Make the most of iOS 15’s updates to the App Store

The final version of iOS 15.0 was released on September 20. While there are no major changes in the OS itself, Apple touts this new wave of updates will present faster, more stable and convenient operations for users.

But what’s really important are a number of updates that will greatly affect developers and their apps’ presence on the App Store. There hasn’t been this big of a change since iOS 11 was released over four years ago.

With iOS 15.0’s new updates come new opportunities for developers, giving them more freedom and opportunity to test and market their work across this OS. Let’s break down how developers can make the most of iOS 15.0 and what these updates mean for the wider app community.

Optimizing your product page with A/B testing

Updated product pages are the most anticipated feature of this update. Developers now have access to a tool for testing icons, screenshots and videos that are accessible directly from the App Store Connect management console, which will help gauge the impact of visuals on potential users.

Within the App Store ecosystem, the icon being tested must be inside the app build and it must successfully pass the App Review approval process before it can become available to all users.

During this process, moderators check the app for prohibited content, inconsistencies, etc. that may impact user experience. How does this impact uploads? We’ve already seen the results through updates within the Google Play Store (which has a similar implementation), where the app icon for testing can be uploaded without an app update and does not require approval from the moderators.

Screenshots and videos have a similar process. All of these elements must be reviewed first, and only then can they be used for testing purposes. The final difference is that the ability to test the subtitle (a brief description of the app) in Google Play is not available in App Store Connect.

This matters because developers can finally try different icons, subtitles, etc. to measure what may have the most impact on consumers checking out a product page. These results are available in the App Analytics section of the App Store Connect console. Developers can evaluate changes in conversion, compare page performance and decide whether to keep the new screenshots/icons or roll back to older assets.