ASO Weekly: App Store News

May 27th, 2022

ASO Weekly: App Store News
David Bell

by David Bell

CEO at Gummicube, Inc.

Welcome to ASO Weekly. This week:

  • Apple released a report that shows the promising future of small business growth on the App Store.
  • Russia hits back at BigTech over sanctions and censorship.
  • Google is slowly rolling out its new, Play Store website design.

What will these changes mean for your App Store Optimization strategy? Dive into this week’s news to find out.

App Store Economy Creates Millions of Jobs and Encourages Entrepreneurship, Apple Reports

On May 25th, Apple published the results of two independent studies showing that the App Store is helping millions of entrepreneurs and people economically prosper. According to the results of the study, the “iOS app economy supports more than 2.2 million jobs in the US and a 118 percent increase in US small developer earnings over the past 2 years”.

After the world has seen its communication paths severed by the global COVID-19 pandemic, users and businesses needed to find new ways to connect. Phone usage during this time period skyrocketed, and more people started relying on apps to get the services and entertainment they needed. Innovation and technological human capital increased during this time as well. This opened up new avenues of opportunity for business, projects and self-expression.

According to the reports, the US wasn’t the only country that saw a tremendous boom in economic prosperity. The global success of small businesses on the App Store has opened up entrepreneurial paths for millions across the world, reporting:

  1. 113% increase in earnings for active developers
  2. 80% of small developers are active on more than one storefront
  3. 40% of small developers went international in 2021
  4. 2x growth in earnings compared to enterprise developers

Internationalization opens up a plethora of new opportunities for developers both large and small. The rise of app store economic prosperity across both Apple and Google Play shows no signs of slowing. Our ASO company helps startups and enterprise developers around the world in the growing app store marketplace.

Visit this page to view the full report.

Russia Slaps Big Tech Companies Apple, Google and 6 Others With Legal

The Russian communications regulator opened legal proceedings against Google, Apple and 6 other US-based tech firms for personal data infringement violations.

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, Russia and Big Tech companies have been in ongoing overt and covert disputes over a wave of defiant and activist sanctions. As Russia attempts to double down on its strategy to be more independent from the global economy, it’s coming to grips with the reality of a more homogenized economic reliance.

Both Apple and Google have significantly reduced their operations on Russian soil. Apple has removed itself from Russia completely and Google has significantly limited its services to users. Following this massive rescindment, Russia looks to the law to counter the effects.

Citing personal data violations, Russia claims that these tech companies shouldn’t have deleted the user information of Russia-based users from these apps when their involvement in Russia had been terminated. As the ruble loses its economic strength, the proceedings may be settled with a payoff, but the future of this legal battle is still uncertain.

Google Play Web Interface Gets A Massive New Redesign

If you’ve recently viewed the web version of Google Play, you may have noticed a dramatic new look across app listings and the main storefront. Users can more easily see creative assets and app information all on a cleaner and more polished interface.

In an effort to enhance the user experience on the app store, Google promised a new user-friendly experience on its platform. Our blog over the Google I/O 2022 showed us a clear new direction for Google and what it provides to both users and developers.

Among these changes were increased security measures and more ways developers can better connect with their target users. With future features like LiveOps and Custom Store Listings, we might not be seeing the last of the Google Play interface changes. All developers should prepare to adapt to these changes with the right ASO technology backing their growth plans for the app store of tomorrow.

Overall

The Apple reports show us that the app store economy is alive and thriving. The ongoing battle between Big Tech and Russian communications regulators spells uncertainty for the future of foreign companies operating in Russia. Google Play makes strides towards its user-focused future, with its eyes set on the mobile interface next.

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

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