Icon
StrongSimple glyph, high contrast, legible at thumbnail size.
Working well: Icon reads at small size. One shape, two colours, no text — it survives a 48px thumbnail.
Sample report for a fictional app — this is what an audit of your listing looks like.
Pocket Recipes : Meal Planner
Listing score
6.8 / 10
An AI opinion of listing quality, not a ranking or install forecast.
Issues found
4
1 high2 medium1 low
Rules checked in code
11 / 12 met
Measured on the public text, not judged by AI.
Clear value proposition and tidy copy, held back by a text-only first screenshot and a title that spends characters on a stray separator.
What we could see
app name, short description, description, developer, category, icon, 3 screenshots, feature graphic, rating, install range, release and update dates.
What we could not see
Needs your Play Console data: Crash rate and ANR rate; Category tags; Listings in other languages; Custom store listings; Conversion rate, organic and paid apart; When and how you ask for ratings; Whether your website describes the app in the same words.
Why each matters
- Crash rate and ANR rate (bad-behavior thresholds 1.09% and 0.47%). Above these, Google Play lowers visibility and may warn users on the listing. [4][6]
- Category tags (up to 5). Set in Play Console; not shown in the listing data. [7]
- Listings in other languages. Commonly reported: each language is indexed on its own; we read the English (US) listing only. [50]
- Custom store listings. Set in Play Console, up to 50, for countries, ads traffic, search keywords, pre-registration or returning users. [28]
- Conversion rate, organic and paid apart (installs ÷ product page views). Only your console has it. Paid traffic mixed in hides how the listing itself converts. [73]
- When and how you ask for ratings. Use the system review prompt after a user completes something. Apple allows it up to 3 times a year; Google says to ask no questions before it. [103][108]
- Whether your website describes the app in the same words. Commonly reported: AI assistants cross-check your website against the listing before they recommend an app. [83]
Growth stage
Brand new: bring traffic first, then let the listing convert it
500+ installs41 ratingsReleased 3 months agoUpdated 13 days ago
Stage set by installs: under 1,000 is new, under 100,000 is early.
A good listing does not create demand on its own. Apple and Google increasingly rank apps on post-install engagement, retention and conversion rate for competitive searches, so an app with no visitors has little for the store to reward. [49]
Bring traffic first
- Communities, articles and your own website: people and AI assistants pick apps from Reddit threads, forums, credible roundups and the developer's site. Describe the app on your website in the same words as your listing. [83]
- Social posts and short videos: send that traffic to a page that matches the post, using a custom store listing's unique URL. [28]
- A small paid test: Google Ads traffic can land on a custom store listing made for it (currently on AdMob placements). Track paid and organic conversion apart. [28][73]
- Ratings: use the In-App Review prompt after users have experienced enough of the app to give useful feedback, and don't prompt excessively. [108]
What ASO can do meanwhile
- Icon: it appears in every search result, browse list and chart, before anyone opens your page. [73]
- First two screenshots: most visitors never scroll past them, so they must state the core value. [51]
- Short description: Google says it appears in places like search results. Keep it within 80 characters, with no prices or ranking claims. [27]
What not to do
- Fake or incentivized ratings and reviews, rewards for ratings, automated installs or ratings, and deceptive or forced rating pop-ups: banned by Google Play's ratings policy. Violations can lead to removal, suspension or account termination. [107]
- Asking "Do you like the app?" or any other question before or while showing the review prompt. [108]
- Keyword stuffing and word lists; emoji, ALL CAPS or ranking claims in your app name; prices or promotions in the name or short description: all against Google Play's metadata policy. [26][27]
Diagnosis by element
Title
Needs workKeywords are present but the space before the colon looks unpolished.
"Pocket Recipes : Meal Planner"
- App name 29 of 30 characters (met)
- No emoji or special characters in the app name or developer name (met)
- No ALL CAPS words in the app name (met)
- No ranking or award claims found (met)
- No price or promotion text in the app name, short description or developer name (met)
- No Google Play program references in the app name or developer name (met)
Remove space before colon
low impact"Pocket Recipes : Meal Planner" has a space before the colon.
Fix: Use "Pocket Recipes: Meal Planner".
Short description
StrongNames three concrete benefits in one natural line.
"Plan meals, cut food waste, cook with what you have."
- Short description 52 of 80 characters (met)
- Short description is not repeated in the full description (met)
Working well: Benefit-dense short description. Packs waste reduction, planning and cooking into the 80-character limit without stuffing.
Screenshots
Needs workConsistent template, but screenshot 1 shows no finished dish.
- 3 screenshots (an app needs 4) (not met)
First screenshot lacks appetite appeal
high impactscreenshot 1Screenshot 1 is a text-only panel, and it is one of the two frames most visitors see before deciding.
Fix: Lead with a real photo of a finished dish next to the generated recipe.
Commonly recommended Commonly observed: most visitors never scroll past the first two screenshots. [51]
Too few screenshots for recommendations
medium impact3 screenshots (an app needs 4)
Fix: Add screenshots of at least 1080 px until you have 4 (3 for a game).
Official Google Play needs at least 4 screenshots (3 for games) of 1080 px or more for screenshot-based recommendations. [106]
Caption position breaks the set
medium impactscreenshot 3Screenshot 3 puts its caption at the bottom while the others use the top.
Fix: Move the caption to the top to match the template.
Feature graphic & video
Needs workThe feature graphic repeats the name but shows no food.
Feature graphic: yes. Preview video: none.
Description
StrongStrong hook and scannable bullets.
185 characters. Opens with: "Pocket Recipes turns the ingredients in your kitchen into dinner. • Recipe ideas from what you already have • Weekly meal planner • Shopping list that syncs D…"
- Full description 185 of 4000 characters (met)
- No repeated word lists found (met)
Ratings
Strong★ 4.3 from 41 ratings
★ 4.3 from 41 ratings · 500+ installs
- ★ 4.3 from 41 ratings (met)
Fixes ranked by impact (4)
- First screenshot lacks appetite appeal · Screenshots high
- Too few screenshots for recommendations · Screenshots medium
- Caption position breaks the set · Screenshots medium
- Remove space before colon · Title low
Experiments to run
ListingLens cannot run experiments or read your console. You run these in Play Console, in this order. No result is promised: a test tells you which version converts better for your traffic.
Test compares versions of your page. Target builds a page for one traffic source. Expand adds languages.
1Target
Custom store listing
Worth running nowA listing with its own name, icon, descriptions and graphics for one audience: a country, ads traffic, search keywords, pre-registration, a custom audience or returning users.
Why this one: When traffic arrives from one source, a page that speaks to it directly is commonly recommended.
Worth running now? Yes, as soon as you send traffic from one source, campaign or country.
How to run it
- In Play Console, create a custom store listing (up to 50).
- Write its copy and graphics for one audience.
- Target it, or share its unique URL with that audience.
Traffic: Needs traffic from that audience. Each country can belong to one custom listing at a time.
Measure: Conversion rate of the custom listing against your default listing.
Watch out: Ads-targeted listings currently show on AdMob only, not in Google Play search ads. [28]
2
Localized listings
Worth running nowTranslated listings for the languages of your main markets.
Why this one: We read your English (US) listing only. Each extra language is indexed separately (commonly reported).
Worth running now? Yes. No traffic needed.
How to run it
- Add a translated listing for one market's language.
- Research keywords in that language: each language listing is indexed on its own (commonly reported).
Traffic: Not a test: no traffic needed.
Measure: Installs from that market in Play Console.
Watch out: Google Play's metadata policy applies to every translation. [26][50]
App Store cross-localization (MobileAction) (not an official Apple or Google page)
3Test
Screenshot test
Not yetYour current screenshot set against new orders or captions, starting with the first ones.
Why this one: Tied to the finding "First screenshot lacks appetite appeal" (high impact).
Worth running now? Not yet. Bring steady visitors to your listing first. A test split across a handful of visitors cannot reach a reliable result.
Headline ideas for screenshot 1
- "Dinner from what you already have" (33 characters)
- "Your fridge, turned into recipes" (32 characters)
- "Tonight's dinner, sorted" (24 characters)
How to run it
- In Play Console, create a store listing experiment. The app must already be published.
- Add up to 2 variants of this asset against your current listing.
- Set the minimum detectable effect and confidence level. Play Console estimates how long the test needs; it stops on its own after six months.
Traffic: Google states no minimum. From your settings, Play Console estimates the time and installs the test needs.
Measure: Installs per product page view (conversion rate) against the original.
Watch out: Change the first frames first: most visitors never scroll past them (commonly observed). [64][51]
Listing description
Pocket Recipes turns the ingredients in your kitchen into dinner. • Recipe ideas from what you already have • Weekly meal planner • Shopping list that syncs Download and cook smarter.