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iOS 15 Launches - Key ASO Updates

September 20th, 2021

iOS 15 Launches - Key ASO Updates
David Bell

by David Bell

CEO at Gummicube, Inc.

After giving a sneak peek of iOS 15 at WWDC 2021 earlier this year, Apple has officially launched the update today. With the headline “In touch. In the moment,” iOS 15 arrives with big changes to how users connect via video communication, following the massive adoption during the pandemic, among other big changes.

While there are many changes with iOS 15, here are some key updates the new release will bring, and how they can impact your App Store Optimization strategy.

Spotlight Search

Developers should keep this area in mind as another avenue to discoverability, as users can now download apps directly from Spotlight search. Previously, links to apps could appear in Siri Spotlight search, but the navigation would take users to the App Store to download.

Make sure your app is updated with the appropriate metadata to appear in Spotlight search. This can make it easy for users who search for apps, or feature-based needs, in Spotlight. Apple has not yet released details on how downloads will be reported from this source in App Analytics, so look out for more information on reporting to assess performance.

New Features Built-In to iOS

With every substantial iOS update, Apple adds features that existing apps may already focus on as their key selling points- in some cases being the entire focus of an app.

iOS 15 Visual Look Up

The addition of flashlight functionality built-in to iOS made flashlight apps obsolete, unless they adapted to make their features more robust than what Apple offered – and of course, advertise them well using their store listing product page.

With this update, Apple is adding several features developers should be aware of:

  • Optical Character Recognition (OCR): easily identify text from a photo, including actionable contact information
  • Visual Look Up: identify plants, art, landmarks, books, and even pets from your photos or images from the web
  • Hide My Email: instantly generate unique, random email addresses that forward to your personal inbox, so you don’t have to share your real email address when filling out a form on the web or signing up for a newsletter
iOS 15 OCR

Apps that focus on these features as the main unique selling point of their app will need to adapt and call out what sets their app apart. This is true for any app in the market, only this time the competition is Apple itself.

Upcoming App Store Connect features

While the FaceTime, messaging and Memoji features may be exciting for end-users, some of the most anticipated iOS 15 features for developers and marketers are not yet available with the launch of iOS 15 as many anticipated. At WWDC 21, Apple announced they would be launching a long-awaited set of features later this year, including:

  • Product page optimization
  • A/B testing
  • In-app events

These updates are still on the horizon; as of iOS 15’s launch on September 20th not yet available. Read more in-depth information about these features and how they impact your App Store Optimization on our WWDC 2021 blog.

Overall

For more information on the additional features coming out with iOS 15, check Apple’s official website. With new emojis, interactive photo memories, and AR walking directions, there is no shortage of new updates to try out.

Be sure to prepare your app for key updates that impact ASO, especially if your app is impacted by now-built-in features of iOS. As we all have been for months, continue to keep an eye out for the upcoming A/B testing and event changes to take full advantage of everything new coming out from Apple.

Want to learn more about App Store Optimization? Contact Gummicube, and we’ll help get your strategy started.

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