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Indie

The indie iOS developer tool stack (2026)

One pick per job, from TestFlight to RevenueCat, with the alternatives and their free tiers, checked October 2026.

9 min read Tools

App Store screenshot tools compared (2026)

Twelve screenshot generators by name, grouped by approach, with free plans, and when not to use ours.

10 min read Localization

10 App Store countries where top apps localize screenshots

Spain, Mexico and France lead at 55%, then Germany, Brazil and Japan. Ranked from our own study of 155 top apps.

7 min read ASO

10 App Store Connect features most indie developers never use

Promotional text, product page tests, custom product pages in search, In-App Events, offer codes and more. Free, mostly no new version.

9 min read Indie

10 ways to get more app downloads without paid ads

Find the leak, spend all 160 indexed characters, lead with your best screenshot, localize, ask for ratings well. Ranked by effort.

10 min read Research

How many top apps show English to non-English countries?

Original data on 155 top apps in 37 countries: 36% show English screenshots everywhere, and 51% below the top 10.

Data · updated quarterly Tools

The best free ASO tools for indie developers (2026)

Apple's free analytics, A/B tests and keyword popularity, plus free browser tools, by job. And when paying is worth it.

9 min read ASO

How to get featured on the App Store as an indie

The nomination form, lead times, a one-angle pitch, and the product page fixes that matter before you submit.

9 min read ASO

In-App Events: free App Store visibility for small apps

Event cards in search results that most indie apps never use. Apple's limits, ideas beyond games, and a step-by-step.

8 min read ASO

Why is my app getting no downloads?

Three App Analytics numbers tell you which leak it is: nobody sees you, nobody taps, or nobody downloads. Then fix that one first.

9 min read Design

App Store header and search results images (iOS 27)

Apple's sizes, formats and rules for the new creative assets, and how one 16:9 universal image crops in each slot.

8 min read Tools

Storeboard vs every other ASO tool

Helm, AppMeta, ASO.dev, ASOWay, RocketSim, fastlane and the web tools in one feature matrix — including who can author In-App Events.

10 min read Indie

The zero-budget indie app marketing stack

Paid ads rarely pencil out for indie apps. The three channels that compound — search, localization, ratings — and the two-hour monthly loop.

8 min read Vibe coding

You vibe-coded an app. Now ship it

The app took a weekend with Cursor or Claude Code — the listing shouldn't take longer. A 60-minute first listing, zero ASO homework.

7 min read Vibe coding

ASO for vibe coders: rank without learning ASO

Development got 100x faster; discovery didn't. Doing ASO in the same generate-review-iterate loop you already use.

6 min read ASO

How much keyword data do you actually need?

Rank-tracking databases vs on-device scores — what each can tell you, honestly mapped to the decisions they serve.

7 min read Tools

The best Mac apps for App Store optimization (2026)

Storeboard, Helm, AppMeta, RocketSim, ASO.dev, ASOWay, fastlane and the web tools — the Mac-native ASO toolchain organized by job, with honest trade-offs.

9 min read Tools

fastlane screenshots without the Ruby stack

snapshot and frameit are unbeatable for CI — and painful for design. When the config-file loop stops making sense, and what replaces it.

7 min read ASO

How to tell if your ASO is actually working

Impressions, conversion, downloads, ratings velocity — the five numbers that prove or disprove a change, and how to run a clean before/after.

8 min read ASO

Keyword research: from first idea to live listing

Where seed keywords come from, how to read the scores, and how a tracked list becomes your actual metadata.

8 min read ASO

English isn't one market: keywords by country

US, UK, Australia and Canada each have their own keyword field, search habits and competitors. The strategy, in order.

7 min read Reference

App Store screenshot sizes (2026)

Every pixel dimension for iPhone, iPad, Watch and Mac — and why you probably don't need most of them.

6 min read Reference

App Store keyword research

Your ranking comes down to ~160 characters. What Apple indexes, and how to spend them.

8 min read Reference

App Store localization

Every localization is another keyword field. Which languages pay back, and in what order.

7 min read ASO

How Apple indexes your keywords (and what it ignores)

The description myth, why repeated words are wasted, and the ASO advice that stopped being true.

6 min read Localization

Should you localize your App Store screenshots?

A decision framework — when localization multiplies your downloads, and when it does nothing at all.

5 min read App Review

Guideline 4.3: why Apple rejects apps as duplicates

What 4.3 actually targets, why legitimate apps get caught, and how to answer a rejection.

7 min read Design

Seven screenshot mistakes that cost you installs

Most screenshots fail in the first two images. Here's where, and what to do instead.

6 min read