ASO & Localization Glossary

ASO is the process of optimizing an app store listing to rank higher in search and convert more downloads. It covers keywords, screenshots, ratings, and retention signals.

Apple Custom Product Pages let you create up to 35 alternate App Store product pages with unique screenshots, videos, and promotional text. Each variant gets its own URL for paid campaigns.

PPO is Apple's native A/B testing feature inside App Store Connect. You can run up to 3 alternate treatments against your default page and Apple declares a winner based on conversion rate.

RTL refers to languages that read from right to left, like Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, and Urdu. Apps targeting RTL markets must mirror their entire UI layout, not just translate text.

Text expansion is the increase in character count when translating from one language to another. German is ~30% longer than English, while Japanese is often shorter but visually denser.

A locale code is a short identifier (like en-US, de-DE, ja) that tells the App Store or Google Play Console which market and language a piece of content belongs to. Apple and Google use slightly different formats.

App Store Connect is Apple's developer portal for managing iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS apps. You upload binaries, set metadata, manage TestFlight, and run CPPs and PPO tests here.

An App Preview is a short video (15-30 seconds) Apple shows in the App Store that auto-plays muted. Up to 3 are allowed per device size and they sit above your screenshots in the listing.

The hero screenshot is the first screenshot Apple shows in your App Store listing. It carries the most conversion weight because it appears in search results and category browses before users tap into your page.

Apple Search Match is a feature inside Apple Search Ads that automatically matches your ads to relevant search queries. It is also one of the best free sources of organic keyword research data for iOS ASO.