Introduction
We released the Redbox Toolbox in 2019 as a way for indie developers to take their first steps into the world of ASO. We’re now following some of our own advice by changing the name of our tool to “ASO Toolkit” so that’s easier to find!
It’s okay, we understand you indie developers may not have heard of Redbox Mobile! We were voted ASO Company of the Year in 2020 so we know our stuff! Our typical client base is multi-national companies with large marketing budgets, that ask us to improve their metadata and ranking in the App Store.
This comes with a cost, and for many, making apps is just a hobby or a side project so spending thousands on your App Store marketing simply isn’t an option so, we created our tool as a low-cost entry to App Store Optimization.
This year, we’re taking our own ASO advice by rebranding the “Redbox Toolbox” to “ASO Toolkit” as finding it in the App Store sea of apps was proving difficult at times. However, we’re not just rebranding, we’ve also taken the time to rewrite the app from scratch, in SwiftUI, to optimise your in-app experience.
Update Details
Now you know why we’re changing our name, we can show you which new features are available (so far) in the updated ASO Toolkit app!
First impressions count so we’ve made the home screen (or sidebar on iPad) easier to glance at with visible app icons, a Recently Viewed section and access to an even greater number of tools.
We’ve streamlined our search functionality too, so instead of always searching the App Store, you’ll also be able to filter apps that you’ve saved previously or ones that you own when linking your App Store Connect account.
Once you’ve selected an app you’d like to analyse, you’ll be taken to the App Overview screen which is where you’ll find all of the metrics relevant to your app. Tapping on one of them will take you to the relevant tool so you can find out more and take action.
The App Overview also allows you to manage any competitor apps you may have and view some extra details about your app. On each tool, and the App Overview, you can change the country or language that the data is relevant too.
Metadata is arguably the biggest part of ASO so it’s no secret that we have made the most changes here! In the new update, you’re now able to create drafts of metadata which allows you to prototype different variations of your Title, Subtitle etc. depending on an app update, event or time of year.
Publishing the changes to App Store Connect is just a few taps away too so you’ll never need to leave the app. We’ve added support for comparing more than one competitor’s metadata too and you’ll now see metadata inside App Store Connect alongside the live App Store metadata.
Keyword rankings also play a big part of ASO, so we’ve made some improvements here too. You’ll now be able to view trends at a glance and even compare your app against a competitor’s on the timeline graph. We’ve also added support for grabbing live keyword rankings, as App Store rankings can change every hour!
The Category Rankings tool has been refined to fit in more details on bigger screens and makes it easier to compare those rankings against competitor apps. There’s now support for viewing all apps in the category.
We’ve also made improvements to our other tools that can be accessed from the home screen and even introduced a few new ones.
First up, the Storefront Switcher is one of our most used features and allows you to quickly change the region the App Store is using straight from your device.
This allows you to see if your app has been featured in that country or you can perform a search as if you were a user in that location and to see the rankings of apps, stories, and the ad placement.
We’re pleased to introduce the ASO Guides and ASO Tips tools which are great for ASO beginners. They both provide a clear insight into best practices for ASO and give you helpful hints on which tools to use in the ASO Toolkit to improve your app’s place in the App Store. If you’re an ASO expert already, we’d love to hear some of your tips!
The Metadata Prototype tool allows you to quickly type out an app’s metadata strategy without first creating a draft. If you’d like to add it to an app’s draft, you can do that too! The Keyword Lookup tool is a simple tool that makes it quick to search the App Store and see which apps rank for a specific keyword.
What Next?
That concludes all of the features we’ve added so far to the new ASO Toolkit app but we’ve still got plenty more to come!
If you’d like to help shape the future of the ASO Toolkit, there’s no time like the present - we’re currently looking for beta testers who will be happy to share their thoughts on the new beta and report any bugs to us.
If that sounds like you, please fill out this form and we’ll get you added to the TestFlight beta as soon as possible: https://bit.ly/3zYCvxY