Mac App Store keywords and apps

ASO Atlas works for the Mac App Store as well as the iPhone and iPad App Store and Google Play. Keyword research, rank tracking, competitors, the metadata optimizer, keyword lists, reverse lookup and App Store Connect performance all have a Mac version. Switch between the stores with the iPhone / Mac / Android control next to the search. iPhone is the App Store, which also covers iPad apps.

The Mac App Store is its own store with its own search, so a few things differ from the iPhone side. This article covers them.

Adding a Mac app

On Apps, switch the search to Mac, then search by name, paste the app's numeric id, or paste its Mac App Store link. Pick the storefront and choose Track. A link that clearly points at the Mac App Store is recognised as a Mac app even when you paste it into the other search.

Many apps are universal: one product that runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Track the iPhone version and its app page says Also on the Mac App Store, with Track it to add the Mac listing (or Open once you track it). The two are separate rows, because they rank for different searches and can have different ratings, keywords and reviews. If an app is not in the Mac App Store of the storefront you picked, you are told so instead of getting an empty listing.

Demand is a band, not a number

On the iPhone App Store you see a popularity score from 0 to 100. On the Mac App Store you see a demand band instead: five bars and a word, from Very low to Very high.

Apple publishes no search popularity for the Mac App Store. We estimate demand from what Mac App Store search suggests as people type, combined with what we know about the same phrase on the iPhone store, and we show the result as a band on purpose. A number like "57" would suggest a precision nobody has, and it would look comparable to the iPhone score when it is not. See Verified vs estimated.

The band still does its job. Sorting, filtering and the verdict all read it, so "Low demand" and "Strong opportunity" mean the same thing on every store.

Rank tracking

Add keywords to a Mac app and ASO Atlas checks its position in Mac App Store search every day. A search shows a limited list of apps; if yours is not in it the position reads # -, the same as an unranked iPhone app. See Rank tracking.

Difficulty

Difficulty weighs the apps that rank for a keyword by how established they are. For universal apps that is their rating count. Mac-only apps have no ratings published by Apple, so for them the strength is estimated from how actively the app receives new reviews. The result is a difficulty you can compare across the stores, but for Mac-only competitors it is a good approximation rather than a measured count.

Ratings and reviews

• Universal apps show their Mac ratings on the Mac listing, separate from the iPhone ones.
• Mac-only apps have no ratings published by Apple, so the rating shows as unavailable. We do not guess one.
• Reviews of a universal app are separated by version when the Mac and iPhone versions differ, so the Mac listing shows reviews of Mac versions. When the versions cannot be told apart, the page says it is showing reviews from all platforms instead of pretending otherwise.

Performance from App Store Connect

Connect App Store Connect once and the Mac app is covered too. A universal app has one set of reports for iPhone, iPad and Mac, so numbers are not counted twice. On the Performance tab an All devices / Mac / iPhone and iPad switch splits impressions, downloads, sessions, in-app purchases and proceeds by device. The Mac listing of a universal app opens on Mac. Figures Apple does not break down by device, such as conversion, subscriptions and the country breakdown, say so in a device view instead of showing a number that would be wrong. A Mac-only app has no switch: all of its figures are Mac figures.

Keyword history and the optimizer

Keyword history is kept per listing, so a universal app has one history for iPhone and one for Mac. An iPad app running on the Mac uses its iPhone keyword field, and its Mac history says so instead of showing an empty one.

In the metadata optimizer the limits are the same as on the iPhone store. A universal app shares its name and subtitle between iPhone and Mac, so the optimizer tells you that a change there affects both listings.

Feedback

In-app feedback works for Mac apps too. A Mac inbox is verified through App Store Connect like an iPhone one, and the setup page gives you a Swift example that works on macOS 13 and later.

Native Mac client

The Mac app supports Mac App Store apps in version 1.8 and later.