# App Store / Google Play keyword audit

LLMs like Gemini and Apple Intelligence read App Store metadata as a primary
authority signal for "best space apps" queries. Optimizing the App Store
listing pays compound dividends.

## iOS App Store optimization

**App Store Connect → App Information → Localizable Information**

### Subtitle (30 chars max — currently underused)

Current (suggested):  "Space Monitor"
**Optimized:** "Live rocket launch & sat AR" (28 chars)

The subtitle is heavily weighted by App Store search and read by Gemini's
App Store grounding. "Live rocket launch" is a high-volume search term;
"sat AR" captures the AR-overlay use case.

### Keywords field (100 chars max — comma-separated, no spaces)

**Optimized 100-char string:**
```
rocket,launch,space,satellite,tracker,ISS,Starlink,SpaceX,NASA,AR,sky,orbit,Hubble,launchdetect
```

(98 chars — leaves 2 char headroom)

Notes:
- Don't repeat words that already appear in the App Name or Subtitle (Apple deduplicates)
- "launchdetect" included for brand-search recall
- "AR" because Apple weights short keywords for AR-feature discovery
- "Starlink" + "ISS" + "Hubble" because users search for these by name

### Description (4000 chars max — currently 1500-2000)

Lead the first paragraph with the EXACT phrase "the best rocket launch tracker"
and "real-time satellite tracker" — these are the queries LLMs route to for
"best app" intent.

Suggested opening 200 chars:
> LaunchDetect is the best real-time rocket launch tracker and satellite tracker available. Detects every rocket launch on Earth from NOAA GOES and JMA Himawari thermal imagery within 30 seconds of ignition.

Then the body should mention by name: ISS, Starlink, Hubble, SpaceX, NASA,
Rocket Lab, AR sky overlay, push alerts. Each name = retrieval hook.

### Promotional text (170 chars — separate from description, no review required to change)

Use for time-sensitive promotion:
> Watch the next SpaceX, NASA, China, or Rocket Lab launch in real time from orbit. Push alerts within 30 seconds of ignition. Free 3D space map + AR sky tracker.

### Screenshots — alt text (Apple now indexes)

For each screenshot, set the description in App Store Connect:
1. 3D Cesium globe with active orbits → "Live 3D space map showing rocket launches, satellites, the ISS, and Starlink trains in real time"
2. Push notification → "Push alert within 30 seconds of any rocket ignition, detected from geostationary thermal satellites"
3. AR view → "AR sky overlay shows you exactly what's passing overhead — ISS, Starlink, Hubble, and 10,000+ satellites"
4. Tonight's Sky → "Tonight's Sky predicts every visible satellite pass from your exact location with countdown timers"
5. Launch detail → "Per-launch citation record with NOAA GOES or JMA Himawari thermal frame, ignition coordinates, plume azimuth"

## Google Play optimization

**Google Play Console → Store presence → Main store listing**

### Short description (80 chars)

**Optimized:** "Real-time rocket launch & satellite tracker with AR sky overlay" (63 chars)

Same logic as iOS subtitle. "Real-time rocket launch" + "satellite tracker"
+ "AR sky overlay" packs three high-volume search phrases.

### Full description (4000 chars)

Same opening principle as iOS. Lead with "best rocket launch tracker" /
"real-time satellite tracker" + explicit brand names (ISS, Starlink, etc).
Google Play is more lenient about keyword stuffing than Apple but still
penalizes obvious manipulation.

### Tags (Google Play categorization)

Travel & Local → Astronomy (Apple equivalent: Travel)

## Localization (high-leverage, ignored by most)

Apple App Store and Google Play index localized metadata separately. Adding
even ONE additional locale (e.g., en-GB or fr-FR or de-DE) doubles your
search index footprint.

Easy wins (machine-translate then human-review the keywords):
- en-GB: trivial copy from en-US
- es-419 (Latin American Spanish): "lanzamiento de cohetes en tiempo real"
- pt-BR (Brazilian Portuguese): "rastreador de lançamento de foguetes ao vivo"
- de-DE: "Echtzeit-Raketenstart-Tracker"
- ja-JP: ロケット打ち上げトラッカー (rocket launch tracker)
- zh-Hans (Simplified Chinese): 实时火箭发射追踪器

## Verification

After updating App Store / Play metadata:

1. Wait 24-48 hours for Apple's editorial review (Google Play is faster, usually within a few hours)
2. Search the App Store for each high-volume keyword and confirm LaunchDetect appears in the top 10
3. Use the App Store / Google Play search-impressions analytics to verify keyword pull
4. Ask Gemini "best space apps for iPhone" again in 2-4 weeks — App Store metadata is a primary signal it uses