We’ve compiled a list of important updates that impacts ASO for both Google Play as well as iOS, all of which can give your app a competitive edge.
2019 Updates to iOS
New metric introduced in App Store Connect: iOS App Deletions. This metric has been a highly sought after by our clients.
With the iOS App Deletion Metric you can “find out how many times your app was deleted on devices running iOS 12.3 or later by users who agree to share their data with you.” The data can be useful in assessment of the quality of your organic and paid marketing efforts.
For one example, comparing Deletions to Installations per Source Type, gives a client important insights in organic vs. non-organic/paid performance. Below we see App Store browsing underperforming, whereas Search is over performing. There are many more uses of this new Metric. We can dive into each Source Type as well, for better insights. We can look at leads coming from specific campaigns, comparing ratio and cost-effectiveness of Facebook vs Twitter vs Instagram. A deep dive could offer insights into the value of continued efficiency of a specific channel.
Search Ads
The Apple Search Ads platform (ASA) is adding new countries in a steady pace, the full updated list of languages and countries can be found here. ASA is now allowing multiple countries per campaign making large scale campaigns easier to manage.
iOS 13 ASO update
The next iOS release features the infamous dark mode. The new look will influence the App Store and impact asset design, such as screenshots, icons, and graphics.
Apple Watch will get its own App Store
Apple Watch users will be able to download apps directly to their watch, searches in the Watch App Store will be done with Siri voice dictation or scribble.
Reduced visibility of app update release notes
App update release notes is now moved to the “account” page, essentially ensuring that most users won’t see them. We hope that Apple will find a better place for those soon.
No change to SERP and app pages
Apple has not announced any changes to the App Store Page layout and search results page.
Android / Google Play
Google Play has long been known to use engagement data as a ranking factor for Gaming apps, it’s therefore not surprising to see guidelines for a “good in-app user experience”.
From Android Developers Blog:
“Over the coming weeks, we’ll be updating our featuring and ranking logic to further prioritize high quality apps and games with strong technical performance and engaging content.”
For effective “in-app user experience,” Google points to UX, UI, app stability, long-term engaging content, testing, and ad placement within apps (if applicable) and last but not least polished design and effective store page listing.
New icon specification for Google Play apps
To ensure a more consistent and cleaner look, Google Play is asking developers to update their icons to new specifications.
The new release enables developers up to 5 custom store page listings, targeting specific languages within specific countries. This allows for better localization, keywords, and optimization.