ASO News & App Store Updates 2025

Oriane Ineza by 
Content Marketing Specialist

8 min read

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In the ever-changing app store landscape – algorithm changes, tool updates, and new store guidelines – keeping up with the most important changes can be difficult.

To help you stay up to date with the main developments occurring in the ASO community, we’ve created this blog. Each month, we will provide a recap of the most important ASO and app store updates we have taken note of in a succinct and digestible way.


January 2025

In-game achievements highlighted on store listing

There seems to be a new feature in the Play Store for games and their installed users, who can now see on the store listing page what in-game achievements they have unlocked (or have yet to). Source.

New update on the Play Store highlighting in-game achievements

Algorithm change on the Play Store

High anomaly scores were detected globally on Jan. 15th, with the scores exceeding AppTweak’s threshold to declare an algorithm change in the US, France, Germany, and Poland.

You can monitor algorithm updates with AppTweak and get more insights into sudden keyword ranking movements: App Store Algorithm Change Detector.

Missed our expert ASO predictions for 2025?

Our Head of ASO, Simon Thillay, shared a few to keep an eye on:

  • AI-Assisted Searches

ChatGPT and other AI assistants are gaining traction, which could lead users to research apps via AI before heading to app stores.

  • Third-Party App Stores on iOS

iOS third-party stores may gain traction in 2025, especially in the gaming sector. Keep an eye on developments to assess opportunities.

  • Video-Driven Conversion Strategies

With Google increasing its focus on videos, video could become a central tool in ASO. Start experimenting with different formats to identify what resonates with your audience.

  • Engagement Over Acquisition

Features like Google’s Collections and Apple’s potential AI-driven engagement tools signal a shift. Focus on retaining and re-engaging users through in-app content and experiences.

Read our Head of ASO’s predictions for 2025

… Or watch the video recap👇


December 2024

Apple Search Ads now in more countries

On December 3rd, Apple Search Ads became available in Türkiye and 20 new countries, making it easier than ever to extend your app’s reach. Source.

You can now create campaigns in these new markets in AppTweak’s Search Ads Manager:

  • Europe: Turkey, Cyprus, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia, Iceland, Armenia
  • Africa & Middle East: Morocco, Iraq, Ghana, Algeria, Kenya, Bahrain
  • Asia: Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Mongolia

Apple’s App Awards

The finalists for Apple’s annual App Awards have been revealed. These are apps and games that follow Apple App Store best practices, and from which you can gain insights or ideas.

The winners include games AFK Journey, The WereCleaner, and Zenless Zone Zero while apps included Kino, Runna, and Tripsy. Source.

Google’s App Awards

Google Play’s Best Apps and Games of 2024 have also been announced.  Similar to Apple’s, these awards reward apps and games that contribute to making the store ecosystem amazing. The best overall apps and games on Google Play are Partiful and AFK Journey. Source.

November 2024

Launch of “featuring nominations”

Live since November 12th, this feature lets you notify the Apple team about:

  • a new launch;
  • new in-app content;
  • added functionality.

If you’re featured in select placements on the Today tab, you’ll also receive a notification via App Store Connect. Source.

Additional videos coming to the Play Store

As announced at Google PlayTime, app and game developers will be able to link their store listing to a YouTube channel or playlist, allowing visitors to watch recent videos from within the Play Store.

These videos will allow marketers and developers to showcase their app’s features and gameplay in even more detail, to convince store visitors to download their app.

Documentation for adding one or multiple videos on Play Store listings is now available, meaning their introduction to the Play Store should be imminent.

While currently available only to select partners in the U.S., a global rollout is to be expected in 2025. Regularly check your Play Console to see if you can already take advantage of this new feature, which should be particularly valuable for games and feature-rich apps. Source.

Play Store’s latest APK teardown

The latest APK teardown of the Play Store suggests Google may soon release a feature that alerts users about apps flagged as low quality, based on uninstall rates compared to similar apps, limited user data about the app, or fewer active users compared to other apps.

If implemented, this could encourage developers to prioritize app quality to avoid being flagged. Source.

October 2024

On October 1st,  Apple announced you now add deep links to your custom product pages, allowing you to offer a more direct ad experience and quickly get people to the exact place you want in your app. Source.

Apple Search Ads to be available in new countries

On October 3, Apple announced a major expansion for Apple Search Ads (ASA) — 21 new countries will soon be available for targeting!

With the upcoming launch of ASA in these new markets, this is the time to prepare your app by researching your audience, competitors, and opportunities those countries might bring.

Apple launched Search Ads in key LATAM countries on April 23. Within a day, those countries were available in AppTweak’s Search Ads Manager platform, allowing our clients to get ahead of their competition.

Global algorithm change

On October 14th, our Algorithm Change Detector caught a global algorithm change. Interestingly, Japan and Korea seem to not have been as affected as other countries.

If you believe your app was affected by an algorithm change, we recommend using AppTweak’s Keyword Movement Detector to identify the keywords impacted. Don’t rush any decision – instead, keep an eye on them and consider replacing keywords for which you have lost rankings.

Noticed any changes in your app ranking or keywords ranking? You can check if an algorithm update from Apple or Google is behind those changes with AppTweak’s App Store Algorithm Change Detector.

Options for store listing experiments

Since October 23rd, the Play Store Console has displayed a message stating that “New configuration and monitoring options for Store Listing Experiments” have been made available, giving developers “more control and more statistical robustness”.

Likely main changes to come could include:

  1. Play Store Console users could have the possibility to target any type of custom store listing for A/B tests, allowing for more tailored audience segmentation and testing.
  2. Another potential update may include a “completion conditions” section, providing insights into the required number of installs or retained installers needed to reach statistical significance, along with an estimated time for completion.

Launch of CSL for any keyword

Since October 20th, Play Store console users have been reporting that you can create a custom store listing for any keyword you choose, not only the keywords in a pre-established list by Google.

September 2024

New Screenshots Size Requirement

App Store Connect allows app developers to upload screenshots for only one iPhone size (6.9-inch screenshots now replace the previous 6.7-inch ones, and 5.5-inch screenshots are no longer necessary) and one iPad size.

This could help ASO designers save time as previously any design needed to be reproduced in multiple formats for each device.

Apple’s win-back offers

On September 10th, Apple announced the launch of win-back offers for auto-renewable subscriptions, a new type of (special) offer (= in-app event type) meant to help subscription apps achieve higher revenue. Source.

Google now allows app developers to add deep links to Promotional Content. When users open your app from an event, they will be sent to a specific place in your app.

Google highlighted consistency and usability among the best practices for creating deep links for promotional content:

  • Consistency: Deep links destination pages should be consistent with the promotional event details (name, description, new content, new feature, or offer).
  • Usability: Deep links destination pages should be intuitive and user-friendly to avoid confusion on how to engage with your events.

Conclusion

At AppTweak, we will continue to monitor ASO news and trends and report them here. Make sure to check out this monthly blog to stay up to date on the recent developments in the App Store Optimization landscape. Subscribe to our newsletter to make sure don’t miss out on the latest updates. See you next month!

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Oriane Ineza
by , Content Marketing Specialist
Oriane is a Content Marketing Specialist at AppTweak, creating content for app marketers. She enjoys exploring the world through books, movies, and food.