RankDeck guide
Compare App Store search rankings by country
The same phrase can put your app at number 4 in one country and outside the top 50 in another. Each App Store storefront has its own catalogue, competitors and ratings, so a ranking only means something together with its country.
Why your rank differs by country
- Different competitors. Some apps are only available in certain storefronts, and local apps can dominate a phrase in their home market.
- Different ratings. Ratings are counted per storefront. An app with many US ratings may have few in Germany.
- Different language. People search in their own language. An English phrase may be rare in a market where the local phrase does the work.
- Your own metadata. The name, subtitle and keywords you provide for each localization shape what your app can rank for there.
How to compare markets
- Pick the storefronts where you have users or plan to grow. Start with three to five rather than all 175.
- Check the same intent in each market, translated by a fluent speaker rather than copied word for word.
- Read the top results in each storefront before trusting a score. Are they apps that do what yours does?
- Save each phrase and storefront pair so later checks compare like with like.
Why difficulty is adjusted per market
Rating counts are much higher in large storefronts. A thousand ratings is a lot in a small market and modest in the US. RankDeck's difficulty estimate compares the same apps' local and US rating counts and adjusts for that storefront density, so smaller markets are not scored as artificially easy or hard. The scoring method is published in full.
Checking other countries without switching accounts
On an iPhone, the App Store shows the storefront of your Apple Account, and switching region is disruptive. RankDeck requests each storefront's results directly, so you can compare the US, the UK, Germany and Japan in one board from your Mac.
RankDeck by Notchbird costs $39 USD once, with updates included and activation on up to two Macs. It needs an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later. See the purchase details, the keyword research guide and the 14-day refund policy.
Common questions
Can I see App Store search results for another country?
On your own device you see your account's storefront. RankDeck checks any of the 175 App Store storefronts directly, without changing your Apple Account.
Does RankDeck translate keywords?
No. Enter the phrase you want to check for each market. Ask a fluent speaker to choose local phrases, since direct translations often miss how people actually search.
Which countries should I track first?
Start with the storefronts where you already get downloads, shown in App Analytics in App Store Connect, then add markets you plan to localize for.