# ASO glossary: 80 terms defined > This ASO glossary defines 80 App Store Optimization terms, from keyword difficulty to custom product pages, first-time downloads and Apple Ads match types, in one or two precise sentences each, with store limits taken from Apple's and Google's own documentation. Uptika team · Published: 2026-11-05 · Last updated: 2026-11-05 · https://uptika.app/en/guides/aso-glossary This glossary defines 80 ASO terms used across the App Store, Google Play and Uptika. Store limits and rules come from Apple's and Google's own help pages, listed under Sources and checked on 5 November 2026; measurement terms follow Uptika's [methodology](https://uptika.app/en/guides/methodology). Each topic below links to the guide that covers it in depth. ## Search and keywords How people find apps by typing, and the rules for the words you choose. Terms: keyword, keyword intent, brand keyword, autocomplete, indexed field, metadata, keyword field, keyword stuffing, metadata policy, GEO. - [What is ASO?](https://uptika.app/en/guides/what-is-aso) covers the basics and how the two stores differ. - [The App Store keyword field](https://uptika.app/en/guides/app-store-keyword-field) explains the 100-byte limit and how to fill it. - [AI search and app recommendations](https://uptika.app/en/guides/ai-search-app-recommendations) covers GEO. ## Listing text and visuals The fields and assets on a listing. Terms: app name, subtitle, promotional text, description, short description, release notes, App Review notes, category, age rating, app icon, screenshots, app preview, feature graphic, promo video. - [App Store character limits](https://uptika.app/en/guides/app-store-character-limits) lists every limit in one table. - [App name](https://uptika.app/en/guides/app-name), [App Store subtitle](https://uptika.app/en/guides/app-store-subtitle) and [promotional text vs description](https://uptika.app/en/guides/promotional-text-vs-description) go field by field. - [How to write an app description](https://uptika.app/en/guides/how-to-write-an-app-description) and [release notes](https://uptika.app/en/guides/release-notes) cover the long texts. - [Google Play store listing](https://uptika.app/en/guides/google-play-store-listing), [short description](https://uptika.app/en/guides/google-play-short-description) and [full description](https://uptika.app/en/guides/google-play-full-description) cover Play. ## Pages, tests and events Extra listing versions, experiments and timely content. Terms: custom product page, custom store listing, product page optimization, store listing experiment, A/B test, minimum detectable effect, in-app event, promotional content, featuring, top charts. - [Custom product pages](https://uptika.app/en/guides/custom-product-pages) and [custom store listings](https://uptika.app/en/guides/custom-store-listings). - [Store listing experiments](https://uptika.app/en/guides/store-listing-experiments) on Google Play. - [In-app events](https://uptika.app/en/guides/in-app-events) and [Google Play promotional content](https://uptika.app/en/guides/google-play-promotional-content). ## Countries and languages Terms: storefront, localization. Read [app store localization](https://uptika.app/en/guides/app-store-localization), the [App Store country and language table](https://uptika.app/en/guides/app-store-localization-languages) and [which countries to localize first](https://uptika.app/en/guides/which-countries-to-localize-first). ## Measurement Ranks, store analytics and scores. Terms: keyword rank, keyword popularity, keyword difficulty, search visibility, keyword coverage, striking distance, tap-share curve, impressions, product page views, store listing visitors and acquisitions, conversion rate, first-time downloads and redownloads, organic install, traffic source, peer benchmarks, rating count, ASO score, Uptika score. - [Keyword rank tracking](https://uptika.app/en/guides/keyword-rank-tracking) and the [methodology](https://uptika.app/en/guides/methodology) explain the Uptika numbers. - [App Store Connect analytics](https://uptika.app/en/guides/app-store-connect-analytics) and [Play Console reports](https://uptika.app/en/guides/play-console-reports) explain the store numbers. - [App store conversion rate](https://uptika.app/en/guides/app-store-conversion-rate), [measuring ASO impact](https://uptika.app/en/guides/measure-aso-impact) and [competitor analysis](https://uptika.app/en/guides/app-competitor-analysis) put them to use. ## Release and quality Terms: App Store Connect, Play Console, TestFlight, internal, closed and open testing, phased release, pre-order and pre-registration, Android vitals, ANR. See [Android vitals](https://uptika.app/en/guides/android-vitals) for the thresholds that affect Play visibility. ## Revenue and retention Terms: in-app purchase, subscription, offer codes, promotional offer, win-back offer, retention, churn, DAU/MAU, ARPU, LTV. Store numbers for these sit in [App Store Connect analytics](https://uptika.app/en/guides/app-store-connect-analytics) and [Play Console reports](https://uptika.app/en/guides/play-console-reports). ## Apple Ads Terms: Apple Ads, match types, Search Match, negative keywords, CPT, TTR, CPA and CPI. Paid positions never count as organic ranks in Uptika. ## How do I use these terms in practice? Start with the words, then the numbers. The free [Keyword Atlas](https://uptika.app/en/tools/keyword-atlas) shows a term's popularity, difficulty and top 3 in up to 10 countries on both stores, and the [Metadata Linter](https://uptika.app/en/tools/metadata-linter) checks your fields against the limits above, keyword-field bytes included. In the panel, Keyword radar tracks rank, popularity and difficulty every day, and the ASO score shows which part of your listing to fix first. [Start free](https://uptika.app/app/#/?signup=1); choosing an ASO tool explains what to look for in any tool. ### ASO (App Store Optimization) The work of making an app easier to find and more likely to be installed in the App Store and Google Play, through keywords, listing text, visuals, ratings and other store signals. ### Keyword A search people type in a store. In ASO, a keyword is tracked per storefront, because the same word is searched differently in each country. ### Keyword intent What the person searching wants. When most of the top 10 for a search are a different kind of app, the search has another intent and is hard to win. ### Brand keyword A search for an app by its name. Tracking a rival's brand is fine; Apple's keyword rules forbid other apps' and companies' names in your keyword field. ### Autocomplete (search hints, suggestions) The searches a store suggests while someone types. The App Store calls them search hints; Google Play shows suggestions. ### Indexed field A listing field the store matches searches against. Apple names the app name, subtitle, keyword field and category; Google does not publish a field list for Google Play, but its help points to the title and description. ### Metadata All the text of a store listing: name or title, subtitle, keyword field, descriptions, promotional text and release notes. ### Keyword field A hidden App Store field for comma-separated search terms not already in the name or subtitle, limited to 100 bytes (Apple's search page says 100 characters). Letters such as ç, ü or é take 2 bytes, so a field in those languages fits fewer letters. ### Keyword stuffing Packing a title or description with repeated or unrelated keywords. Google Play states that repetitive or irrelevant keywords in the title, short or full description can lead to suspension. ### Metadata policy A store's rules for listing text and graphics. Google Play, for example, bans emoji and repeated special characters in the title, icon and developer name, and ranking or price claims such as "#1" or "10% off" in text and images. ### GEO (generative engine optimization) Making an app easy for AI assistants and answer engines to find, understand and recommend, mainly through clear, factual and consistent pages about the app on the web. ### App name (title) The name shown on the listing and in search. The App Store allows 2 to 30 characters, Google Play up to 30. Apple indexes it for search, and Google's search guidance starts with the title. ### Subtitle The line under the app name on the App Store, up to 30 characters. It is indexed for search and can only be changed when you submit a new version. ### Promotional text App Store text of up to 170 characters shown above the description. You can change it at any time without a new version; it is not among the fields Apple lists for search. ### Description (full description) The long listing text, up to 4,000 characters on both stores. Apple's description is plain text without HTML; Google advises putting the most important text at the top of the Google Play description. ### Short description The summary of up to 80 characters under the title on Google Play. It is the first text visitors read, and in practice it is treated as an important field for Play search. ### Release notes (What's New) The text that explains what changed in an update. On the App Store it is called What's New, allows up to 4,000 characters and is required for every version after the first. ### App Review notes Notes for Apple's reviewers in App Store Connect, up to 4,000 bytes. If the app needs a sign-in, Apple requires a demo account that does not expire. ### Category The store section an app belongs to. On the App Store the primary and optional secondary category are indexed for search, so their words need not be repeated in the keyword field. ### Age rating The age suitability label a store shows on the listing. Both stores set it from the developer's answers to a content questionnaire in App Store Connect or Play Console. ### App icon The square image that stands for the app everywhere in the store. App Store icons start from a 1024×1024 px layered design; Google Play icons are 512×512 px 32-bit PNG files up to 1024 KB, masked by Play. ### Screenshots Images of the app on the listing: 1 to 10 per device size on the App Store, up to 8 per device type on Google Play. App Store search results can show up to three screenshots or previews, so the first ones carry most of the message. ### App preview A short video on an App Store product page: up to 3 per language and device size, each 15 to 30 seconds long. ### Feature graphic A 1024×500 px banner, JPEG or 24-bit PNG without transparency, that every Google Play listing needs before it can be published. ### Promo video One YouTube video added to a Google Play listing as a single URL. Depending on the device, it can autoplay muted for up to 30 seconds. ### Custom product page An extra App Store product page with its own screenshots, previews, promotional text and URL, up to 70 per app. It can be assigned to keywords and used in Apple Ads. ### Custom store listing An alternative Google Play listing for a chosen audience, up to 50 per app, targeted by country, pre-registered users, search keyword, lapsed or uninstalled users and other groups. ### Product page optimization App Store Connect's built-in A/B test of the icon, screenshots and previews: up to 3 treatments against the original page, for up to 90 days, one test at a time. ### Store listing experiment Google Play Console's built-in A/B test of listing graphics and text: up to 2 variants against the current listing; an experiment stops on its own after 6 months. ### A/B test Showing two or more versions of a page to random shares of visitors and comparing what they do. Apple calls a test version a treatment; Google Play calls it a variant. ### Minimum detectable effect In a Play store listing experiment, the smallest difference between a variant and the current listing needed to declare a winner. The smaller it is, the more visitors and time the test needs. ### In-app event A timely event inside an app, such as a challenge, a season or a launch, shown as an event card on the App Store. Up to 10 can be published at once and each can run up to 31 days. ### Promotional content Google Play's format for events, offers and major updates, shown on the listing and around the store. It can be submitted up to 60 days before it starts and can run for up to 4 weeks. ### Featuring (editorial) A placement chosen by the store's editors, such as a story, a collection or a banner. Apple takes featuring nominations in App Store Connect and asks for at least two weeks' notice. ### Top charts The store lists of top free, top paid and top grossing apps, overall and per category, per storefront. ### Storefront One store in one country, for example the App Store in Germany. Search results, charts and listings differ by storefront. ### Localization Adapting listing text and visuals to a country's language and searches, not only translating them. Each App Store storefront has a default language plus supported extra ones; Turkey, for example, lists Turkish and English (U.K.). ### Keyword rank An app's position in the organic search results for one keyword, in one storefront, on one day. Paid ad slots are not counted. ### Keyword popularity How often a search is typed, on a relative scale, because neither store publishes search volumes. In Uptika it is 1–100, measured by how early the store's autocomplete offers the search while it is typed. ### Keyword difficulty How hard it is to reach the top 10 for a search. In Uptika it is 1–100, from the rating counts of the current top 10 (70%) and the share of them with the search in their title (30%). ### Search visibility The popularity-weighted share of taps an app's positions would get across its tracked keywords, from 0 to 100. ### Keyword coverage How much of the popular, fitting searches an app ranks for, weighted by how high it ranks. ### Striking distance Keywords where an app ranks just outside the top 10, roughly positions 11–30, so a small improvement can bring it to page one. ### Tap-share curve A fixed model of how taps fall off down a results list (position 1 = 1.00, 2 = 0.60, 3 = 0.45 … 51+ = 0.005), used for search visibility. It is a model, not measured tap data. ### Impressions In App Store Connect, the number of times the app was seen for more than one second on the Today, Games, Apps or Search tabs, product page views included. ### Product page views In App Store Connect, the number of times the product page was viewed, including pages opened inside other apps through StoreKit. ### Store listing visitors and acquisitions In Play Console, visitors are users who opened the listing without having the app on any device, and acquisitions are those who then installed it. Since July 2026 Play's reports lead with unique clicks on Install, Open or Pre-register. ### Conversion rate The share of people who see an app and then get it. App Store Connect divides downloads and pre-orders by unique-device impressions; Google Play reports the share of listing visitors who click Install, Open or Pre-register. ### First-time downloads and redownloads App Store Connect counts a first-time download when someone gets the app on a device for the first time, and a redownload when someone who had it before adds it again. Together they make total downloads. ### Organic install An install that did not come from a paid ad, for example from store search, browsing or a link. ### Traffic source (source type) Where a visit or download came from. App Store Connect separates App Store search, App Store browse, app referrer and web referrer; Play Console separates Google Play search, Google Play explore, and ads and referrals. ### Peer benchmarks A comparison of an app's metrics with similar apps. App Store Connect shows the 25th, 50th and 75th percentile of a peer group for conversion, retention, crash rate and proceeds; Play Console compares listing click-through rate with peers. ### Rating count The number of star ratings an app has in a storefront. Apple and Google both name ratings and reviews among their search ranking factors. ### ASO score Uptika's 0–100 rating of one app in one storefront, from nine weighted parts such as visibility, keyword coverage, metadata, ratings and conversion. ### Uptika score Uptika's 0–100 rating of a whole app: the average ASO score of its storefronts plus growth, retention, revenue, chart rank, satisfaction and organic share. ### App Store Connect Apple's web portal for publishing on the App Store: listing text and media, builds, pricing, in-app purchases, TestFlight, analytics and reviews. ### Play Console Google's web portal for publishing on Google Play: store listings, releases and testing tracks, experiments, statistics, Android vitals and reviews. ### TestFlight Apple's beta testing service: up to 100 internal and 10,000 external testers per app, with internal builds available to test for 90 days. ### Internal, closed and open testing Google Play's pre-release tracks: internal testing for up to 100 testers, closed testing for invited lists, open testing for anyone who joins. Personal accounts created after 13 November 2023 must run a closed test with at least 12 testers for 14 days before production. ### Phased release (staged rollout) Releasing an update to a growing share of users. Apple's phased release runs over 7 days (1%, 2%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 50%, 100%); a Google Play staged rollout only grows when you raise the percentage yourself. ### Pre-order and pre-registration Collecting interest before launch. On the App Store people can pre-order an upcoming app; on Google Play pre-registered users get a notification at launch, and eligible devices install the app automatically. ### Android vitals Play Console's technical-quality report. Its bad-behavior thresholds are a user-perceived crash rate of 1.09% and a user-perceived ANR rate of 0.47% of daily users; apps above them are likely to be less discoverable on Google Play. ### ANR (Application Not Responding) The error Android shows when an app's main thread is blocked for too long. Android vitals reports the share of daily users who hit at least one user-perceived ANR. ### In-app purchase Anything bought inside an app, such as extra content, credits or a subscription. An App Store product page can show up to 20 in-app purchases and subscriptions in total. ### Subscription A purchase that renews automatically and gives ongoing access. Apple requires a period of at least 7 days and access on all of the user's devices. ### Offer codes App Store codes that unlock a subscription offer, such as a free or discounted period. An app can create up to 1 million codes per quarter, and one-time codes stay valid for up to 6 months. ### Promotional offer An App Store subscription discount that an app offers to current or past subscribers, for example to keep them. Each subscription can have up to 10 active promotional offers. ### Win-back offer An App Store offer for people whose subscription has ended, targeted by how long ago they left, from 1 to 24 months. ### Retention The share of new users who still open the app a set number of days after installing. App Store Connect benchmarks day 1, day 7 and day 28 retention. ### Churn (user loss) The share of users or subscribers who leave in a period. Google Play may show a warning on the store listing when an app's user loss rate exceeds 5%. ### DAU/MAU Daily active users divided by monthly active users, a measure of how habitually an app is used. Google Play may show a store listing warning when DAU/MAU is below 8%. ### ARPU (average revenue per user) Revenue in a period divided by active users. App Store Connect's related benchmark is proceeds per paying user, which divides only by the people who paid. ### LTV (lifetime value) The total revenue a user is expected to bring before leaving. It sets how much you can afford to spend to win one user. ### Apple Ads Apple's ads in the App Store, formerly Apple Search Ads. Paid positions are separate from organic keyword ranks. ### Match types (broad, exact) How an Apple Ads keyword is matched to searches. Broad match, the default for new keywords, also covers related variants; exact match, written in [brackets], covers the term and close variants. ### Search Match An Apple Ads setting that shows an ad for relevant searches automatically, without keywords. Apple suggests it for a discovery campaign. ### Negative keywords Searches a campaign should not show for. Apple's suggested structure adds the brand, category and competitor campaigns' keywords as exact-match negatives in the discovery campaign. ### CPT (cost per tap) What an Apple Ads advertiser pays for a tap on an ad. Average CPT is spend divided by taps. ### TTR (tap-through rate) In Apple Ads, ad taps divided by ad impressions. A low TTR often signals that the ad does not fit the search. ### CPA and CPI (cost per acquisition, cost per install) Ad spend divided by the installs it brought. Apple Ads reports a tap-through CPA (installs after a tap) and a total CPA (installs after a tap or a view). ## Questions ### What does ASO stand for? ASO stands for App Store Optimization: the work of making an app easier to find and more likely to be installed in the App Store and Google Play. It covers keywords and listing text, visuals, ratings and reviews, localization and testing. [What is ASO?](https://uptika.app/en/guides/what-is-aso) explains it end to end. ### What is keyword difficulty? Keyword difficulty is an estimate of how hard it is to reach the top 10 for a search. Neither store publishes it, so each tool computes its own. Uptika's 1–100 difficulty combines the rating counts of the current top 10 (70%) with the share of them that carry the search in their title (30%), as set out in the [methodology](https://uptika.app/en/guides/methodology). ### What is a custom product page? A custom product page is an extra version of an App Store product page with its own screenshots, previews, promotional text and URL. Apple allows up to 70 per app, and they can be linked from ads and assigned to keywords. The Google Play counterpart is a custom store listing, up to 50 per app. ### What is conversion rate in app stores? Conversion rate is the share of people who see an app and then get it. App Store Connect divides total downloads and pre-orders by unique-device impressions. Google Play's store listing reports show the share of listing visitors who click Install, Open or Pre-register. See [app store conversion rate](https://uptika.app/en/guides/app-store-conversion-rate) for how to read and improve it. ### What is the difference between ASO and GEO? ASO targets the search and browse surfaces inside the App Store and Google Play. GEO (generative engine optimization) targets AI assistants and answer engines that recommend apps from what they read on the web. The two overlap, because both reward a clear, accurate description of what the app does. ## Sources - [App Store search (Apple Developer)](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/search/) - [App information (App Store Connect Help)](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/reference/app-information/app-information) - [Platform version information (App Store Connect Help)](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/reference/app-information/platform-version-information) - [Metric definitions (App Store Connect Analytics Help)](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/reference/metrics-definitions) - [Peer group benchmarks (App Store Connect Analytics Help)](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/benchmarks/peer-group-benchmarks) - [Configure multiple product page versions (App Store Connect Help)](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/create-custom-product-pages/configure-multiple-product-page-versions) - [Product page optimization (Apple Developer)](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/product-page-optimization/) - [Offer in-app events (App Store Connect Help)](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/offer-in-app-events/offer-in-app-events) - [Release a version update in phases (App Store Connect Help)](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/update-your-app/release-a-version-update-in-phases) - [Understand keyword match types (Apple Ads Help)](https://ads.apple.com/app-store/help/keywords/0059-understand-keyword-match-types) - [Campaign structure (Apple Ads best practices)](https://ads.apple.com/app-store/best-practices/campaign-structure) - [Reporting options and definitions (Apple Ads Help)](https://ads.apple.com/app-store/help/reporting/0023-reporting-options-and-definitions) - [Get discovered on Google Play search (Play Console Help)](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/4448378) - [Add preview assets and store listing text (Play Console Help)](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9859152) - [Metadata policy (Play Console Help)](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9898842) - [Store listing performance (Play Console Help)](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9859173) - [Store listing experiments (Play Console Help)](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/12053285) - [Create custom store listings (Play Console Help)](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9867158) - [Android vitals (Play Console Help)](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9844486) - [Pre-registration (Play Console Help)](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9084187) --- Uptika is an ASO and store-intelligence tool for the App Store and Google Play. https://uptika.app/en