App Growth Decision Playbook
Source ledger
Date checked for every row: 2026-10-23. All rows were re-checked for this release; S10 and S18 use the current canonical URLs noted below, and S22 remains a blocked historical row. Update owner for every row: Indevaro editorial. Re-verify all rows at least every 90 days and before each release (see design/PLAYBOOK_EDITORIAL_BRIEF.md §9).
Quote scope: the book paraphrases by default. "Paraphrase only" means no verbatim text is used. "Short quote" means at most one fragment under 15 words, in quotation marks, attributed.
Verification methods: direct text = current first-party page text read directly (including a documented canonical redirect); browser = page read in a browser (read only, no interaction); search index (historical) = page could not be read directly, so content was confirmed only through a search-engine snippet. A blocked row supports no active chapter claim and must be re-verified before it is used again.
S01 Creating your product page (Apple Developer)
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/product-page/App name and subtitle up to 30 characters each; keywords field 100 characters total; up to 10 screenshots; promotional text up to 170 characters and can be updated without a new app version; description changes need a new version.
S02 App Store search (Apple Developer)
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/search/Search results depend on text relevance (title, subtitle, keywords, primary category) and on user behavior (downloads, ratings and reviews, and more).
S03 Custom product pages (Apple Developer)
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/custom-product-pages/Up to 70 additional product page versions; can vary screenshots, promotional text and app previews; can have their own keywords and unique URLs; usable in Apple Ads; App Store Connect reports impressions, downloads and conversion per page. (The page's own average conversion figures are deliberately not used.)
S04 Product page optimization (Apple Developer)
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/product-page-optimization/Tests of icon, screenshots and app previews; up to three treatments; a test runs up to 90 days; traffic proportion is chosen; Apple suggests waiting for a treatment to reach at least 90% confidence; new metadata needs App Review; alternate icons must be in the app binary.
S05 Metric definitions — App Store Connect Analytics (Apple Developer Help)
https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/reference/metrics-definitions/Definitions of impressions (viewed > 1 second; includes product page views), product page views, conversion rate (total downloads and pre-orders ÷ unique-device impressions), first-time downloads, redownloads, paying users, proceeds, crashes; usage data based on users who opt in to share data; metrics shown only above minimum thresholds (for example at least five first-time downloads).
S06 App Review Guidelines (Apple Developer)
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/2.3.3 screenshots should show the app in use; 2.3.7 accurate keywords and no stuffing with trademarks, competitor names or irrelevant phrases; digital content or features consumed in the app generally use In-App Purchase, while §3.1.1(a) permits specified external-purchase links subject to entitlement and storefront conditions, including a broader no-entitlement rule for buttons, external links and calls to action in US storefront apps; attempts to manipulate reviews or rankings can lead to removal from the Developer Program.
S07 Ratings, reviews, and responses (Apple Developer)
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/ratings-and-reviews/The system rating prompt can be shown up to three times in a 365-day period; summary rating is per territory and can be reset with a new version, which Apple recommends sparingly; resetting does not remove written reviews; replies should be concise and without marketing language.
S08 Release a version update in phases (App Store Connect Help)
https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/update-your-app/release-a-version-update-in-phases/Phased release to users with automatic updates over 7 days (1%, 2%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 50%, 100%); pause for up to 30 days in total; anyone can still update manually.
S09 Auto-renewable subscriptions (Apple Developer)
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/subscriptions/Introductory offer types (free trial, pay as you go, pay up front); a customer can redeem one introductory offer per subscription group; developers can also create offer codes, promotional offers and win-back offers; App Store Connect has offer and cohort/retention views.
S10 Run A/B tests on your store listing (Play Console Help)
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/12053285Experiments can be run on the default or custom Store Listings. Play distinguishes one default graphics experiment from up to five localized experiments. Default graphics experiments test the icon, feature graphic and screenshots; localized experiments can also test descriptions in up to five selected languages. Experiments support up to 2 variants; audience percentage is split equally across variants; minimum detectable effect and confidence level are set by the developer; a difference below the minimum detectable effect is a draw; "More data needed" result; experiments stop automatically after 6 months; Google recommends testing one asset at a time.
S11 Create custom store listings (Play Console Help)
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9867158Up to 50 custom store listings; targeting by country/region, pre-registration, search keywords, custom audiences, a unique listing URL or a Google Ads campaign.
S12 Understand and grow your app's user base — acquisition reports (Play Console Help)
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9859173The page says that from June 2026 primary metrics are based on unique clicks and that from July 2026 store listing reports focus on intent clicks. Reports count unique users clicking Install, Open or Pre-register; click-through rate is the share of store-listing visitors who clicked one of those actions and replaces the legacy conversion rate. A store-listing visitor did not already have the app installed on any device; the default report includes new and returning users, and a user is counted once per day per dimension. Legacy store listing acquisitions remain available in Statistics and CSV exports. Traffic source "Google Play search" covers searches for the app's name or closely associated brand, while browsing, suggestions, charts and category searches count as "Google Play explore"; reports can be filtered by search term, country, language and (for ads and referrals) UTM source and campaign; peer benchmarks appear only when the peer set has enough data.
S13 Create and set up your app (Play Console Help)
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9859152App name up to 30 characters, short description up to 80, full description up to 4,000; repetitive or irrelevant keywords can lead to suspension.
S14 Metadata policy (Play Console Help)
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9898842Title, icon and developer name must not indicate store performance or ranking, price or promotion; the policy's common-violation examples list such text or images (e.g. "#1", "App of the year", "10% off") in listing assets; no unattributed or anonymous user testimonials in the description.
S15 View and analyze your app's ratings and reviews (Play Console Help)
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/138230The public Play rating is weighted towards recent ratings; ratings can be broken down by country, language, app version, Android version and device; guidance for replies (e.g. don't solicit or promote).
S16 User ratings, reviews, and installs policy (Play Console Help)
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9898684Do not manipulate ratings, reviews or installs; do not offer incentives for ratings; prompt in a clear, non-deceptive way.
S17 Google Play In-App Reviews API (Android Developers)
https://developer.android.com/guide/playcore/in-app-reviewReview dialog has a time-bound quota (may not show if called more than once in a short period); do not ask opinion or predictive questions before or while showing it.
S18 Android vitals (Android Developers)
https://developer.android.com/google/play/vitalsCore vitals include user-perceived crash rate and ANR rate; bad-behavior thresholds are 1.09% (crash) and 0.47% (ANR) overall, with 8% per phone model; above a threshold Play may reduce visibility or show a warning on the listing; Play assesses the last 28 days and data comes from users who allow it. The per-phone-model threshold is an app/device-model aggregate, not a version-slice threshold.
S19 Release app updates with staged rollouts (Play Console Help)
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/6346149Staged rollout percentage is chosen and does not increase automatically; halting stops additional users receiving the update; users are chosen at random; a new release started before the previous rollout completed uses the same group of users, depending on the percentage.
S20 Reddit Rules (Reddit Inc.)
https://redditinc.com/policies/reddit-rulesCommunities have their own rules enforced by moderators; Rule 2: abide by community rules, participate where you have a personal interest, do not spam or manipulate content; Rule 5: be authentic, do not mislead.
S21 Authenticity policy (X Help Center)
https://help.x.com/en/rules-and-policies/authenticityNo bulk, duplicative, irrelevant or unsolicited posting (content spam); no inauthentic use of engagement features (engagement spam); automation must follow X's Developer Policy and may not be used aggressively to manipulate traffic or engagement. (The former URL `/platform-manipulation` redirects here.)
S22 Spam — Community Standards (Meta Transparency Center)
https://transparency.meta.com/policies/community-standards/spam/No active book claim. Direct page read returned HTTP 429 on 2026-10-23; the earlier generic statement is retained only as a blocked historical lead and must not be used until directly verified.
S23 Acquisition — App Store Connect Analytics (Apple Developer Help)
https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/acquisition/acquisition/Acquisition source types: App Store search (includes views and downloads from ads shown in search results), App Store browse, app referrer, web referrer, App Clip, institutional; on iOS, taps from non-Safari browsers and from links inside other apps count as app referrer; source data can be filtered by territory and device; custom marketing campaigns can be tracked.
Deliberately not used
- Apple's average conversion figures on the custom product pages page: platform-wide averages across unlike apps; the book refuses conversion benchmarks.
- Android vitals memory thresholds and their future enforcement date: not needed for the book's decisions.
- Community pages that could not be read or confirmed: S22's Meta page returned HTTP 429 and remains a blocked historical row; group rules are not treated as platform-policy evidence.