During Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) keynote, the iPhone maker unveiled the upcoming iOS 15 software update. Apple gave viewers and developers a top-level look at what to expect from the new update and since then the update has been getting tested by developers.
This has lead to the community learning that iOS 15 will improve App Store discoverability by hiding screenshots of already installed apps. News of this was first reported by MacRumors, who quickly picked up on a tweet published by Head of ASO at AppFollow Ilia Kukharev. In the tweet, Kukharev shared a screenshot demonstrating the new method of app visibility Apple will be taking.
⚡️⚡️⚡️HUGE ASO UPDATE IN iOS 15: NO SCREENSHOTS FOR THE INSTALLED APPS — MORE VISIBILITY TO NEW APPS pic.twitter.com/9k2GSOwkzb
— ilia kukharev (@ilyakuh) June 8, 2021
As it currently stands, when a user searches for an app or a general category ie: social media, every app listed will sport three screenshots. Regardless of whether the user has already installed the app on their device, the search results will show the app with its included screenshots. While this might not be a huge issue for the publishers of well-established apps, this method impacts the developers and publishers of smaller apps in a major way.
Based on how it appears in the screenshot Kukharev provided, iOS 15 will change the way the App Store displays already installed apps. It appears as though they will only display the icon, name, rating, and the ‘Open’ button. This will lead to more discoverability as apps that are already installed are more compact, leaving other apps to be prominently displayed.
As iOS 15 gets in the hands of additional developers, more features not prominently discussed during WWDC will likely be unearthed.
