App Store Marketing
App Store Marketing covers the full app growth stack - ASO, Apple Search Ads, Google App Campaigns, paid social, DSPs, retention, CRM, creatives and app UX optimisation.
Daily thought from Tom, the ASM editor-in-chief... Nothing says “accidental growth strategy” like shipping an iOS 27 build while still paying 30% because nobody clicked the 15% enrolment button. Tiny win: confirm your fee tier, then fix one rating-prompt trigger so your next campaign lands on a store page users actually trust.
Start here: core guides
View all guides
Start here: What is App Store Marketing?
What it is, what’s changed, and the levers that still matter.
ASO Guide 2026
Positioning → metadata → creative → iteration cadence (a repeatable system).
Apple Search Ads Guide
Structure, bidding, creative, and incrementality - without hype.
ASO checklist
A simple weekly routine to keep listings compounding.
App marketing tools
A curated toolbox for research, creative, and measurement.
UK retail Apple Ads: the App Store search wars (whitepaper + key takeaways)
A quick, skimmable summary of ConsultMyApp’s UK retail Apple Ads whitepaper, with the charts, the ‘intent not category’ lesson, and a simple workflow you can steal.
Latest
- ConsultMyApp: App ratings are a growth lever (they gate chart rank, organic capture, and paid conversion)
- Apple Developer: App Store submissions open for iOS 27 etc. (Xcode 27 RC, asset previews, and April 2027 SDK gates)
- RevenueCat: the 15% App Store fee is the default for most devs (if you actually enroll)
- Apple’s ATT prompt is changing in 2026 (Germany’s FCO case): what to watch
- Google Play Developer Programme Policy update (effective Aug 26, 2026): why ‘policy’ is now a release dependency
- AppsFlyer: cross-channel marketing analytics (and why ‘two dashboards’ is not it)
News feed
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App Store Marketing Weekly – Week 37 (2026)
This week’s theme: platform ‘infrastructure’ changes masquerade as product work. Rosetta warnings and ATT prompt redesigns both land as support load and measurement noise unless you treat them like planned releases.
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ConsultMyApp: App ratings are a growth lever (they gate chart rank, organic capture, and paid conversion)
A credited summary of CMA/APPlyzer analysis across 17k+ US App Store apps. Their framing: ratings are less a ‘nice to have’ and more a qualifying condition for top-chart performance, plus a direct lever on store-page conversion for paid traffic.
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Apple Developer: App Store submissions open for iOS 27 etc. (Xcode 27 RC, asset previews, and April 2027 SDK gates)
A credited summary of Apple’s Sept 9 note: App Store submissions are open for the latest OS releases. The operational takeaway: treat Xcode RC + Rosetta/Intel cutoff + age rating questions + new creative surfaces as a planned release, not a last-minute scramble.
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RevenueCat: the 15% App Store fee is the default for most devs (if you actually enroll)
A credited summary of RevenueCat’s walkthrough of Apple’s Small Business Program and Google’s 15% service fee tier. The reminder: if you are under $1M, commission is an ops checkbox that materially changes your payback maths.
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Apple’s ATT prompt is changing in 2026 (Germany’s FCO case): what to watch
Didomi summarises the Bundeskartellamt decision and Apple’s commitments to make ATT consent experiences more neutral and closer to Apple’s own. Practical takeaway: expect prompt copy/layout changes, and plan measurement baselines + consent UX work like a product update.
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Google Play Developer Programme Policy update (effective Aug 26, 2026): why ‘policy’ is now a release dependency
Google’s Developer Programme Policies took effect on Aug 26, 2026 (unless otherwise stated). The practical takeaway for app teams is that policy enforcement increasingly behaves like a build-and-release dependency, especially for chat/social/dating features and child-safety controls.
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AppsFlyer: cross-channel marketing analytics (and why ‘two dashboards’ is not it)
AppsFlyer argues cross-channel analytics is an identity problem first: without a first-party user ID layer, every channel over-claims conversions and your ROAS math quietly breaks.
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RoastMyApp: 51 paywall experiments (with real examples) to grow mobile app revenue
A long but practical swipe-file: RoastMyApp groups 51 paywall experiments into five levers (design, pricing, messaging, offers, personalization) so teams can test methodically instead of randomly.
More stories
- September 2026 Google System Updates: Play Store v53.1 adds a new nav bar, and ‘similar apps’ gets a punchier hook
- Swiggy’s transition to native is a growth story in disguise: performance work that moved conversion
- Google Play policy deadlines: a single register of what’s left in 2026 (PrimeTestLab)
- Hello Developer (Sept 2026): Apple’s ‘what to ship next’ signal, plus a quiet warning for Intel Mac apps
- Firebase iOS SDK 12.18.0 (Aug 19, 2026): FCM token API deprecations and steadier analytics session_start
See more
- ConsultMyApp: the UK gambling App Store search map (why ‘bingo cash’ is its own market)
- ConsultMyApp: how the Apple Ads auction really seems to work (relevance gate, then performance auction)
- Optimove: four CRM shifts that keep showing up in 2026 (incrementality, zero-party data, 3-second hooks, loyalty behaviour)
- Apple Ads Platform API (v1.0): one API for App Store + Apple Maps, and the Campaign Management API sunsets Jan 26, 2027
- Rosetta is on a clock: macOS 27 is the last release that will run Intel-only Mac apps on Apple silicon
- Custom components for paywalls: a bigger creative canvas, with guardrails
- Apple will wind down Rosetta support for Intel-only macOS apps (what changes for teams)
On the grapevine
Small notes and community chatter worth keeping an eye on (curated and capped).
- Rosetta wind-down (Sept 1, 2026): macOS 27 is the final release to support Intel-only apps on Apple silicon Apple Developer News Primary source. This is a release-cadence cliff hiding in plain sight. Tiny win: ship a universal build (or at least a working CI path) before macOS 26.4 warnings turn into “why is the app broken?” tickets.
- Changes for apps in the EU (Aug 18, 2026): unified terms, 12-month payment option commitments, and child-safety gates for alternative payments Apple Developer Support Primary source. This is pricing, checkout UX, attribution, refunds, and support load, not “just legal”. Tiny win: write a one-page EU decision memo (default payment path, link-out UX, age gating, measurement labels) so you stop relitigating it every sprint.
- Developer Programme Policies (effective Aug 26, 2026): the “policy” page that quietly behaves like a release dependency Google Play Console Help Primary source. Enforcement is increasingly operational: if you have chat, UGC, profiles, or community surfaces, policy isn’t “legal”. Tiny win: make sure your in-app report flow is 2 taps away, and assign a named policy owner before a campaign depends on a release.
- App Store submissions now open for iOS 27 etc. (Sept 9, 2026): Xcode 27 RC, macOS 27 Apple-silicon only, new store assets “coming soon” Apple Developer News Primary source. Treat this like a planned release, not a scramble: RC build, TestFlight pass, architecture decision for Mac, and a lightweight asset plan for the new product page headers/search results formats.
- Play Billing Library version deprecation FAQ: Aug 31, 2026 deadline (Billing Library v8+) and the extension path Android Developers (Play Billing) Primary source. This is a release-cadence cliff: miss it and you cannot ship updates that depend on billing. Tiny win: put Aug 31 on the growth calendar, and run one dry-run release build now so you do not discover dependency issues mid-campaign.
See more
- Apple ATT commitments (Aug 17, 2026): regulator says Apple will change consent rules for personalised advertising in apps Bundeskartellamt (Germany) Primary source. If the ATT prompt wording/layout shifts, your opt-in rates and attribution baselines can jump overnight. Tiny win: annotate the prompt-change window in dashboards, and capture your current opt-in baseline by country/iOS version so you can separate platform change from campaign performance.
- Hello Developer: September 2026 (Sept 2): a quick scan of what Apple wants teams to ship next Apple Developer (Hello Developer) Primary source. These monthly roundups are usually “soft launches” for upcoming workflow and distribution changes. Tiny win: skim for one operational item (ASC Analytics change, submission requirement, template update) and turn it into a checklist this sprint.
- App Store asset best practices and templates (Figma, Photoshop, Pixelmator) ahead of the fall creative expansion Apple Developer (asset best practices) Primary source. Apple is making more placements “creative-first”. Tiny win: define 3 to 5 reusable themes (seasonal, feature drop, promo, trust) and build one template per theme so you can ship assets without reinventing the wheel.