ASO reporting: what each store tells you, and what it doesn't

Measured, estimated and unknown#

Most confusion in ASO reports comes from mixing three kinds of number. Keep them in separate columns, or at least label each one.

What App Store Connect reports#

Apple's metric definitions are the reference for each one. Every metric splits by source type: App Store search, App Store browse, app referrer and web referrer are the ones that matter for ASO. App Store search includes views and downloads from the ads shown in search results, so paid search sits inside it.

Two limits matter for a small app. App Store metrics appear only once the app has at least five first-time downloads or pre-orders, and usage data, such as sessions, counts only people who opted in to share their analytics with you.

App Store Connect also has peer group benchmarks: it sets your download conversion rate, and a few other metrics, against the 25th, 50th and 75th percentile values of a peer group of similar apps.

What Play Console reports#

Play changed its store listing reports in mid-2026 to focus on clicks rather than acquisitions.

A visitor counts once per day and per dimension, so adding up days, or sources, can count the same person more than once.

Since July 2026, Play Console also reports Reach: total, unique device and unique user impressions, measuring how often Play showed the app across the Apps and Games home pages, recommendations, editorial placements and search results, plus promotional content and store listings. Before that, Play reported impressions only for store listings and promotional content.

Read the traffic sources with their definitions. In these reports, Google Play search counts searches for your app's name or a closely associated brand. Searches for a kind of app, such as "racing game", and taps on autocomplete suggestions count under Google Play explore, together with browsing.

Play does name search terms. The Search term dimension shows the term a visitor searched for before opening your listing; Google's export documentation lists it for the Google Play search source only, with small terms grouped as "Other". Play can also set your click-through rate against your peers' median and their 25th and 75th percentiles.

What neither store tells you#

• Installs per search term on the App Store. App Store Connect counts App Store search as one source, and Apple has said it does not provide keyword-level data there. Apple Ads reports search terms for your paid campaigns only.
• How many people search for a word. Neither store publishes search counts. Apple Ads shows a popularity score for search terms; any volume beyond that is a tool's estimate.
• Where your app ranks. Neither store reports a rank. A rank in a tool is the app's place in a list the tool read at a given time and place, which may not match what a person sees on their phone.
• Why a number moved. A report counts what happened, not the reason.

A one-page weekly ASO report#

One page per app is enough. For each store, and each country you care about:

1. Search: App Store search impressions and downloads; on Google Play, visitors and install clicks from Google Play search and Google Play explore, kept apart. This week, last week, and the same week four weeks ago.
2. Conversion: App Store search conversion, and Play's click-through rate.
3. All downloads by source, so a move in search can be told apart from a move in browse or referrals.
4. Ratings: the average, the count of new ratings this week, and any complaint that repeats in reviews.
5. Changes: what went live this week, with the date, and which reads fall due (7 and 14 days after each change).
6. Rivals: listing changes you noticed, such as a new title, icon, screenshots or price.

NoteWrite the source and the dates next to every number, for example "App Store Connect, App Store search, Nov 2–8". A number without its window is the first thing a reader misreads.

Reading the numbers without fooling yourself#

1. Compare whole weeks, so each window holds the same weekdays.
2. Leave the last few days out. Apple says data for a given day is considered complete two days after the reporting date.
3. Read the source a change was aimed at. A keyword change shows in search before it shows in total downloads, if it shows at all.
4. Look at the other sources and the other store. If they moved the same way, the season or a feature may be part of it.
5. At small numbers, write "unclear". A week of 12 downloads against a week of 9 is not a trend.

A report that compares the weeks before a change with the weeks after it is a before-and-after read, not a controlled test. It says what followed the change, not why.

Where RocketASO fits#

RocketASO reads your App Store and Google Play reports with your own store keys, names the fix estimated to be worth most this week, and compares installs before and after it. Every recommendation shows its evidence tier (Measured, Your store data, Public signal or Rule of thumb) and what it is based on, with a date. On Google Play it reads store listing visitors and installs from Play Console's exports. To start without connecting anything, run the free ASO audit on a public listing.