Screenshots, icon, video and ratings: turning views into installs

Ranking gets you seen. Three things get you tapped: your icon at thumbnail size, your first two or three screenshots, and your star rating. All three show in search results before anyone opens your page. This guide covers what each store allows and what actually moves people.

Definition

Conversion rate: of the people who see your listing, the share who install. The stores measure it and use it in ranking, so better pictures also mean a better rank over time.

What people actually see

Open the store and search for anything. Each result is a small card: icon, name, second line, rating, and a strip of screenshots. People decide from that card. Your fourth screenshot, your description and your video are only seen by people who already tapped.

Screenshots: the rules and what works

What works

1. 1

   Lead with the result, not the home screen

   Screenshot one shows the moment the app pays off: the transcribed note, the scanned PDF, the finished budget. The empty home screen goes last, if anywhere.
2. 2

   Caption every one of the first three in four to six words

   "Record. We transcribe." "Find any note by one word." Big text, top of the frame, readable at thumbnail size. Captions are not indexed for search, so write them for people.
3. 3

   Match the search

   If people find you by searching "voice notes", the first screenshot should show voice notes. Mismatch is the fastest way to lose a tap.
4. 4

   Use real screens, lightly framed

   Both stores require screenshots to show the actual app. Decoration is fine; invented interfaces are not.
5. 5

   Localise the captions

   A Hindi caption for the India storefront costs an hour and competes in a much smaller field.

The icon at 60 pixels

Your icon is judged at the size of a fingernail, next to nine others. Three tests:

• One shape, one or two colours. Shrink it to 60 pixels. If you cannot tell what it is, neither can a shopper.
• No words. Text in an icon is unreadable at thumbnail size and looks like a placeholder.
• Different from the top 5 for your searches. If every note app has a yellow notepad, be the one that is not.

Google Play wants a 512×512 32-bit PNG with transparency; the App Store takes a 1024×1024 image without transparency and rounds the corners for you.

Ratings: the 4.3 line

The star rating sits in the search result next to your name. It works like a second icon: a quick signal of whether this app is safe to try. In practice, apps below roughly 4.3 get noticeably fewer taps than apps above it, and both stores say ratings influence ranking.

How to ask

• Use the stores' own prompts. On iOS, Apple's SKStoreReviewController shows a standard rating sheet and can be requested up to three times in a 365-day period. On Android, Google's In-App Review API does the same job. Both let people rate without leaving the app.
• Ask after a success, never at launch. Right after a note is transcribed, a scan is saved, a goal is hit. Never on first open, never during an error.
• Never bribe. Offering features, coins or discounts for a rating breaks both stores' rules.

Reviews: reply, then fix

Replies matter for two reasons. The reviewer is notified and can update their rating; many do. And the next shopper reads your reply as a sign the app is looked after. Apple lets you reply to any review and edit your reply at any time; Google lets you post one public reply per review and edit it.

Then fix what the reviews keep saying. If five reviews in a month mention the same crash, that crash is costing you more installs than any keyword. Eight reply templates are in a separate post.

Do it in this order

1. Rewrite the captions on screenshots one to three.
2. Reorder so the result comes first.
3. Shrink the icon to 60 pixels and judge it honestly.
4. Add the native rating prompt after your success moment.
5. Reply to every 1 to 3 star review from the last 90 days.
6. Ship, then compare installs per page view four weeks later.

That is the end of the series. Want the whole thing as a checklist? The 30-point ASO audit is next, or let the free audit above run it for you.