App Store Optimization: A Plain-English Guide for 2026

App store optimization, or ASO, is SEO for app stores. It has two halves: getting found when people search, and getting the install once they land on your page. Both stores give you a handful of text fields and visuals, each with strict limits. For most small business apps, the biggest wins come from filling every field properly and writing for real customers, not from tricks.

We write store listings, set keywords and design screenshots for the apps we submit through our mobile service. This is how we approach it, with every limit taken from Apple's and Google's own documentation.

What Apple gives you to work with

How to write your Apple name, subtitle and keywords

• Name: your brand, plus a short descriptor if it fits naturally. A salon app might add the word booking. You get 30 characters.
• Subtitle: a plain statement of what the app does, in 30 characters. Skip slogans that don't say anything.
• Keywords: 100 characters with terms separated by commas and no spaces. Apple's own example is Property,House,Real Estate. Spaces inside a phrase are fine.

Apple also lists what to leave out of the keyword field so you don't waste characters:

• Plurals of words you already have in singular form.
• Category names and the word "app".
• Duplicate words.
• Special characters like # or @, unless they're part of your brand.

And what never to put in it: competitor app names, terms that have nothing to do with your app, and trademarks or celebrity names you don't have the rights to.

Use promotional text for timely news like a new feature, a holiday offer or an event. You can change it without submitting a new version, and since it doesn't affect ranking, there's no reason to stuff it with keywords.

How Google Play search reads your listing

Google Play has no hidden keyword field. It reads the text people can see: the app name (30 characters), the short description (80 characters) and the full description (4,000 characters). Write a short description that says exactly what the app does in one line, then use the full description to cover features, who it's for and the words your customers actually use.

Google warns that repetitive or irrelevant keywords can create a poor experience and can get an app suspended. Mention your important phrases naturally a few times, not twenty. If a sentence only exists to hold a keyword, cut it.

Screenshots and videos do the selling

Many people decide from the first few screenshots without reading a word of the description. Treat them like a short ad: one clear benefit per screen, big readable captions and your strongest feature first.

• Apple allows up to 10 screenshots and up to 3 app previews of up to 30 seconds each.
• Google allows one preview video from YouTube. It has to be public or unlisted, with ads turned off and no age restriction. Only the first 30 seconds autoplay, so lead with the good part.
• Google also needs a 1024 by 500 feature graphic and a 512 by 512 icon.

The exact pixel sizes for every device are in our screenshot size guide.

Ratings and reviews

Ratings shape whether people trust your listing, and both stores limit how often you can ask for one.

• On iPhone, Apple says the system shows the review prompt "a maximum of three times within a 365-day period." Apple recommends asking after someone finishes something, not right at launch and not as the result of a button tap.
• On Android, Google enforces a time-bound quota and doesn't publish the number. Google says not to trigger the review card from a button, because the card might not appear, and not to ask questions like "Do you like the app?" before showing it.

Reply to reviews, especially the bad ones. A calm, specific reply helps the next person reading the page more than it helps the reviewer.

Custom product pages and testing

Both stores let you show different versions of your page to different people:

• Apple custom product pages: up to 70 per app, each with its own screenshots, previews, promotional text and keywords, and its own URL. Apple now lets you assign keywords from your approved version to a custom page, so people searching those terms see that page instead of your default one. Each page needs approval before it goes live.
• Apple product page optimization: test up to three alternate versions of your icon, screenshots and previews against your default page. A test runs for up to 90 days.
• Google custom store listings: up to 50, aimed by country, pre-registration, a unique URL, or people who haven't opened or have uninstalled your app. You can change the name, icon, descriptions and graphics for each.

For a local business, a simple setup is one page per audience. For example, one page for new customers from your ads and another linked from your emails to existing customers.

In-app events on the App Store

If your app runs promotions, classes, challenges or seasonal offers, Apple's in-app events can show them on your product page and in search results. An event can run up to 31 days and be promoted up to 14 days before it starts. You can have up to 10 events published at a time and up to 15 approved in App Store Connect. The event name is limited to 30 characters and the short description to 50.

Localization

Both stores let you add listings in other languages. If your customers search in Spanish or another language, a translated name, subtitle, description and screenshots can put you in front of people your English listing never reaches. Translate the meaning rather than word by word, and check search terms with a native speaker before you pick keywords.

A quick ASO checklist

• Every text field is filled in and written for customers.
• Apple's keyword field uses all 100 characters, with no repeats or plurals.
• Google's short description says what the app does in one line.
• The first two or three screenshots show the main benefit.
• The review prompt fires after a success moment, not at launch.
• There's a custom product page for your biggest audience or ad campaign.
• You revisit keywords every few months based on what people actually search.

Store listings are part of every mobile project we take on. We gather what we need from you, write the copy, set the keywords, take and design the screenshots and submit on both stores. For the step-by-step on each store, see our App Store Connect guide and Google Play Console guide.

Roenic Natarelli

Founder, Virtual Horizons

Roenic runs Virtual Horizons and is a Base44 Legend Partner, Ambassador and Community Pillar, Base44 Shark Tank winner and multiple-time Vibe Sprint winner. The studio builds web and mobile apps, AI voice agents and automations, with more than 10 apps live on the App Store and Google Play. More about us