ASO StudioWhy my app gets no downloads
It is rarely the app itself. It is usually where the app sits when someone searches, or what they see when they get there.
The short answer
Find out first whether App Store search is holding you back. Two search causes account for most of it: nobody searches the words in your listing, so you rank for terms with no traffic behind them, or the words people do search are held by apps far larger than yours, so you rank too low to be seen. Both are measurable, and the fix is different for each. If search is not the problem, the answer is further down this page: Apple is explicit that your icon, screenshots and product page decide whether the people who find you install.
Check your app freeBelow about the third result, almost nobody scrolls. Ranking 87th for a term is the same as not ranking for it.
The six causes
In the order they usually bite.
Work down the list. Most apps are stuck on the first two and never get to the rest.
- 01
Nobody searches the words you chose
Listings get written in the words a founder would use. The store runs on the words a buyer types. Ranking first for a term nobody searches changes nothing.
Look up the search demand for every word in your name and subtitle.
- 02
The words people do search belong to bigger apps
Below about the third result, almost nobody scrolls. If the apps holding a term have fifty thousand ratings and you have forty, that position is not available at any price yet.
Compare your rating count against the apps ranking above you.
- 03
Your name and subtitle carry no keywords
Apple indexes your app name, your subtitle and a hidden hundred-character keyword field. A brand-only name ranks for the brand, which only works once people already know it.
Count how many of your category's real terms appear in your name and subtitle.
- 04
Too few ratings to look worth trying
The rating count prints next to the stars in the search result, before anyone opens your page. Under fifty it reads as untested, and people scroll on.
Add an in-app rating prompt at the moment something goes right.
- 05
You win the search and lose the tap
Ranking is only half the job. The first three screenshots show in search without anyone tapping through, so they do the persuading whether you designed them to or not.
Open your own search result on a phone and read it as a stranger would.
- 06
Nothing is feeding the loop
Charts and search feed each other. Steady installs move you up a chart, the chart brings browse traffic, and the traffic brings installs. With no entry point, none of it starts.
Find one term you can realistically rank for, and win that one first.
How to check yours
Stop guessing at it.
Every reason above is a number you can look up. The practice of measuring them is called App Store Optimization, and ASO Studio does it on your Mac from live store data.
- Score your app against the leaders in its own category, free and with no sign-up.
- Read every word in your name and subtitle for real search demand.
- Check the size of the apps already ranking for the terms you want.
Related questions
What people ask next.
Why is my app not getting downloads?
Start by finding out whether App Store search is holding it back. Two search causes are the most common: nobody searches the words in your listing, so you rank for terms with no traffic behind them, or the words people do search are held by apps far larger than yours, so you rank too low to be seen. Both are measurable: check the search demand for your terms, then check the size of the apps already ranking for them. Search is not the whole of discovery. Apple is explicit that your icon, your screenshots and the rest of your product page decide whether the people who do find you install, so rule the search half in or out first and read your own conversion rate in App Store Connect alongside it.
How long does a new app take to get downloads?
Rating counts and chart position both lag a launch by weeks, so the first month tells you very little. Until roughly ninety days in, the listing fields are the part worth working on, because they are the only part that responds immediately.
How do I find out if anyone searches my keywords?
Apple publishes no search volume for the App Store, so every public number you will see is an estimate built from how readily the store surfaces a term in live search, how many apps compete for it, and how large those apps are. Read those as a way to rank terms against each other rather than as counts. Two figures do come from Apple: App Store Connect reports your own impressions, product page views and downloads, and Apple Search Ads hands connected advertisers Apple's own 1 to 100 popularity for a term. The free App Rating checker at asostudio.app/app-rating scores any app against the leaders in its own category with no sign-up.
Does changing my app name hurt my ranking?
The name is the heaviest ranking signal you control, so changing it changes what you rank for. Keep the brand, and spend any unused characters on a descriptor made of terms people actually search. Rankings settle within a few days of the new version going live.
Do I need an ASO tool to fix this?
No, but you do need the numbers. You can check demand and competition by hand, one term at a time, in the App Store itself. A tool is worth paying for when you are comparing dozens of terms at once and want them scored the same way every time.