| name | aso-audit |
| description | Audit an app's LIVE App Store / Google Play listing against ASO best practices and score every field — title, subtitle, keyword field, description, screenshots, reviews. Pulls real metadata via the asc / gplay CLIs, flags weak spots, and recommends fixes. Cross-platform (iOS + Android). Use to find ASO gaps before optimizing a listing. No paid ASO API. Use when the user says "audit my listing", "score my ASO", "what's wrong with my app store listing", "grade my metadata", or "find my ASO gaps". |
aso-audit
Scores a live store listing against ASO best practice and tells you exactly
what's weak. Reads the real listing (not guesses) via the asc / gplay CLIs.
Cross-platform — and the Google Play side is the open lane no public tool covers.
Inputs
--app <slug> (resolves the store ID via asc-id-resolver / gplay)--store <appstore|playstore|both> (default both)--locale <en-US>
What it pulls (live, owned data — no paid API)
- iOS:
asc migrate export --app <APP_ID> (reuse the asc-metadata-sync
skill) → name, subtitle, keywords, promotional text, description, what's-new.
- Android:
gplay metadata export (reuse gplay-metadata-sync) → title,
short description, full description.
- Screenshot/preview presence + count per device.
- Recent reviews + rating (reuse
gplay-review-management / asc reviews) for
the keyword-gap and sentiment signal.
What it scores (per field, 0–100 + flags)
| Field | Checks |
|---|
| Title | ≤30 (iOS) / ≤30 (Play)? |
| Subtitle / short desc | DISTINCT keywords from title (no waste)? ≤30 / ≤80? |
| Keyword field (iOS) | no spaces after commas (wastes chars)? no title/subtitle dupes? no filler/stop-words? exact plural/singular pairs? ≤100? |
| Description | keyword-rich first 3 lines (the visible part)? feature clarity? Play: keyword density without stuffing? |
| Promotional text (iOS) | PRESENT AT ALL? ≤170? time-sensitive rather than evergreen? not duplicating the description's opening? |
| Screenshots/preview | present for required device sizes? caption keywords? first 2 tell the story? |
| Reviews | rating trend, recurring complaint themes (feed back into listing + roadmap) |
Not checked: "is the primary keyword in the title?"
This was promised here and never implemented, and after building it three ways
it should stay unimplemented. Every version misfires:
- against the top tracked keyword — silent for an app whose keywords are all
unranked, which is most of them (#396), so it says nothing precisely when a
listing needs the most help;
- against any tracked keyword — flags a deliberate brand name whose subtitle
carries the keywords. "Who Got Cooked" + "AI-powered argument moderation" is a
correct listing, and a check that calls it broken is worse than no check.
A title is a branding decision with an ASO consequence, not a slot to stuff. The
honest checks are the ones that remain: length, and whether the subtitle wastes
characters repeating the title.
Promotional text — check for ABSENCE, not just quality
An empty field scores nothing and flags nothing unless you look for it. Heathen's
audit missed this: every populated field was scored, and 170 unused characters at
the top of the listing went unmentioned because there was no content to critique.
Always report promotional text as empty when it is empty. That is a finding,
not a non-event.
Why the field is worth the flag:
- It is NOT indexed. No keyword value, so it costs nothing from the 100-char
keyword budget. Do not recommend stuffing it with search terms.
- It is the only listing field editable WITHOUT submitting a new version.
That is the whole point: launches, seasonal hooks, press mentions, a response
to a competitor — all shippable same-day.
- It is therefore a free A/B surface for positioning. Iterate value props
here weekly, then promote the winner into the subtitle, where it does get
indexed. Testing copy in a field that requires review is slow; testing it here
is not.
Flag it as warn when empty, info when present but evergreen (a permanent
tagline wastes the one field that can be timely).
Output
Writes marketing/aso/<app>/audit-<date>.md:
- per-field score + specific flags ("keyword field has 3 dupes of the title;
reclaim ~22 chars")
- a prioritized fix list
- a recommendation to run aso-keyword-research for any gap, then
aso-metadata-optimization to generate + push the fix.
Honest limits
- It scores what's observable from the live listing + reviews; it doesn't have
licensed ranking data, so "you rank #X for keyword Y" is out of scope (bring a
paid export if you want that). Everything it flags is verifiable from your own
listing.
- Read-only: it never changes the listing. Fixes go through
aso-metadata-optimization (which emits commands for you to approve).
No external dependency
asc / gplay CLIs + your own listing data only. No paid ASO SaaS.
Run it weekly
Rank and listings move over weeks, not minutes — so the value here compounds when you re-run it and watch the deltas. Listings drift — a competitor moves, Apple tweaks a guideline, your own copy goes stale. A one-time audit is a snapshot; the value is in re-auditing and watching the grade move.
You ran this once. ShipASO — the hosted agent — reruns the whole loop weekly: it tracks your rank, watches competitors, and pings you only when there's a real move to approve. Same engine, your store credentials never held. → https://app.shipaso.com
The plugin is complete and free; the hosted tier just sells not having to remember.
