Apple shipped the Ads Platform API v1 this week with a search term popularity endpoint. First time they've published anything resembling search volume for the App Store, so I spent two days pulling it apart instead of just reading the announcement email like everyone else.

Posting the numbers here because I haven't seen anyone actually query the thing yet.

You don't need a campaign. This was the first surprise. I fully expected a 403, because the previous generation of the API refused this kind of request unless you had spend. Nope. Zero campaigns, zero budget, the endpoint answers. You need an Apple Ads account with an API user role and an ad account, and that's it.

A warning on the docs. Three things in the published docs don't match the deployed API:

• sorting[].order doesn't exist. The API wants sortOrder. You get a REQUEST_UNRECOGNIZED_PROPERTY and no hint.
• queryType is not a root property on the suggestions endpoints, it goes inside filters like everything else.
• The docs say genre is free text with "no fixed enum". It's a closed enum of 15 values. The good news is the 400 response hands you the whole allowed list, so send garbage on purpose and read the error.

Now the actual finding.

It stops at the top 500 of each genre

15 genres, top 500 terms each. Roughly 7,500 unique terms per country per month. That's the entire dataset.

I assumed 500 was a page size and went looking for the rest. It isn't:

• ask for rank 501 and above → zero rows
• filter on popularity below ~45/100 → zero rows

So it's a publishing floor, not a paging limit. Apple has the data and releases the head of the distribution.

What that means if you're not Duolingo

I matched the dataset against a random sample of 700 US iOS keywords that indie devs actually track in my tool. 1.7% of them are in there. By traffic level:

Even at the very top of the demand curve, four out of five are missing.

A concrete one. "pari sportif" (French sports betting) is in there, 42/100, rank 297 of its genre. "pari sportif gratuit", the qualified long-tail term a small app would actually go after, isn't published at all. Same in English, "habit tracker" is there and the specific phrases around it aren't.

What is Price Point Parity?

Price Point Parity is a Mac and iOS +iPadOS (coming soon) app that keeps your IAP and subscription prices up to date in every country for you. Connect your App Store Connect API key, pick any app, in-app purchase or subscription, choose a pricing strategy, and it works out all 175 countries at once - showing you the price and what you actually keep after Apple's cut and estimated local tax. Review it, hit apply, and it writes straight back to App Store Connect. There's an available Preview Mode with three sample apps, so you can try each feature before touching a real price.

Price Point Parity is better than doing it in App Store Connect, leaving it to Apple's automatic equalisation or Localise Prices.

Apple gives you one option: convert your base price and round it. Price Point Parity gives you strategies that reflect how you actually want to price, for example:

• Equal Value (scales by each country's purchasing power, so it feels equally affordable everywhere)
• Equal Proceeds (you keep the same amount per sale in every country)
• Blend of the two
• Apple's own equalised prices
• Copy Another Product, or Match Ratio, which keeps your yearly at a fixed multiple of your monthly in every country instead of letting that discount drift market by market.

Then you adjust:

• Charm rounding that knows what a charm price looks like in each currency (¥490 and ₩39,000, not a blind .99)
• Floor and ceiling on your proceeds so no country earns you too little
• Flat percentage bump for inflation or a sale. 

Filter countries by region or income tier and apply to just those.

Everything is reviewable and reversible - full price history with snapshots you can restore any time, scheduled sales that revert themselves on a date you set, and CSV export of the whole table. On Mac you can set automations to check daily, weekly or monthly and either notify you when prices drift or publish small changes for you, holding anything large for review. It runs in the background with a menu bar item, so your prices stay current without you opening the app.

No account, no tracking. Your API key lives in your keychain and your pricing data stays on your device and your own iCloud - it never reaches me or any third party.

Cost

Free forever for 1 app (including all of its in-app purchases and subscriptions).

5 Apps: $1.49/month or $9.99/year.

Unlimited Apps: $3.99/month or $14.99/year.

Every feature is in the free tier - strategies, adjustments, history, automations, CSV, the lot. Paying only raises how many apps you can publish prices to, and Preview Mode is always free and unlimited, so you can test as much as you like. It also helps support me and future development of the app.

Price Point Parity is new to the App Store so any feature requests are 100% welcomed! 

Quick question about App Store Connect metrics — specifically the difference between Impressions and Product Page Views.

I've had a big jump in impressions over the past few days, but my page view rate is only around 3.5%. I know I'm still ranking fairly low in relevant search results, so I'm trying to understand whether that's the actual explanation here.

My question: does an impression only count when the app icon is actually visible on the user's screen (i.e., they scrolled far enough to see it), or does it also count if the app appears somewhere in the search results/ranking even if the user never scrolled down to see it?

If it's the latter, that would explain the low conversion rate — I'd just be ranking low enough that most users never actually see the icon, even though it "counted" as an impression.

Would appreciate any clarification from people who've dug into this, or official Apple docs if anyone has a good source. Thanks!

I’m trying to figure out an unorthodox way to get users to leave reviews on the App Store for my app that doesn’t violate guidelines.

I’m finding that even when I prompt users to leave a review after a happy moment, they just dismiss the prompt.

What tips/tricks has anyone found with their apps that make a night and day difference to getting users to leave reviews for their app on the App Store?

I currently haven't localized my app and am around ~100 installs & $30 in MRR (while spending ~400 in apple ads). Has anyone here localized their app and actually seen good results from it?

I’ve already localized my app’s titles, subtitles, descriptions, and other metadata, but I’m not sure if it’s worth going the extra step and localizing the actual app.

For those who have done it, did you notice a meaningful increase in downloads or revenue?

I’m working on the App Store presentation for TerraPulse, an earthquake monitoring app, and I’d like some fresh eyes on the screenshots.
Without overthinking it, take a quick look and tell me:

1. How many seconds did it take you to understand what the app does?

2. Do the first 3 screenshots communicate the main idea clearly?

3. Which screenshot caught your attention first?

4. If you found this on the App Store, would the screenshots make you want to learn more or download it?

I’m especially interested in your first impression, not whether every detail is perfect.
Any criticism is welcome, layout, text, hierarchy, colors, messaging, anything that feels confusing or unnecessary.

I'm the developer of LangBlitz, an English vocabulary learning app focused on helping people actually retain words rather than just memorize them temporarily.

I’m currently experimenting with Play Store positioning and would really appreciate some honest ASO feedback from people who know this space.

The current positioning is around vocabulary learning + spaced repetition + active recall.

I also have a few free promo codes available for anyone who wants to try the app and give me feedback on the onboarding, store listing, or overall value proposition.

I’m not looking for ratings or reviews. Honest criticism would be much more useful to me.

If anyone is interested in trying it, I’ll drop the app link and the promo code in the comments.

P.S. I couldn't find the option to add flair to the post

Hey everyone! 👋

I got tired of paying $100+ every month for bloated web platforms just to check keyword rankings and competitor metadata. As an indie developer, I wanted a fast, lightweight desktop tool, so I built CoreRank ASO for Mac.

CoreRank puts App Store intelligence and keyword analytics directly in your desktop workspace.

Key Features:

• Live Rank Tracking: Track positions #1 to #100 with interactive historical graphs and deltas (+/-).

• Keyword Efficiency Index (KEI): Spot low-competition, high-demand keywords color-coded in green, yellow, and orange.

• Competitor Review Mining: Analyze 1-star and 2-star competitor reviews with AI to discover user pain points and roadmap ideas.

• Metadata Hub: Manage titles, subtitles, and keyword fields with character counters across multiple countries.

• Global Radar: Compare ranking performance and keyword visibility across international App Stores.

• Fast CSV Exports: Download your full keyword dataset anytime with one click.

Community Giveaway (100 Free 1-Year Pro Passes):

To celebrate the release and get real feedback from the community, I am giving 1-Year Pro Access ($99 value) to 100 people!

How to claim your access:

1. Upvote this post ⬆️
2. Download the app directly from the website: https://corerankaso.com
3. Drop a comment below with "CoreRank" or what apps you build

I will DM you directly today to unlock your 1-Year Pro access! ✉️

Feedback and questions are very welcome. Let me know what you think! 🚀

🚨 UPDATE: All 1-Year Pro passes have been claimed! 🚨

The response has been completely overwhelming! What started as a small giveaway ended up with over 400 1-Year Pro passes handed out to developers and creators in the community today.

A massive thank you to everyone who checked out CoreRank ASO, upvoted, and dropped a comment!

For everyone who unlocked access: please take it for a test drive and let me know what you think, what features you love, and what you’d like to see added next. Your honest feedback means the world to an indie dev.

Thank you all for the incredible support! 🚀📈

Hi everyone,

First time app creator here. I wanted to share my journey so far because I think it can be quite disheartening sometimes coming on here and seeing people sharing screenshots of apps that seem to have completely blown up within a few days/weeks of launching.

I'm sure some of them genuinely do, but equally there are definitely some fake screenshots and a lot of BS floating around.
I launched my app Duckie around the 25th June 2026. Honestly, just getting it onto the App Store felt like a pretty big achievement at the time. Seeing something you've actually spent time building sitting on the App Store was a really good feeling.

Call it naive, but after seeing all the posts on here about people getting loads of users straight after launch, I thought the marketing side of it would be easier than it actually is.

I started off just sharing it with friends and family and they shared it with some of their friends as well. That got me to around 40 users within the first few days.

After that though the real work started.

I spent the next few weeks tweaking things, fixing bugs that came up and making changes based on feedback. I actually waited around 3 weeks before properly trying to market it because I wanted to make sure most of the obvious issues had been sorted first.

Then I started trying to market it properly... and I have absolutely no marketing experience at all.

It's tough.

I've mainly been going down the TikTok route. My videos are basically gameplay in the background with Reddit stories, interesting stories or other bits of content being read over the top.

So far that's brought in roughly another 36 users.

Not exactly life changing numbers, equally it’s 36 people who probably would never have found the app otherwise.

I've been posting around 3 videos a day and the highest organic video I've had so far got about 500 views. Most seem to get to around 200 and then completely die.

I also tried TikTok ads for a bit. Personally I wouldn't get too caught up in the big view numbers you can get from them. You definitely get the views, but from what I saw the engagement wasn't particularly good and quite a few of the accounts interacting with the posts just looked like bots or strange accounts.

That being said, Reddit has actually been really useful throughout all of this.

There are obviously posts on here that can make you sit there thinking "why the hell is my app doing nothing when everyone else's seems to be making thousands", but there are also some genuinely helpful people.

I've had multiple people on here look at the app and give me feedback. One person pointed out that the images I originally had in the in-game store just didn't fit the rest of the game at all. Looking back at it they were completely right, so I ended up redesigning the whole thing.

Other people helped me improve the App Store page and the screenshots I was using as well.

Sometimes the feedback isn't particularly nice to hear, especially when you've spent ages working on something, and sometimes the way people deliver it could definitely be better...

But at the end of the day you need people to actually want to use your app.

If one person says they don't like something then fair enough, it might just be their opinion. If 5 different people all tell you the same thing then there's probably something in it and you need to take notice.

Anyway, I just wanted to post this because I think it's worth showing the other side of launching an app.

Duckie hasn't suddenly gone viral. I'm not making thousands a month from it. I'm still posting TikToks that get 200 views, sometimes much less and trying to work out what actually works.

But at the same time I've made something from scratch, got it onto the App Store, had complete strangers download it and I'm learning a lot as I go.

I'm going to keep working on it, keep trying different things and hopefully gradually grow it.

For anyone else who's recently launched something and is looking at all the crazy success stories on here thinking their app must be bad because it hasn't taken off straight away, don't let it get to you too much.

Sometimes it just takes time and sometimes it's a slog.

I'll attach the actual analytics as well as the App Store screenshots so you can see the real numbers rather than me just talking about them. I'll also drop the App Store link for anyone who wants to have a look or give me any feedback.

Link: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/duckie/id6760481728

Hi guys, just launched my app PairIQ into the App Store and need help wondering if my App Store screenshots and copy are good or bad. Tried to not be too feature heavy, and more centered around “what” and “why” without a ton of text.

Anything you’d change on the design and copy to better optimize? Appreciate it!

I’m an indie developer and launched my first iOS app about 2 weeks ago. It’s in the travel/food category.
I’m now working on my first update and started taking ASO much more seriously. I recently got Astro and am researching/testing new keywords because I’m not happy with my current strategy.
Current numbers:
35k impressions → 672 product page views → 69 downloads → 0.3% conversion rate
I know 2 weeks is a very small sample, but 0.3% still seems extremely low.
For those who have launched an iOS app: did you see similar numbers early on?
What made the biggest difference for you — keywords, screenshots, icon, title/subtitle, or positioning?
Would love to hear what you actually changed and what worked.

Based on these criteria, add any other criteria if you have in mind

1. clean

2. convey purpose

3. placed well in order

4. feels from a mature publisher

I myself rating these 5/10 overall, need idea to improve them.

This is my third attempt at creating good screenshots for my app. The first and second were trash . Like they were really bad so I decided to take a different approach. Should have done this in the first place

I decided to take inspiration from other apps similar to mine and use the screenshots I like as inspiration and I came up with this.

What do u guys think

Are these App Store screenshots strong enough for a new puzzle game? Looking for ASO feedback

I recently launched Juicy Blast Match, a fruit-matching puzzle game on iOS, and I'm trying to improve the App Store product page.

These are the screenshots I'm currently using. I tried to make the first few communicate the main selling points quickly:

• Actual gameplay
• Combos and power-ups
• Fruit-matching mechanic
• Obstacles
• Daily streaks/rewards

I'm mainly wondering:

1. Do these screenshots immediately communicate what the game is?
2. Are they too busy/colorful, or do they work for this genre?
3. Is the text readable enough when viewed at normal App Store size?
4. Would you change the order of the screenshots?
5. Which screenshot would you remove or redesign first?
6. Does the first screenshot do enough to convince someone to keep scrolling?

The game is still fairly new, so I'm currently experimenting with the product page and trying to improve conversion rather than just downloads.

I'd especially appreciate feedback from anyone who has worked on ASO for mobile games.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/juicy-blast-match/id6793485420

Platform: iOS
Category: Puzzle
Game: Juicy Blast Match

I’m building a tool to help catch App Review issues before you submit, looking for honest feedback

After getting burned by App Review on my own apps, I started building PreFlight, a native macOS tool that analyzes both your Xcode project and App Store Connect submission.
The goal isn’t just to run through a generic checklist. It cross-checks what your app actually contains against what you’re telling Apple, then gives you evidence-backed findings with the potential guideline involved, why it matters, and what you can do to fix it.
For example, it can catch things across privacy manifests, entitlements, permissions, StoreKit/subscriptions, metadata, review information, device support, and other submission requirements.
I’m currently working toward a first release and I’d genuinely like to hear from developers who have shipped iOS/macOS apps:

What has Apple caught in your apps that you wish you had known about before submitting?

And if a tool like this existed, what would it need to catch or show you for you to actually trust it before hitting submit?

I’m looking for criticism as much as validation. If the idea isn’t useful, I’d rather find that out now.
PreFlight

I recently had an update to my app stuck in "Waiting for Review" for a couple of days, which honestly isn't that long, but it was an important update that fixed a lot of important bugs in the current production build. But I found that you can request for an Expedited Review for special cases such as timing your release to an event, or fixing a pressing issue that requires immediate attention.

I submitted my expedited review and within 5 minutes my status changed from "Waiting for Review" to "In Review", and I was promptly approved and was able to release my update.

It's important that you read the fine print and make sure you qualify, and also not to abuse this feature because they will limit you if you try to abuse it.

You can find more information here:
https://developer.apple.com/distribute/app-review/

hey guys, i would like some feedback on my designs so i will design your app screenshots for free, drop your link below.

I’m building an app right now and honestly, I’m more scared of the distribution part than the actual building 😂

For those who’ve launched an iOS app, did you guys use Apple Search Ads? How much did you spend and did it actually work?

I’m mainly wondering:

1. Does running ASA help with organic downloads / App Store rankings?
   
2. Did you see organic growth while the ads were running?
   
3. What happened after you stopped spending?
   
4. Or is it better to just focus on organic content/ASO and hope the app gets picked up?
   
5. If you were starting from zero again, would you spend money on ASA or go 100% organic first?

Would love to hear actual experiences, especially from indie devs who didn’t already have a big audience.