Keep your news app where people search every day.
ASO for news apps starts with a declaration on Google Play: news and magazine apps declare themselves in Play Console and show the source of every article and up-to-date contact information, while on the App Store News and Magazines & Newspapers are separate categories for different publishing formats.
What makes ASO different in this category?
- 01
News or Magazines & Newspapers?
On the App Store, News is for apps about current events; choose it if you serve content as a newsreader or digest, or if you are a digital-first or broadcast-first outlet with frequent updates. Magazines & Newspapers is for apps that offer auto-renewing subscriptions to magazine or newspaper content, publish by issue or produce interactive versions of a printed periodical.[1]
- 02
- 03
Sources, freshness and contact
Google Play's news policy requires the source of each article (the original publisher or author), regularly updated content, easy-to-find current contact information and, if a subscription is required, an in-app preview before purchase. Apps whose primary purpose is affiliate marketing or ad revenue do not fit the policy.[3]
- 04
The reader app rule
Guideline 3.1.3(a) lets reader apps for content such as magazines and newspapers give access to previously purchased content or subscriptions and offer account creation for free tiers. Reader app developers can apply for an entitlement to link to their website to create or manage an account.[4]
- 05
No profiting from current events
Guideline 1.1.7 rejects harmful concepts that capitalize or seek to profit on recent or current events such as violent conflicts, terrorist attacks and epidemics; keep that line in mind in your listing text and images.[4]
Features that matter most
Alerts and team
Tells you on Slack, Discord, Telegram, a webhook or your phone when a rank drops, a rival passes you or changes its listing.
MoreKeyword radar
Reads your rank daily for news, breaking-news and topic searches: top 200 on the App Store, the first page on Google Play.
MoreRival log
Logs rival publishers' title, short description, icon and screenshot changes by date.
MoreAI echo
Asks an AI model questions like "What is the best … app?" every day and records whether your app is named.
MoreThis category's charts
The free Chart Movers tool shows this category's top 10 today, the climbers, new entrants and launches of the last 90 days.
App Store · News
US · Chart Movers
Daily: a category's top 10 in a country, the climbers, new entrants and apps launched in the last 90 days.
Open toolGoogle Play · News & Magazines
US · Chart Movers
Daily: a category's top 10 in a country, the climbers, new entrants and apps launched in the last 90 days.
Open toolListing X-Ray
Holds a store listing's searchable fields against the store's own suggestions and the category's top 10.
Open toolQuestions
Does a news aggregator need the news declaration?
Google Play lists news aggregators among the News and Magazines examples, and its news policy asks aggregators to make the publishing sources of third-party content clear.
Is a preview required for a subscription news app?
On Google Play, yes: if membership or a subscription is required, the app must offer an in-app content preview before purchase.
Read more
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What needs in-app purchase under Guideline 3.1.1, what may use other payment, the 3.1.1(a) link rules and US storefront exception, and 3.1.2 subscriptions.
Read the guide