App Store Optimization (ASO): The Complete Guide for 2026

Quick answer: App store optimization (ASO) is the work of improving your app's store listing so more people find it in App Store and Google Play search and more of those visitors install it. It has two halves: visibility, driven by your name, subtitle, keywords and descriptions, and conversion, driven by your icon, screenshots, video and ratings, supported by localization, testing and measurement.

ASO is to the app stores what SEO is to web search, with one big difference: your store listing is both the search result and the landing page. Every install passes through the same short funnel:

1. Impression: your app appears in search results, a category list, a chart or a featured spot.
2. Product page view: someone taps through to your listing.
3. Install: they tap Get or Install.

On both stores people can also install straight from search results, so your icon, name, rating and first screenshots work as a miniature listing. ASO improves the first step (visibility) and the last two (conversion). Visibility without conversion wastes impressions; conversion without visibility has no one to convert.

Most installs come from three places: search, browsing the store, and referrals from the web, social posts or ads. ASO affects search directly, and it improves conversion for every source, because paid and referral traffic lands on the same listing.

ASO isn't a launch-day task. Stores change, competitors update and your app evolves, so treat it as a loop: research, change, measure, repeat.

Both stores publish a little about how search works, and nothing about exact weights. Here's what they actually say.

Apple: Apple's App Store search page says results are based on text relevance (matches for your app's title, subtitle, keywords and primary category) and user behavior (downloads, ratings and reviews, and more). It also says promotional text doesn't affect search ranking, and that Apple now generates search tags from your metadata with large language models, one more reason to describe your app accurately.

Google: Google's "Get discovered on Google Play search" page says apps are ranked on a combination of ratings, reviews, downloads and other factors, that the weighting is proprietary, and that Google considers the overall app experience based on user behavior and feedback. Google's Android vitals documentation adds that technical quality problems such as high crash rates can reduce your visibility on Google Play.

The takeaway: there is no secret ranking formula you can buy. You can make your listing relevant to the right searches, make it convincing, and build an app people keep and rate well. Our explainer on how App Store search works goes deeper.

Every text field and its limit

A few rules of thumb follow from the table:

• App name: brand plus your most important term, if it reads naturally.
• Subtitle: a benefit that adds a second term. Don't repeat words from the name.
• Keywords field: commas without spaces, no words already in your name or subtitle, no competitor names. Our App Store keywords field guide covers every official rule.
• Descriptions: on iOS, write to convert. On Google Play, also cover your keyword phrases naturally, because there's no keyword field. See Google Play ASO for the differences.

On the App Store, most metadata changes ship with a new app version; promotional text is the main exception. On Google Play, listing text is published from Play Console without a new app bundle.

Keyword research in brief

Good keywords are relevant first, popular second. Apple's own search page notes that popular terms are highly competitive, especially for newer or smaller apps, while less common terms bring less traffic but less competition. Build a seed list from how users describe your app, expand it with store autocomplete and Apple Ads search popularity, check who already ranks, and choose phrases you can realistically win. The full process is in ASO keyword research.

Text gets you into the results; visuals decide the tap. Here are the current basics:

• Icon: must be recognizable at small sizes next to competitors. One clear symbol beats a detailed illustration.
• Screenshots: Apple accepts 1 to 10 per device size and localization; Google Play needs 2 to 8 phone screenshots to publish. The first few appear in search results, so they carry the most weight.
• Video: Apple allows up to 3 app previews per device size and localization, currently 15 to 30 seconds each. Google Play takes a single YouTube promo video, with your 1024 × 500 feature graphic as its cover.

What makes screenshots convert is consistent across categories: one message per screenshot, short benefit-led headlines that are readable at thumbnail size, real app UI, and the strongest benefit first. Browse the inspiration gallery to see how top apps in your category structure theirs, and check exact dimensions in the App Store screenshot sizes and Google Play screenshot sizes guides.

Remember the required sizes: Apple currently requires 6.3-inch iPhone screenshots (1206 × 2622 or 1179 × 2556) for every iPhone app and 13-inch iPad screenshots if your app runs on iPad. Export flattened images without an alpha channel to avoid upload problems.

Ratings show up in search results and on your listing, and both stores connect them to ranking: Apple says ratings and reviews can influence how your app ranks, and Google lists them among its ranking factors. They also shape conversion directly, since a visitor sees your average before anything else.

• Ask at the right moment. Use the system review prompts (StoreKit on iOS, the In-App Review API on Android) after a success moment, not on first launch.
• Reply to reviews. A helpful reply can turn a complaint into a better rating and shows future visitors you care.
• Fix what people mention. Recurring complaints are free product research.
• Use resets carefully. App Store Connect lets you reset your summary rating with a new version, which can help after you fix a widely criticized problem.

Localization multiplies everything above. App Store Connect lists 50 localizations, and each one has its own name, subtitle, keywords, description and screenshots. Many storefronts also support additional languages besides their default, which Apple documents in its localization reference. On Google Play, Google may show machine translations of listings you haven't translated, but its help page says professional translations of your description can improve search results for global users.

Localize in this order:

1. Keywords, researched locally rather than translated word for word.
2. Name, subtitle or short description.
3. Screenshot headlines, checked for text overflow in long languages like German.
4. The description.

Start with the markets where you already see installs or where your category is strong. Our app store localization guide covers the workflow.

Each store gives you free testing tools:

Track impressions, product page views, conversion rate and installs by source in App Store Connect analytics and Play Console's store performance reports. Record a baseline, change one thing at a time and give each change several weeks. The Product Page Optimization guide explains how to set up your first test.

1. Define your audience and the main job your app does for them.
2. Research keywords and pick a primary term and a handful of secondary ones.
3. Write the name, subtitle or short description, and keywords or description.
4. Design screenshots around your top benefits, strongest first.
5. Localize for your priority markets.
6. Ship, then record your baseline metrics.
7. Test one visual change at a time with PPO or store listing experiments.
8. Review rankings, conversion and reviews every release, and repeat.