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ASO checklist before you ship a version

Sam · Published November 4, 2026 · Markdown

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Before every version that touches the listing, run the same fifteen checks: the rules the store applies to the name, subtitle and keyword field, the handful of things that waste characters, and the two measurements that make the version a test instead of a guess. RankASO's rule checker runs the first ten automatically as you type in Studio; the rest take five minutes. Here is the list, in the order that catches the most.

The keyword field

1. Under 100 characters, per locale. The limit is hard; a field over it is truncated silently.
2. Commas, no spaces. A space after a comma is a wasted character.
3. No word that is already in the name or subtitle. The store indexes those already; the duplicate earns nothing and costs its length.
4. No plural of a word you have. The store matches singulars to plurals. One form only.
5. No word the store ignores. "app", "apps", "free", "the", "a", "an", "and", "or", "for", "of", "with", "to", "in", "on", "best", "top", "new". Each costs characters for nothing.
6. No word twice in the field.
7. No other app's name. It is against the guidelines and brings users who wanted that app.
8. Every word backed by a tracked term, so the field report can judge it next time.
9. No word that earned nothing last time. The field report's dead list. How to read it.
10. Coverage checked. The simulator shows which tracked terms the new field covers and which it stops covering. Nothing you rank for in the top 10 should fall off.

The name and subtitle

1. Brand, then one category phrase, in the name. Not a tagline, not a list.
2. The outcome and a second phrase in the subtitle, in words that combine with the name. Every word earns a rank somewhere or has a reason to stay. How to read your own.

The product page

1. The first screenshot's title says what the app does in one sentence, readable in three seconds. The seven rules.

The measurement

1. One change this version. Not the subtitle and the field at once, or you cannot tell what worked.
2. Baseline recorded on submit day, review scheduled for two weeks after release. RankASO records the baseline from the daily checks and puts the before-and-after on one screen.

The one-minute version

If there is time for only three: no ignored words, no duplicates of the name and subtitle, and one change with a baseline. Those three are where most of the characters and most of the learning go.

Download on theApp StoreFree to start. No account. Data Not Collected.

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