Show your photo or video app in the right chart, with the right visuals.
ASO for photo and video apps starts with how differently the stores split the category: the App Store has a single Photo & Video category, while Google Play puts photo apps in Photography and video apps in Video Players and Editors, and both stores check broad gallery access separately.
What makes ASO different in this category?
- 01
One category or two?
On the App Store, Photo & Video covers apps for capturing, editing, managing, storing and sharing both photos and videos. On Google Play, Photography is for cameras and photo editing, management and sharing, while Video Players and Editors is for video players, video editors and media storage. On Android, your app's main function decides which chart it competes in.[1][2]
- 02
Photo sharing: Photo & Video or Social Networking?
This is Apple's own example: a photo-sharing social networking app could choose either Photo & Video or Social Networking as its primary category. Apple suggests weighing the app's purpose, where users naturally look for it and how similar apps are categorized.[1]
- 03
Pickers first for gallery access
On Google Play, apps targeting Android 13 or later may request the photo and video read permissions only if a system picker is not enough; core broad-access cases such as gallery apps are declared in Play Console, and apps with custom pickers must declare too. On the App Store, Guideline 5.1.1(iii) asks you to use the picker or a share sheet rather than full Photos access where possible.[3][4]
- 04
Media data and download rules
Under Guideline 5.1.2(vi), data from depth and facial mapping tools, such as the Camera or Photo APIs, may not be used for marketing or advertising. Guideline 5.2.3 forbids saving, converting or downloading media from third-party sources without their authorization.[4]
Features that matter most
Search mirror and screenshots
Puts your first three screenshots next to your rivals' in the same search, which is the first comparison to make in a category where visuals do the selling.
MoreKeyword hunt
Finds searches such as filters, collage or video editing from store autocomplete and your rivals' top 10 terms.
MoreRival log
Logs rivals' icon, screenshot and title changes by date.
MoreLocalization
Shows the languages each App Store storefront indexes and the searchable characters you gain in the missing ones.
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 · Photo & Video
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 · Photography
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 · Video Players
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
Can a video editing app sit in Photography on Google Play?
Google Play lists video editors among the examples for Video Players and Editors. If your app is mainly about video, that category fits better; if it is mainly about photos, Photography does.
Can Uptika follow both Google Play categories?
The Chart Movers tool shows the Photography and Video Players and Editors charts separately. In the dashboard, your app's own category chart is read every 3 hours, 200 deep on Google Play.
Read more
Choosing an app category and reading top charts on both stores
How to choose a primary and secondary category on the App Store and a category plus 5 tags on Google Play, and how to read category top charts.
Read the guideHow to design store screenshots that convert
Design store screenshots that work in search and pass review: the first-three-frames rule, caption formulas, a Figma setup, and the rules of both stores.
Read the guideApp preview video specs for the App Store and Google Play
App Store app previews (15–30 s, 500 MB, 30 fps, 886×1920 and 1200×1600) and the Google Play YouTube preview video, with export settings and upload steps.
Read the guideHow to fill in Google Play’s Data safety form
Fill in the Play Console Data safety form step by step: collect vs share, exemptions, SDK-by-SDK table, privacy policy and deletion URLs, common mistakes.
Read the guide