App store optimization in 2026: the operator's ASO checklist Rank for the right words, then win the tap.

app store optimization (ASO) is the work of getting an app found in App Store and Google Play search, then getting the people who land on the product page to install. it has two halves: search visibility, driven by metadata and ratings, and conversion, driven by icon, screenshots, previews and reviews. both can be measured and tested.

specs checked against Apple and Google documentation on 26 september 2026; both stores change these, so confirm in App Store Connect and Play Console before you export.

What ASO covers in 2026

ASO covers every field and asset a store uses to decide where your app ranks and whether a visitor installs: name, subtitle, keywords, descriptions, category, icon, screenshots, previews, ratings and reviews. in 2026 it also covers the extra product pages both stores let you build for specific audiences, ad campaigns and search terms.

i think of it as a funnel inside the store: impression, product page view, install. ranking moves the first number. creative moves the second and third. if you run paid traffic, the product page is where every ad click lands, so a weak page makes every channel more expensive. the wider store plan, from launch to featuring, lives in the app store marketing guide.

The metadata checklist for App Store and Google Play

the checklist is short: a name that carries your main keyword, a subtitle or short description that states the benefit, a keywords field with no repeats, a clear description and the right category. the limits differ by store, so write each store’s copy separately instead of pasting one version into both.

field	App Store	Google Play
app name	2 to 30 characters	30 characters max
subtitle / short description	30 characters max	80 characters max
keywords field	100 bytes, comma separated	no keywords field
promotional text	170 characters, does not affect search ranking	no equivalent
description	4,000 characters max	4,000 characters max

source: Apple app information, Apple platform version information, Apple product page, Google Play store listing best practices, Google Play metadata policy.

on the App Store, Apple’s search guidance names the app name, subtitle, keywords and category as the fields that feed search. separate keywords with commas and no spaces, skip words already in your name or subtitle, and skip plurals of words you already have. Google Play has no keywords field, so the words that matter live in the title and descriptions, written for people, because Google’s metadata policy bans repetitive or irrelevant keywords.

How to research keywords

keyword research for ASO means finding the words real users type, ranking them by relevance, popularity and competition, and placing the best ones in your highest weight fields. start from user language, not brand vocabulary: reviews, support messages and competitor pages show the phrases people actually search for.

1. collect user phrases. pull the problem words from your reviews, competitors’ reviews and support tickets.
2. score them. check popularity and difficulty in an ASO tool, and drop anything that does not describe your app.
3. place them by weight. the most important phrase goes in the name, the next in the subtitle, the rest in the keywords field.
4. change one field at a time. otherwise you cannot tell which edit moved your rank.

Screenshots and previews that convert

screenshots convert when the first one to three frames sell the core promise on their own, because Apple shows those frames in search results when there is no preview. use one benefit per frame, captions large enough to read at thumbnail size, and the same promise your ads make, so the click and the page agree.

Apple’s product page guidance also notes that previews autoplay muted, so the opening seconds must work without sound. screenshots must show the app in use, not a splash or login screen. the App Store takes up to 10 screenshots and up to 3 previews of 15 to 30 seconds. exact sizes for both stores are in App Store marketing assets and sizes.

when i ran the creative engine behind ZuAI’s growth from 10K to 2M users, we tested 150+ creatives a month. the lesson carries straight to the store: the hook that stops a scroll in an ad is usually the best first caption. how to find those hooks is in app creative testing.

Ratings and reviews, the official way

ratings affect ranking and conversion, so ask for them through the official prompts at the right moment. on iOS, the system review prompt can appear up to three times in 365 days. on Android, use the Play In-App Review API. ask after a success moment, never gate features behind a rating, and reply to reviews.

• iOS: Apple’s ratings and reviews page covers SKStoreReviewController, the three prompts a year limit, replying from App Store Connect, and resetting your summary rating when you ship a new version.
• Android: Google’s In-App Review API guide says do not ask opinion or predictive questions before the card, and do not put the prompt behind a button, because quotas can silently stop it showing.
• replies: on Google Play you get one public reply per review, and the user gets a notification (Play Console Help). on the App Store the reviewer is notified and can update their review.

Testing your product page

both stores let you A/B test the product page against live traffic. on the App Store, product page optimization tests up to three treatments of icon, screenshots and previews for up to 90 days. on Google Play, store listing experiments test up to two variants of graphics, and localized experiments can also test descriptions.

	App Store product page optimization	Google Play store listing experiments
variants	up to 3 treatments vs original	up to 2 variants vs current listing
what you can test	icon, screenshots, app previews	icon, feature graphic, screenshots; descriptions in localized experiments
running at once	one test at a time	one default graphics experiment or up to five localized experiments
duration	up to 90 days	not fixed in the help page
review	new metadata needs App Review approval	not stated

source: Apple product page optimization, Google Play store listing experiments.

Custom product pages matched to ad creative

custom product pages are extra versions of your store page with their own screenshots, previews and promotional text, built for a specific ad, audience or search term. Apple allows up to 70; Google Play allows up to 50. match each page to the ad that sends it traffic, so the ad’s promise is the first thing people see.

on the App Store, custom product pages can carry their own keywords and appear in search for them, can include a deep link on iOS 18 and later, and can be used in Apple Ads (formerly Apple Search Ads) ad variations (Apple custom product pages). on Google Play, custom store listings can target countries, search keywords, Google Ads campaigns and segments such as churned users (Play Console Help). campaign setup for the Apple side is in Apple Ads for apps.

Localization

localization means rewriting metadata, keywords and screenshots for each storefront, not just translating them. Apple recommends localizing the description, keywords, previews and screenshots and tailoring keywords to local values. start with the markets already sending organic installs, then research local keywords instead of converting your English list word for word.

Google Play’s localized store listing experiments can run in up to five languages at once, so you can test a localized promise before rolling it out everywhere.

ASO tools worth knowing

ASO tools fall into two groups: the stores’ own consoles, which hold your real conversion data and run your tests, and paid intelligence platforms for keyword popularity, rank tracking and competitor research. the consoles come first because they are free and authoritative. paid platforms fill the gap on keywords and competitors.

• App Store Connect and Play Console: product page tests, custom pages, ratings and reviews.
• AppTweak: keyword research, rank tracking and competitor metadata.
• Sensor Tower: market and keyword intelligence. it acquired data.ai, formerly App Annie, in March 2024.

treat third party keyword volumes as estimates, and judge every change on your own store data.

Red flags that get apps rejected or ignored

red flags are tactics that look like ASO and end in rejection, removal or a quiet ranking drop: keyword stuffing, competitor or trademarked names in metadata, ranking claims like “#1” in a title, fake or incentivized reviews, and screenshots that show features the app does not have. both stores write these rules down.

• keyword stuffing and competitor names: Apple guideline 2.3.7 in the App Review Guidelines and Google’s metadata policy.
• ranking or price claims in titles and icons: banned by Google’s metadata policy.
• fake or incentivized reviews: banned by Google’s ratings, reviews and installs policy; Apple guideline 3.2.2 bars forcing users to rate or review.
• screenshots that oversell: Apple guidelines 2.3.1 and 2.3.3 require accurate metadata and the app in use.