How to choose an ASO tool for Mac
Eight questions to ask before you pay for App Store keyword research, and a one-hour test to answer them.
What an ASO tool does
App Store optimization (ASO) is the work of getting your app found in App Store search and chosen once it’s found. A keyword tool helps with the first half: it shows which phrases people search for, where your app ranks for each one, and how hard each phrase is to win.
The better tools go further: they help you write the name, subtitle and keyword field, translate them for each market, upload them to App Store Connect, and show whether the change worked. Apple says search ranks apps on text relevance (your app name, subtitle, keywords and primary category) and on user behavior such as downloads, ratings and reviews, so the text is the part you control directly.
1. Does it cover every country you sell in?
Each country has its own App Store and its own results. A tool should check your ranks country by country, and use the phrases people type there: often the local language, sometimes English, often both. Check how many countries are included in the price, not just how many exist.
2. Where do the numbers come from?
Apple doesn’t publish how many people search for a phrase, so every tool’s demand and difficulty numbers are estimates. Good tools say what their estimate is based on, and show a missing measurement as missing, not as zero.
A quick test: search for one of your phrases in the App Store yourself, then compare your position with the rank the tool shows for the same country.
3. Does it tell you what to do next?
A table of ranks is a start, but the useful part is the next step: which phrases to put in your name or subtitle, which to move to the keyword field, which to drop. Look for a tool that turns its numbers into a short list of changes, and says why.
4. Can you see whether a change worked?
Ranks move a little every day, so judge a change over a week or two. A good tool remembers what your listing said before and shows your ranks before and after each update, so you know what to keep. App Store Connect’s App Analytics adds impressions, product page views and downloads.
5. Monthly or one payment?
Many ASO tools are monthly subscriptions, often with limits on apps, keywords or countries. A one-time purchase costs more on day one and less over a year. Work out the cost over a year or two for the number of apps and countries you actually have, and check what happens to your data if you stop paying.
6. Which AI writes the text?
Most tools now write listing text with AI. Ask whose AI it is, whether it costs extra credits, and where your app’s details go. If you already pay for an AI tool, a keyword tool that can use it saves you a second AI bill. Either way, read what the AI writes before you publish it.
7. Can it upload, and can you undo?
Copying a name, subtitle and keyword field into App Store Connect for 10 or 20 languages by hand is slow and easy to get wrong. A tool that uploads for you should write into a draft version (never submit it for review), check the limits first, and keep the old texts so you can put them back.
8. Web app or Mac app?
A web app works from any computer and is easy to share with a team. A Mac app keeps your keyword data on your Mac, works with the AI tools installed there, and needs no extra account. Both can be good choices: pick the one that fits how you work.
A one-hour test before you pay
- Add one of your apps and 10 phrases you care about, in two or three countries.
- Compare two or three ranks with what you see in the App Store yourself.
- Ask it what to change first, and see whether the answer makes sense for your app.
- Write a new subtitle and keyword field with it, and check the character counts.
- Add up the price for a year with all your apps and countries.
Not sure which tools to test? Best ASO tools for indie app developers compares eleven of them.