the short version
- To check an App Store listing, look at seven things: title, subtitle, screenshots, description, ratings, icon and how recently you shipped an update.
- The free grader reads your public listing, scores each part out of 100, weights them into a total and gives a plain fix for anything weak.
- The character limits are Apple’s. Thresholds like an update in the last 60 days are our own rules of thumb.
In this post11 sections
To check whether your App Store listing is pulling its weight, look at seven things: the title, subtitle, screenshots, description, ratings, icon and how recently you shipped an update. The free App Store listing grader does this for you. Paste your App Store link and it returns a score out of 100, a letter for each part, and a plain fix for anything weak.
Here’s what it looks at and why each part matters.
How the score is worked out
Each part gets a score out of 100, then the parts are weighted into a total:
| Part | Share of total |
|---|---|
| Title | 20% |
| Screenshots | 20% |
| Subtitle | 15% |
| Description | 15% |
| Ratings | 15% |
| Last update | 10% |
| Icon | 5% |
Letters run A (90+), B (80+), C (65+), D (50+) and F (below 50). If a part can’t be read, it’s left out rather than scored as zero.
To be clear about where the rules come from: the character limits are Apple’s. Thresholds like “an update in the last 60 days” or a target number of ratings are our own rules of thumb, not Apple policy.
Title (20%)
Apple gives you 30 characters for the app name. A strong title says what the app does after the brand name, using a word people actually search for. “Lumo” tells a stranger nothing. “Lumo: Sleep Sounds” tells them what they’re getting and gives search something to match.
Subtitle (15%)
Another 30 characters, shown under the name in search results. It shouldn’t repeat words from the title, because Apple already indexes those. Lead with what people get, not a slogan.
Apple’s public lookup API doesn’t return subtitles, so the grader has a separate box for it. Paste it in to have it graded. Leave it empty and the total is worked out without it.
For how to write the subtitle, keywords and description, see the App Store words next to your screenshots.
Screenshots (20%)
Apple allows between 1 and 10 screenshots per device size, per language. The grader looks for at least three and does best with six to ten, plus an iPad set if your app runs on iPad. A full set lets you show the main thing the app does first, then the next few reasons to keep it.
If your screenshots are the wrong size to begin with, the screenshot sizer covers Apple’s current required sizes.
Description (15%)
Only the first few lines show before people tap “more”. The grader checks that those lines say what the app does, and that there’s enough below them to explain it properly. The description can run to 4,000 characters, but the top two lines do most of the work.
Ratings (15%)
How many ratings the app has in your store, and the average. You can’t fix this in an afternoon, but you can ask happy users at the right moment, using Apple’s built-in review prompt rather than a pop-up on first launch.
Last update (10%)
Days since your last release. Anything within 60 days gets full marks. An app that hasn’t been touched in a year looks abandoned, even if it works fine.
Icon (5%)
The grader only checks that an icon is there. It can’t judge whether it’s good. For sizes and export rules, see the app icon size generator.
Is anything saved?
No. Your browser asks Apple’s public iTunes Lookup API for the listing, which is the same data anyone can see on the App Store. Nothing you paste is sent to us or stored.
FAQ
What’s a good score?
There’s no official benchmark. Treat it as a checklist: fix the lowest-scoring parts first, then grade again.
Why is my subtitle missing?
Apple’s lookup API doesn’t share subtitles. Paste yours in the optional box.
Does it work for Google Play?
Not yet. It reads App Store listings only.
Will a higher score mean more downloads?
It means fewer obvious gaps. Downloads still depend on whether the screenshots and copy make someone want the app.
A second opinion
Ignura is a launch studio for consumer apps, prosumer tools and B2B. We design App Store screenshot sets and listing copy for apps getting ready to launch. If you want to go through your grade together, book a free 15-min call.
