App store ranking factors: what Apple and Google confirm

App store ranking factors are the signals the App Store and Google Play use to decide which app appears first when someone searches. Neither store publishes its formula, and most articles on the subject list twenty factors with no source. But Apple and Google have each said, in their own documentation, what goes into search ranking. That is a shorter and more useful list.

This guide separates the two. First, what Apple and Google confirm, quoted from their own pages. Then, what the ASO industry infers but neither store has said. Finally, a checklist of the levers you actually control, in the order that usually pays off for a small app on iOS and Android.

Key takeaways

• Apple confirms two groups of factors: text relevance (app name, subtitle, keyword field, primary category) and user behavior (downloads, ratings and reviews, "and more").
• Google confirms three: relevance to the search, quality of the app experience, and user engagement, including ratings and reviews.
• Google is the only store with a published penalty: apps above the Android vitals crash, ANR or battery thresholds may be shown less.
• Things that do not rank you: Apple says promotional text does not affect search, and Google says nobody can buy better placement in Play's organic search results.
• "Download velocity" and "retention" are widely believed to matter but are inferences, not confirmed factors.

What Apple confirms about App Store ranking#

Apple's App Store search guidance is the closest thing to an official statement of the algorithm:

"Search results are based on a number of factors, including text relevance (matches for your app's title, subtitle, keywords, and primary category), as well as user behavior (downloads, ratings and reviews, and more)."

Each part of that sentence is a factor you can work on.

Text relevance: four fields, and only four#

The App Store matches a search against four places:

• App name, up to 30 characters. Guideline 2.3.7 says "App names must be limited to 30 characters."
• Subtitle, also up to 30 characters, shown under the name.
• Keyword field, a hidden list of 100 characters. Apple's advice: "Keywords are limited to 100 characters total, with terms separated by commas and no spaces," and "Don't repeat any words included in your app name, subtitle, or category."
• Primary category, which Apple lists as part of text relevance. Our guide to App Store categories covers how to choose it.

Just as important is what is not on the list. Apple does not name the description as a text relevance field, and it says plainly that "promotional text doesn't affect your app's search ranking so it should not be used to display keywords." Write the description and promotional text for people, not for search.

The fields are per localization, so each language you add is another set of 160 characters of metadata. Our App Store localization guide shows how to use them without translating keywords word for word.

User behavior: downloads, ratings and "more"#

Apple names downloads and ratings and reviews, and on ratings it is explicit: "Ratings and reviews appear on your product page and in search results, and can influence how your app ranks in App Store search."

The words "and more" are where the guessing starts. Apple does not say whether it means the conversion rate from search, how often people delete the app, or how long they keep using it. Treat any article that ranks these with percentages as an opinion.

Ratings and reviews are one of the few user signals both stores name. Photo: Ann H / Pexels

Extra ways to appear in App Store search#

Your default product page is not the only thing that can show up. Apple's search page lists "developer cards, Apple In-App Purchases, In-App Events, and custom product pages" among the items search can return. Two of these give you more chances to rank:

• Custom product pages with keywords. Apple lets you assign keywords so a custom page appears "in search results for those selected keywords, rather than your default product page." We covered this in App Store search changes in 2026.
• Promoted in-app purchases. Any promoted purchase except a consumable can appear in search results as its own entry. Our guide to promoted in-app purchases shows how to set them up.

What Google confirms about Google Play ranking#

Google says more than Apple, across two help pages. Its page on how search works in Google Play describes results ordered by relevance to the device, the country or region and the search terms, with the quality of the app experience and user feedback such as "ratings, reviews, and engagement" also taken into account. Its consumer information page is more direct:

"The main factors that impact the ranking of search results is the relevance to your search terms."

And on quality: "apps that crash or have many bugs are less likely to have a higher ranking."

Relevance: your listing text#

Google Play has no hidden keyword field. That leaves your title (30 characters), short description (80) and full description (4,000) as the places your words come from. Google's store listing best practices ask for "everyday language, not a list of keywords," and the metadata policy says to "Avoid using repetitive or unrelated keywords or references." It also bans text in the title, icon or developer name "that indicate store performance or ranking", such as "#1".

In practice: put your most important phrase in the title, the next in the short description, and use the full description to cover related phrases naturally. Our post on the Google Play short description shows how to write those 80 characters.

Quality: the only published penalty#

Google is the one store that publishes the line below which an app is shown less. The Android vitals documentation says "Your app's core vitals affect your app's visibility on Google Play," and that if an app exceeds a bad behavior threshold, "Play may reduce the visibility of your title. Play may also show users a warning on your store listing."

Play judges these on a 28-day average. Since March 1, 2026, apps over the excessive partial wake locks (battery drain) threshold may also be left out of recommendations and show a warning, which we explained in Google Play ASO in 2026. If your rank on Play dropped and a vital is red, fix the crash or ANR before you touch the listing.

Ads and personalization#

Google labels paid results "Ads" or "Sponsored", and its consumer page says "no one can buy better placement in Play's search results." Results are also personalized when Play personalization is on, using things like past installs. Apple likewise personalizes the App Store and sells ad slots in search. That is why two people searching the same word see different orders, and why checking your keyword ranking needs a clean, consistent method.

App store ranking factors at a glance#

What the industry infers, and how much to trust it#

Most ASO tools agree on a few factors that neither store confirms:

• Download velocity. Recent downloads seem to count for more than lifetime totals, which is why launches and feature spikes move rank. It is consistent with Apple's "downloads" and with how App Store top charts behave, but Apple has never described it.
• Conversion from search. If people who see your app in results tap and install it more often than they do for competitors, rank tends to rise. This is plausible and fits Apple's "and more", but it is still an inference.
• Retention and uninstalls. Google's "engagement" could include these. Google has not said.

On the Apple Developer Forums, a developer summed up the state of knowledge well: "There's still debate on what drives App Store rankings." That is the honest position. Optimize what is confirmed first, and treat the rest as tie-breakers.

Downloads are a confirmed factor; how Apple weighs recent ones against older ones is not. Photo: Mateusz Dach / Pexels

What does not help, or can get you removed#

• Keyword stuffing. Apple's guideline 2.3.7 tells you not to "pack any of your metadata with trademarked terms, popular app names, pricing information, or other irrelevant phrases just to game the system," and Apple "may modify inappropriate keywords at any time." Google's policy says the same.
• Competitor names in your keywords. "Popular app names" are named in the same guideline.
• Buying reviews or installs. Apple's App Review Guidelines say that if you "inflate your chart rankings with paid, incentivized, filtered, or fake feedback, or engage with third-party services to do so," Apple may expel you from the Developer Program.
• Forcing ratings. Guideline 3.2.2(x) says apps "must not force users to rate the app, review the app" to access features. Ask at a good moment instead, with the Google Play In-App Review API on Android and the system prompt on iOS.

A checklist of the ranking factors you control#

Work through these in order. Each step depends on the one before it.

• Fix stability first on Android. Check Android vitals and get crash, ANR and wake lock rates under the thresholds.
• Choose 10 to 20 target phrases with real search volume and a realistic chance of the top 10. Our free ASO keyword research guide shows how.
• Put the most important phrase in the app name or title, written the way people search, within 30 characters. See how to name an app.
• Use the subtitle (iOS) and short description (Android) for the second phrase.
• Fill all 100 characters of the iOS keyword field without repeating words from the name, subtitle or category.
• Write the Google Play full description in plain sentences that naturally cover related phrases.
• Ask for ratings at the right moment and reply to reviews, especially the critical ones.
• Add more entry points: custom product pages with keywords and promoted in-app purchases on iOS.
• Drive downloads in bursts around launches and updates, so the store sees fresh demand.
• Measure weekly: rank for your target phrases, search impressions and conversion in App Store Connect analytics and Play Console.

If your app does not appear for its own name, the problem is indexing, not ranking. Start with why an app does not show in App Store search.

Ranking outside the stores#

Store ranking is a black box with a few published inputs. Some visibility does not have to be. On the AppRanker leaderboard, position is a plain sort on what each listing has paid, printed on the page, with no hidden factors. If you want a ranking you can reason about alongside your ASO work, you can list your app on the AppRanker leaderboard, and every row links straight to your App Store or Google Play page.

FAQ#

What are the most important App Store ranking factors?#

The factors Apple confirms: matches in the app name, subtitle, keyword field and primary category, plus user behavior such as downloads and ratings and reviews. ASO practitioners widely treat the app name as the strongest field, and ratings are the one user signal Apple describes in detail.

Do ratings affect App Store ranking?#

Yes. Apple says ratings and reviews "can influence how your app ranks in App Store search." On Google Play, ratings and reviews are part of the user feedback Google says it uses to decide which apps show and how they rank.

Does the app description affect ranking?#

On the App Store, Apple does not list the description among its text relevance fields, and it says promotional text does not affect ranking. On Google Play there is no keyword field, so the title, short description and full description are the listing text Play has to match against your search.

Do crashes affect Google Play ranking?#

Yes. Google says apps that crash or have many bugs are less likely to rank higher, and apps above the Android vitals bad behavior thresholds (1.09% crash rate, 0.47% ANR rate overall) may have their visibility reduced and show a warning on the store listing.

What is download velocity in ASO?#

It is the industry's name for the rate of recent downloads, as opposed to lifetime totals. Many ASO practitioners believe recent downloads carry more weight in search and charts. Apple and Google confirm that downloads or engagement matter, but neither has described how recent activity is weighted.

Can you pay to rank higher in App Store search?#

Not in organic results. Both stores sell ads that appear in labeled slots above or among organic results, and Google states that no one can buy better placement in Play's search results. Paying for fake reviews or installs violates both stores' rules.

Image credits#

• Cover, hands typing a search on an iPhone: photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels, Pexels License. Cropped to 1200x630.
• Five wooden stars on an orange background: photo by Ann H on Pexels, Pexels License. Cropped.
• iPhone home screen with the App Store icon: photo by Mateusz Dach on Pexels, Pexels License. Cropped.