What do the iOS 12 App Store updates mean for your application?

Since 2008, the world has seen how the App Store has revolutionized the way software is bought and sold. This year, the App Store turns ten; in a decade, Apple has created a new business ecosystem and opened the doors to countless emerging industries. With the App Store attracting more than 500 million weekly users, the mobile application development industry is stronger than ever and the release of iOS 12 last week reveals some significant changes to complement the redesign of last year.

The aesthetic changes in the iOS 12 App Store application are not noticed, but the owners of the mobile apps should be aware of the changes in the discovery capability of the product in this version. The changes over the last two years are indicative of Apple's strategic plan to improve the overall user experience of the App Store. With iOS 11, the strategy focused on making applications easier to find; with iOS 12, Apple makes the search for applications personal. This is what you need to know.

If you're the kind of person who pays attention to small details, you may notice the subtle changes in the design of the iOS 12 app store interface. For the most part, the design settings are largely undetectable. Similarly, many of the content categories will remain the same (notable content, applications and games of the day, focuses for developers: the usual). In addition, during the beta version of iOS 12 circulated talks about a new tab "You may have missed" that limits the amount of high-performance content you see in the previous week; however, I still have to see the change in my device in the official version.

Leaving design decisions aside, the most important change in this year's app store update is the store-wide customization elements. Personalization is a main theme in iOS 12; it is evident in many of the development features of native iOS applications that Apple is implementing in this version.

The concept is simple; iOS 12 customizes the user experience by providing users with content and applications that are likely to be interested in data points such as previous downloads, purchases, and browsing behavior. In addition, personalization is central to many of the new feature additions in iOS 12, such as Siri shortcuts, enhanced machine learning and push notifications content.

·         What does this mean for owners of mobile applications?

·         It may be harder to get a prominent place in the iOS 12 App Store.

·         Wait for your number of impressions from the app store to take a hit.

Those who seek to publish an application should consider customization from the early stages of product discovery.

With that, there are several best practice strategies that you can implement to increase the likelihood of success of the App Store for your product.

Keep your App Store updates on time

Customizing App Store content can make it more difficult for your app to appear in the store or, at a minimum, reduce the scope of your product's function.

We recently wrote about the difficulties and benefits of earning a prominent location in the App Store. In summary, being an outstanding application is excellent for brand identity, knowledge and conversion management; however, getting outstanding recognition is even better for your product when it appears in a specific search or in a specific category. Your efforts to make a product appear in the App Store should combine traditional marketing tactics and personalization elements to obtain the best results.

To improve your chances of being presented in the App Store, a valuable tactic is to schedule your release dates or product updates with each iOS version. Apple will pay more attention to mobile applications that give users the opportunity to use the new features they are currently promoting. For example, if you have a QSR application and its latest update allows users to create a Siri shortcut to order their most frequent purchases, it will improve their chances of being noticed by Apple. In the same way, if you have a password management or productivity application, take advantage of Apple's new account authentication function is a strategic move to make along with the iOS 12 version.

Prepare to see the fluctuating impressions of the app store

With the release of iOS 12, mobile application owners must ensure that their existing store optimization strategy (ASO) is designed to adapt to store customization. Specifically, make sure that the strategy puts more emphasis on the user from their unique points of pain, their search queries and even their aesthetic tastes. Accurate and unambiguous knowledge of the user is necessary to ensure that the right people find the list of the application store for their product.

If you have not already done so, it's time to focus on finding and targeting your keywords. The keywords you decide to classify will be the pillars of the presence of your app store, and it is crucial to ensure that they match your users' search queries. Getting the most out of the iOS 12 Custom App Store will require both an ASO strategy and a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy to establish credibility and position your application as a reliable solution for the user's weak points.

Check your application store listing

Approximately half of iOS application installations come from App Store Search. If you are not optimizing the list of your App Store for search queries of your target audience, you are ignoring an important promotional opportunity for your product. There are several important fields throughout the list of your App Store that require attention, including the title of the application, the description of it and other relevant keyword fields.

The list of your application store is the point of contact in the user's journey where the final decision is made to install your product, with this new trend of extreme personalization. If your list of the app store does not reflect what users are looking for, your user acquisition efforts suffer.

Think about the personalization of product discovery

When you create the strategy of your product and plan the product requirements, keep this trend of personalization at the forefront of your mind.

Start by asking specific questions, what is the purpose of this mobile application? What should the application be able to do and what functions are required to make this functionality possible? It is unlikely to incorporate personalization in the early stages of your mobile application, but creating a solid vision of how your product will grow will give you a better understanding of how customization will fit into your strategy in the future.

Participating in Product Discovery will create a base for your mobile application to incorporate features that really benefit your user base. A Design and Discovery phase is organized to establish product objectives, understand clear commercial results and prioritize characteristics for the first stages of its mobile application.

At BrainStudioz Mobile, we guide our clients through a five-day concentrated Design and Discovery workshop that is intensive and collaborative. At the end of a week, the participants move away with the key features of the product, the trips of the users, the connection diagrams, the models and a prototype of an application that can be clicked on. The general objective is to recognize the success metrics of your product and validate your ideas from the beginning in the development process. Learn more about how Design and Discovery can help you get started with your mobile application project; Start a conversation, today.