The 2026 app store optimization checklist, checked against the stores' own rules

App store optimization (ASO) is improving your store listing so more people find and install your app. In 2026 the checklist is: research keywords, fill the title, subtitle and 100-character keyword field (iOS) or title and descriptions (Google Play), build keyword-targeted custom product pages or listings, test creatives, localise, and manage ratings.

Most ASO checklists ranking today were first written years ago and patched since. They miss Apple's keyword-enabled custom product pages, its LLM-generated app tags and its new creative tools, and some still suggest Google Play has a keyword field (it doesn't) or that you repeat keywords several times (Google's policy says not to). This checklist is split by store, and every rule links to Apple's or Google's own documentation, checked on 23 October 2026. Store rules change often, so recheck before a big release.

The stakes are real: Apple said in January 2026 that the App Store had over 850 million average weekly users across 175 countries and regions.

What should an ASO checklist cover in 2026?

Six areas, on both stores:

1. Keyword research: what your users actually type, by country and language.
2. Metadata: the text fields each store indexes, within its limits and policies.
3. Targeted pages: custom product pages (iOS) and custom store listings (Play) for different audiences and search terms.
4. Creative: icon, screenshots and preview videos that convert a visit into an install.
5. Testing: controlled experiments on icons, screenshots and descriptions.
6. Ratings, reviews and localisation: the user-behaviour and market signals the stores weigh.

App Store checklist (iOS)

Apple's search guidance says results are based on text relevance (your app's title, subtitle, keywords and primary category) and user behaviour (downloads, ratings and reviews, and more). Work through both.

Work through this list:

• Name: your brand plus the most important descriptive term, within 30 characters.
• Subtitle: a second high-value phrase, written for people, within 30 characters.
• Keyword field: up to 100 characters, terms separated by commas with no spaces after the commas. Apple's guidance says not to repeat words already in your name, subtitle or category, and that plurals of words you already use count as duplicates.
• Primary category: chosen for relevance, since it's part of text relevance.
• Promotional text: use it for timely messages (a sale, a new feature) knowing it won't help ranking. It can be changed without a new app version.
• Description: written for conversion and clarity, not stuffed with keywords.
• App tags: Apple says search results may include app tags generated using large language models from the metadata you've provided in App Store Connect. Clear, accurate metadata gives better tags.
• In-app events: if you run timely content (challenges, launches, live events), publish them as in-app events. Apple says events appear on your product page, in search results and in editorial and personalised placements, and an app can have up to 10 events published at a time.

Custom product pages with keywords

Since 29 October 2025, custom product pages can rank in search. Apple's custom product pages documentation says you can publish up to 70 additional versions of your product page, and its announcement added keyword assignment. Apple's search guidance says to assign keywords that match the page's intent, and that each keyword combination should be unique to a single product page.

• Map your main use cases or audiences (for example "budget planner", "expense tracker for couples", "receipt scanner").
• Build a custom product page for each, with screenshots that show that use case first.
• Assign keywords that match each page's intent, with no overlap between pages.
• Measure each page's conversion separately in App Store Connect.

Product page optimization tests

Apple's product page optimization lets you test up to three treatments with alternate app icons, screenshots and app previews. A test runs for up to 90 days or until you stop it, and you can run one test at a time. Alternate icons must be included in the binary of your published app, so icon tests need an app update; tests without icons can be submitted independently.

• Test one idea at a time: a new first screenshot, a different icon or a new preview video.
• Let the test gather enough traffic before deciding; low-traffic apps need longer.
• Apply the winner, then test the next idea.

Google Play checklist

Google Play works differently. There is no keyword field: your words go in the title, short description and full description, and all three must follow Google's metadata policy.

Google's metadata policy is where many listings go wrong. It says the title must be 30 characters or less and bans, among other things:

• Text in the title, icon or developer name that indicates store performance or ranking, such as "#1", "App of the year" or "Popular".
• Price and promotion claims, such as "10% off" or "free for limited time only".
• References to Google Play programmes, such as "Editor's choice" or "New".
• Emojis, emoticons and repeated special characters in the title, icon or developer name; all caps unless it's part of your brand.
• Repetitive or unrelated keywords, and unattributed or anonymous user testimonials in the description.

Your checklist:

• Title: brand plus a key descriptive term, within 30 characters, with no ranking or price claims.
• Short description: a clear 80-character pitch that includes a main term naturally.
• Full description: structured, readable copy that covers your features and the words users search for, without repetition.
• Custom store listings: up to 50, for countries, pre-registration or audiences that need a different message.
• Store listing experiments: Google's experiments help page says you can run one default graphics experiment or up to five localised experiments at the same time, testing icons, feature graphics, screenshots and descriptions against your current listing. Experiments stop automatically after six months.
• Policy review: read the metadata policy before every listing change. A rejected update costs more time than any ranking gain.

Creative checklist (both stores)

Creative assets don't help ranking directly on iOS, but they decide whether a visitor installs.

• Icon: simple, recognisable at small sizes, distinct from competitors in the same category.
• First three screenshots: they're what most people see without scrolling. Lead with the outcome, not the settings screen.
• Captions: short, readable, one idea per screenshot.
• Preview video: up to three on iOS; show real app use in the first seconds.
• Dark mode and device sizes: check how assets look in each.
• New Apple tools: Apple's what's new page (read 23 Oct 2026) lists Asset Library, a central place in App Store Connect to submit and pre-approve creative assets independently of an app submission, and a preview tool to see how assets and metadata will look on your product page and in search before you submit. Both are listed as now available.
• iPhone Duo: the same page says that starting April 2027, apps and games submitted will need screenshots for iPhone Duo. Add the new sizes to your design plan before then.

Good store creative starts with good product design. If your screenshots look weak because the app's screens are weak, fix the screens first; our mobile app design team often does both together.

Ratings, reviews and localisation

Apple names ratings and reviews among the user-behaviour factors in search. Both stores also show them on the listing, where they affect conversion.

• Ask for ratings at a moment of success (a task completed, a goal reached), using the platform's in-app review prompt, never after an error.
• Reply to reviews, especially negative ones, and fix what they report.
• Track rating trends after each release; a drop often means a bug, not a marketing problem.
• Localise metadata and screenshots for your top markets, with keywords researched in each language, not translated word for word.

ASO vs SEO: what is the difference?

ASO and SEO share a method (research what people search for, then match it with useful, well-structured content) but the systems differ.

Can website SEO help your app? Indirectly. A strong website brings people who then search for your app by name, and Google can show app listings in web results. But your website's backlinks don't feed the App Store's ranking. Run both: SEO for the site and ASO for the listings. To measure how web visitors move to app installs, our Google Analytics consulting team sets up the tracking.

What changed for 2026–27?

How do you measure ASO?

Track a few numbers per store and per country, before and after each change:

• Impressions in search and browse.
• Product page views and conversion rate to install.
• Installs from search compared with browse and referrals.
• Keyword positions for your target terms (from an ASO tool).
• Ratings and the share of reviews that mention bugs.

Change one thing at a time, wait for enough data, and keep a dated log of every metadata and creative change so you can tie results to causes.

How can Elgrith help?

Elgrith has delivered 1,000+ projects for 250+ clients since 2015, from our New Delhi HQ and client-partnership centres in New York, London and Shanghai. Our app store optimization service covers keyword research, metadata, custom product pages and store listings, creative testing and reporting, and your App Store Connect and Play Console accounts stay in your name. If you're still building, our app development team can plan ASO into the first release; if you resell apps to clients, see white label app development. You get a fixed written quote after a free call. Book a call or start a project.