Guide Definitions checked against App Store Connect and Play Console help on 22 Oct 2026
Low App Store conversion rate? Find where people drop off
Apple's conversion rate mixes two different moments: someone seeing your app in a list or in search, and someone deciding on your product page. Split them apart and you can tell whether to fix your keywords, your first screenshots or the rest of the page.
Where it leaks, in four lines
Short answer- Few impressions
- keywords, name, subtitle
- Few page views
- icon, first screenshots
- Few downloads
- the rest of the page
- Deleted soon after
- the app itself
The metrics are Apple's; splitting them into these four steps is our reading of how Apple defines them, not an Apple method.
How Apple counts it
These are Apple's definitions, word for word. The key detail: impressions include every time your icon is on screen for more than a second in search results and on the Today, Games and Apps tabs, not just visits to your page.
Apple says App Store metrics show up once you have at least five first-time downloads or pre-orders.
| Metric | Apple's definition |
|---|---|
| Impressions | “The number of times your app was viewed on the Today, Games, Apps, and Search tabs of the App Store for more than one second. Includes product page views.” |
| Impressions (Unique Devices) | “The number of unique devices that have viewed your app on the Today, Games, Apps, and Search tabs of the App Store. Includes unique product page views.” |
| Product Page Views | “The total number of times your App Store product page was viewed. Includes when apps use StoreKit to load your product page.” |
| Total Downloads | “The sum of First Time Downloads and Redownloads.” |
| Conversion Rate | “Total downloads and pre-orders divided by unique device impressions.” |
Source: Metric definitions
The four leaks
Work top to bottom. Fixing a later step doesn't help much if an earlier one is where most people drop off.
Look at one Source Type at a time. Search, browse and referral traffic behave differently, and mixing them hides which step is weak.
Leak 1
Not enough impressions
Look at: Impressions over time, filtered by Source Type. App Store search covers views and downloads from search, including ads in search results; App Store browse covers browsing the store, for example the Today, Games or Apps sections.
What it usually means: Few people are seeing the app at all, so no screenshot redesign will fix it on its own. For most small apps that means search: the words people type aren't matching your name, subtitle or keywords.
Fix: Work on the text Apple uses for search. Apple's product page guide says keywords help determine where your app displays in search results and are limited to 100 characters; the name and subtitle can each be up to 30 characters.
Source: Acquisition · Creating your product page
Leak 2
Impressions, but few product page views
Look at: Product page views (unique devices) next to impressions (unique devices), for App Store search on its own.
What it usually means: People see the app in a list or in search results and scroll past without tapping. What they saw was the icon, name, subtitle and, in search, your first screenshots. Apple says the first one to three screenshots appear in search results when no app preview is available, depending on their orientation.
Fix: Make the first one to three screenshots say what the app does in a few words, readable at search-result size, and check that the icon and subtitle back up the same message.
Source: Metric definitions · Creating your product page
Leak 3
Page views, but few downloads
Look at: Downloads next to product page views. Use the Page Type filter: “App Page” means the download came from somewhere other than a product page or store sheet, for example straight from search results.
What it usually means: People were interested enough to open the page and still left. The rest of the screenshot set, the preview video, the description, ratings and price are doing the persuading here.
Fix: Give each screenshot after the first one job: one benefit or feature each, in order of what a new user cares about. Apple's guide says to focus each subsequent screenshot on a main benefit or feature.
Leak 4
Downloads, then deletions
Look at: Deletions (a Usage metric) and retention, filtered by the same Source Type.
What it usually means: The listing worked, but the app didn't match what people expected, or the first minutes in the app lost them. A listing that oversells can make this worse.
Fix: Check that every screenshot shows something the new user will actually find, then look at onboarding. This one is mostly outside the listing.
Source: Metric definitions
A worked example
These numbers are made up to show the arithmetic. They aren't from a real app and aren't a benchmark.
Here the conversion rate is 2%, but about half the people who open the page download. Almost everyone who leaves never opened the page, so the first screenshots, icon and subtitle are the place to start.
| Example app (made up), one month of App Store search | Value | How |
|---|---|---|
| Impressions (unique devices) | 8,000 | from App Analytics |
| Product page views (unique devices) | 320 | from App Analytics |
| Total downloads | 160 | from App Analytics |
| Conversion rate (Apple's) | 2% | downloads ÷ unique impressions |
| Opened the page | 4% | page views ÷ impressions |
| Downloads per page view | 50% | rough: some downloads skip the page |
“Downloads per page view” overstates how well the page converts, because some people download straight from search results without opening it. To see how many did, use the Page Type filter: “App Page” is a download from somewhere other than a product page or store sheet.
Source: Metric definitions · Filters and dimensions
Test the fix on the App Store
Product page optimization lets you test up to three alternate versions of your page against the original, with different icons, screenshots and app previews. Apple shows each one to a random share of people on iOS and iPadOS 15 or later, and reports the results in App Analytics.
Screenshots and previews can be submitted without a new app version. Alternate icons have to be in the binary of the version that's live. A test runs for up to 90 days or until you stop it, and Apple notes it may not reach the improvement you hoped for in that time.
Source: Product page optimization · Configure test treatments · Create a test
Google Play: conversion rate is now CTR
Google's Play Console Help says that from July 2026 store listing reports focus on clicks rather than acquisitions. Click-through rate, the percentage of store listing visitors who clicked Install, Open or Pre-register, replaces the legacy Conversion Rate metric. Completed acquisitions are still on the Grow users overview page.
The Conversion analysis page lets you filter visitors, clicks and CTR by traffic source, store listing, country, language, UTM source and campaign. For testing, Google recommends store listing experiments on icons, videos and screenshots, one asset at a time, for at least a week.
Source: Play Console Help: store listing performance · Store listing experiments
Check what people see first
If the leak is your screenshots and you'd rather hand it off: for $149 per app I'll make the full screenshot set for both stores, with listing text. You review it and upload it yourself, or test it against your current set first. See the makeover
More guides: Screenshot rejections · Google Play feature graphic.
Questions
- How does Apple calculate App Store conversion rate?
- Apple's App Store Connect Analytics help defines conversion rate as total downloads and pre-orders divided by unique device impressions. A pre-order counts once and isn't counted again when it downloads. Apple's own example: 100 unique impressions and 50 total downloads on a day is a 50% conversion rate.
- What is a good App Store conversion rate?
- Apple doesn't publish a single target on its help pages, and it varies by category and by where the traffic comes from. App Store Connect has peer group benchmarks that compare your conversion rate with similar apps; that comparison is more useful than any number from a blog post.
- Do impressions only count my product page?
- No. Apple counts an impression when your app is viewed for more than one second on the Today, Games, Apps or Search tabs, and impressions include product page views. So an app that shows up in a lot of searches can have many impressions and a low conversion rate, even if its product page converts well.
- Can people download my app without opening the product page?
- Yes. App Store Connect's Page Type filter has an “App Page” value for downloads from a source that's neither a product page nor a store sheet, for example directly from App Store search results. That's one reason the first screenshots matter so much: they show up in search.
- Where do I see which source my downloads came from?
- In App Store Connect Analytics, filter by Source Type: App Store search, App Store browse, App referrer, Web referrer and others. Apple attributes sales, usage and subscription data to the source recorded when the user tapped to download.
- Can I A/B test my screenshots on the App Store?
- Yes, with product page optimization. You can test up to three treatments against your original page with different icons, screenshots and app previews. Screenshots and previews can be submitted without a new app version, but alternate icons must be in the binary of the current App Store version. A test runs for up to 90 days or until you stop it.
- What happened to conversion rate in Google Play Console?
- Google's Play Console Help says that from July 2026 store listing reports focus on clicks rather than acquisitions. Click-through rate, the percentage of store listing visitors who clicked Install, Open or Pre-register, replaces the legacy Conversion Rate metric. Completed acquisitions are still on the Grow users overview page.
- How should I test a new Play screenshot set?
- Google's store listing experiments page recommends testing icons, videos and screenshots for the biggest impact, one asset at a time for the clearest results, and for at least a week to cover weekday and weekend traffic.
Sources, last checked 22 Oct 2026: Apple, Metric definitions · Apple, Filters and dimensions · Apple, Acquisition · Apple, App Analytics · Apple, Creating your product page · Apple, Product page optimization · Google, Play Console Help: store listing performance · Google, Store listing experiments. Both stores change these pages without notice. Spotted something out of date? hello@shiplisting.app. ShipListing isn't affiliated with Apple or Google.