Visits/day: 17,342
Art of the iPhone (artoftheiphone.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games. No public submission guidelines but you can contact them here.
Visits/day: 5,290
iPhone Application List (iphoneapplicationlist.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games. You can find their submission guidelines here, although they do ask for a reciprocal link in exchange for a review.
Visits/day: 9,867
iPhone App Review (www.iphoneappreview.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games. You can find their submission guidelines here.
Visits/day: 3,959
iPhone App Reviews (www.iphoneappreviews.net)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games. The site allows you to publish promo codes with your review as well. You can find their submission guidelines here.
Visits/day: 5,145
iPhone Game Network (www.iphonegamenetwork.com)
Reviews iPhone games, including Ad-Hoc distributions. You can find their submission guidelines here.
Visits/day: 4,819
iPhone Game Reviews (iphone-game-reviews.com)
Small review blog for iPhone games, you can find their submission guidelines here.
Visits/day: 469
iPhone Games (iphonegames.com/reviews)
Small review blog for iPhone games, you can find their submission guidelines here.
Visits/day: 538
iPhone Footprint (www.iphonefootprint.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games. You can find their submission guidelines here, and request a review here.
Visits/day: 7,865
iPhone World (www.iphoneworld.ca)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games, as well as publishes press releases. You can contact them about app submissions here.
Visits/day: 10,318
NativeiPhoneApps (www.nativeiphoneapps.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games. You can find their submission guidelines here.
Visits/day: 761
Slide to Play (www.slidetoplay.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch games. You can find their submission guidelines here.
Visits/day: 8,882
App Theater (www.apptheater.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games. You can find their contact details here.
Visits/day: 970
Touch Arcade (toucharcade.com)
Excellent review site for iPhone and iPod touch games. You can find their submission guidelines and other useful information here.
Visits/day: 44,474
MoDoJo (www.modojo.com)
Promtional site for mobile games allowing you to submit reviews, maintain a profile, and so forth. You can find details here.
Visits/day: 4,823
Touch Reviews (touchreviews.net)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games, as well as several additional promotional tools. You can find more details here.
Visits/day: 2,183
Buy me an iPhone (www.buymeaniphone.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch applications and games. You can find their contact details here.
Visits/day: 18
What’s on iPhone (www.whatsoniphone.com)
News and reviews for the iPhone. You can find their contact details and submission information here.
Visits/day: 6,763
Pocket Gamer (www.pocketgamer.co.uk)
Reviews games on various mobile platforms including the iPhone. See their submission guidelines here and check out the iPhone developer forums here.
Visits/day: 3,017
iPwn Games (www.ipwngames.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod touch games. You can find their submission guidelines here. They also offer personal blogs to game developers here.
Visits/day: 5,344
For some general review tips you’ll find an instructive post over at mobile orchard: http://www.mobileorchard.com/five-tips-for-getting-iphone-reviews/
UPDATE: Additional sites recommended by friendly internet commenters:
APPera, The (www.theappera.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod games. You can find their submission guidelines here.
Visits/day: 3,719
AppGamer.net (www.appgamer.net)
Reviews iPhone and iPod games. You can find their contact details here.
Visits/day: 979
Touch my Apps (www.touchmyapps.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod applications and games. They also do interviews with artists, developers, etc. You can contact them here.
Visits/day: 2,262
Portable Gamer, The (www.theportablegamer.com)
Reviews portable games, including iPhone games. You can find their contact details here, and a their iPhone game submission form here.
Visits/day: 2,269
appVersity (www.appversity.com)
Reviews iPhone and iPod applications and games. You can find their submission guidelines here.
Visits/day: 2,605
AppModo (www.appmodo.com)
Reviews mobile applications and games, including the iPhone. They also do interviews with artists, developers, etc. You can find their contact details here.
Visits/day: 6,394