Two weeks ago, on September 16th, Apple launched a new version of its operating system for iPhone, iOS 14, that includes a series of updates for the App Store, and some of them may impact the visibility and the conversion rate of apps and games of the Apple App Store.
How will the new iOS 14 impacts ASO?
In this article, we will see the main new features of iOS 14. Among the 6 new features, we will begin with the 3 that could have an impact on our dear friend that is ASO.
Product page update
With the new update, App Store product pages will slightly change with a new information panel in the shape of a carousel in the superior part of the product page. This way, users will be able to see additional info about the app, such as the developer name, the language of the app, the size, and (for games) the compatibility with controllers.
Collections in search results
When analyzing Search on the App Store, together with the organic search results, the Apple Search Ads result and the “stories”, with iOS 14 Apple started to show “collections” of apps in search results as well. All the apps of the collection can be downloaded directly from the search results page by clicking on “get”.
This is another move from Apple, according to them, to increase the app’s visibility on the App Store. It could be something harmful to some apps that rank better for some keywords, as the collections are taking space that was until now occupied by organic results from the top to the bottom, which means that there is now more competition in the first search results.
This can negatively impact the conversion rates of other apps. Moreover, it is not clear how the apps that appear in these collections are chosen.
Improvements in misspellings autocorrection
In ASO it is usual to include spelling mistakes (in the keywords field of the App Store) for search terms of high traffic, with the aim to find less competitive keywords with high traffic to get more impressions and downloads from organic search.
Even though the misspellings autocorrection is something that Apple already began to set up for very common searches, with iOS 14 it improved and it now includes a higher quantity of search keywords, which will drastically reduce the search volume of common keywords written badly and make this tactic to work on keywords with misspellings less efficient.
These are the main changes that can impact ASO, but the new version of Apple’s operating system also includes some other changes such as App Clips, home screen widgets, or app library that are also interesting to take into account.
Other iOS 14 new features that do not impact ASO
App Clips
App Clips do not directly impact ASO, but they enable users to interact with an app before downloading it. For developers, it could be a big opportunity to show the main features and the user interface of the app from the beginning to improve download possibilities and drastically improve the conversion rate.
Widgets on the home screen
Even though in previous versions of Apple’s operating system there were already widgets, they were grouped in a page dedicated to them. Now, with iOS 14, you can include different widgets to the home screen of your iPhone, which enables you to customize the home page to your liking and needs and to check apps information and functionalities, such as Weather, Clock, Calendar, Maps, Fitness, Photos, etc.
App library
With iOS 14 comes a new way to find and organize apps on the home screen of your iPhone. With iOS 14 you can “delete” these apps from the home screen that you use less to put them in the App Library, which you can access by swiping left until you get to the App Library. In the library, the apps are automatically organized in categories, and the apps that you use more frequently are arranged automatically according to their use.
The fact that you can take off apps from the home screen and that the apps are organized according to their use on the App Library can harm the apps that are not frequently used. For this reason, now more than ever, a good user retention strategy is very relevant to avoid that the app gets forgotten and to start losing users.
iOS 14
App Clips, widgets on the home screen, app library…
From all the new features that are presented in the new operating system of Apple, iOS 14, some of them can impact the visibility and conversion rate of mobile apps and games.
On the product page, users can see additional information about the mobile app or game (developer name, language, size, and even the compatibility with controllers in the case of mobile games).
When it comes to doing a search on the App Store, you will not only see search results (Apple Search Ads or stories), but you will also see app collections related to your search.
Finally, with iOS 14, autocorrections in search improved, which can significantly reduce the misspelled common keywords search volume, making it less efficient to work with misspelled keywords.
If you need help in any mobile marketing area for your app or game on the Apple App Store, do not hesitate to get in touch with PICKASO team. We will work with you and help you make the most out of your app with iOS 14.
What do you think about these new features (ASO & non-ASO)? We are waiting for your feedback in the comments!
