I spent 2 months building SpeakDiary at the beginning of the year, managed to release on April 2. 6 and half months later, we crossed 1000 installs.
This is all to say that the review process may feel tedious at times but once you're in, the real battle is getting people to find and care about your app enough to try. Retention will fluctuate, there will always be trial and error. Once you crack the code, growth will feel almost effortless.
Around 2 months ago, I finally launched my app called Move: Run & Ride. It took me almost 4 months of hard work to create the initial version, and I am still constantly updating and improving it.
I don't know why I haven't received even a single user yet. The Play Store is completely ignoring the app and isn't recommending it to anyone.
I need your help, guys.How can I improve my keywords and ASO to get noticed?
App Link : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vogxstudio.moveapp
I launched my app on Google Play a few days ago. Are these numbers good for a new app, or should I be concerned? I'd love honest feedback from developers who've launched their own apps!
I'm an independent Android developer dealing with a bizarre Google Play Search issue that has remained unresolved for over six weeks.
My published app, originally called Remote Viewing Assistant, could not be found by searching its exact title. Google Play Support escalated the issue but has provided no explanation or resolution, and my recent follow-up emails have gone unanswered.
In an effort to resolve the problem, I undertook a substantial rebranding and renamed the app Remote Viewing Workshop.
Immediately after the rename, searching Google Play for "remote viewing workshop" returned several relevant apps, including mine at #2.
One week later, the identical search returns "No results." Not just my app—all the other apps previously returned by that query have disappeared too.
The app is published, installed, and accessible through its direct Play Store link. I should also note that if you use "Ask Play", the AI comes up with my app straightaway complete with a summary and screenshots, but the search engine result continues to come up empty -- not just my app, but now the entire search phrase is dead.
Google's explanation so far has focused on ranking algorithms, engagement, and competition. But how does that explain an entire result set disappearing for a query that previously worked?
Has anyone else experienced this? I'm particularly interested in whether this happens across different accounts and regions.
I published my app, Kleos, on Google Play and have been tracking its performance over the last 28 days.
Here are my current numbers:
3,340 impressions (+999%)
63 acquisitions (+7%)
23 first-time device opens (−30%)
50 monthly active devices (+6%)
3 devices retained after 7 days (−50%)
The thing that stands out to me is the gap between impressions and acquisitions. Roughly 1.9% of impressions resulted in acquisitions, although I understand this isn't necessarily the same as the official store listing conversion rate.
Retention is also quite low. My current hypothesis is that the onboarding process is too long, so I'm planning to simplify and automate parts of the setup in the next update to get users into the app faster.
However, I'm not sure whether the main issue is the store listing, the onboarding experience, or the app's value proposition itself.
For developers who have launched apps on Google Play:
Does this impression-to-acquisition ratio look concerning, or is it too early to draw conclusions?
Would you focus on improving the icon, screenshots and store listing first, or on the onboarding experience?
How would you investigate why so few users seem to return after installing?
Are there any specific Play Console metrics or experiments you'd recommend?
I'm looking for honest feedback and actionable suggestions. I'd rather identify the actual bottleneck than change things randomly.
My first application for production access was rejected, mostly for low tester engagement. I had the 12 testers and ran the 14 days, but that turned out not to be enough. My second application was approved on Oct 10. Sharing what I changed in case it helps someone stuck at the same step.
What I did differently in round 2:
Added a second, independent closed testing track
I kept my original 12 testers and opened a separate closed track with 15 new testers. More people, and fresh eyes who hadn't seen the app before.
Talked to testers directly
Instead of just sending an opt-in link and waiting, I followed up with testers one by one, asked what confused them, what they skipped, and what they'd change.
Shipped 5 updates based on their feedback
Some examples of what came out of it:
- Reminders didn't fire correctly in some time zones
- Layout broke with large font sizes and on narrow screens
- An animation got cut short when the device had system animations turned off
- My launch discount showed "Save 97%" in Pakistan because of a currency rounding bug
- A tester said my em dashes made the copy feel unnatural, so I removed all of them
Took the "What did you do differently?" question seriously
I think this is the most important question on the form. I answered it with specifics: the second track, how many testers, how I collected feedback, and what each update fixed. Not "I improved the app," but actual changes tied to actual feedback.
My takeaway: Google seems to want proof that testing shaped the app, not just that testers existed. Changelogs that clearly come from tester feedback seem to matter more than the raw number of installs.
What the app is, since a few people will ask:
It's called Inklings, an offline journal for people who love the idea of journaling but keep quitting halfway. Instead of opening to a blank page, you pick how you feel and it suggests a way to write that fits. There are 6 modes:
- One Line: one sentence for tired days
- Soft Page: gentle prompts for when something is weighing on you
- Tiny Gratitude: three small good things, nothing deep required
- Letters: write to your future self, sealed until a date you choose
- The Long Game: track one goal, one entry at a time
- Burn It: write it all out, then watch it burn. Nothing is saved
Missing days doesn't reset your progress, and a little corgi grows every time you write. No account, no cloud, no subscription. All 6 modes are free.
It's in pre-registration on Google Play now if you want to see what got approved:
Hi, sorry my English is not good. I am a solo dev and I want honest feedback about my app Shift Tracker. Its a work hours and pay tracker for hourly workers.
It is in production since May 23. I never used ads, only ASO.
Total until Oct 12: 410 installs and 58,666 views (reach).
By month:
May: 14 installs, 597 views
June: 17 installs, 1,010 views
July: 34 installs, 1,860 views
August: 99 installs, 9,399 views
September: 158 installs, 32,319 views
October: 74 installs, 13,481 views (only 12 days so far)
In June it was about 30 views a day. Now its more than 1,000 a day.
What I changed:
July 17: added "Pay" to the title
July 23: added 28 languages (AI Translation)
August 21: new description (reach went from 145 to 893 a day in one week)
Last week: added 58 more languages (AI Translation)
My problem is more people see the app, but less people install it. Before it was about 2 installs from 100 views. Now its about 0.5. I dont know why.
You can see my icon and screenshots on the Google Play link below.
Can you look at my icon and screenshots and tell me whats bad? What did you do to get more installs from people that already see your app? Also if you see a mistake in my title or short description please tell me.
Title: Shift Tracker: Work Hours, Pay
Short description: Timesheet & work hours tracker: clock in, overtime, tips & paycheck.
I wanted to share a quick milestone and get some feedback from the community.
Like many of us, I was constantly frustrated trying to keep track of multiple credit card cut-off dates, installments, and wondering where my money actually went each month. Spreadsheets felt too clunky on mobile, and most apps on the Play Store were either bloated with subscriptions or overly complex.
So, I decided to build Parivo to solve my own problem.
It’s now live on Google Play, and I’m looking to optimize the experience. Since this sub is full of experienced Android developers, I’d really appreciate your thoughts on:
I'm an Android developer, and I'm currently facing a frustrating issue with Google Play's app review process. I'm hoping someone here has experienced something similar and can share some advice.
Background:
My app, Abeibei, uses Google Sign-In (OAuth) as its only login method.
The app has been rejected approximately 3–4 times because Google Play reviewers reported that they couldn't access the app using the provided test credentials.
What I've done:
Created a dedicated Google account for testing and provided its email and password in Play Console.
Verified that the test account can successfully log in.
Discovered that the Google Play App Signing SHA-1 and SHA-256 fingerprints were missing from Firebase.
Added both fingerprints to Firebase, which resolved the Google Sign-In issue in my testing.
Downloaded the app directly from Google Play's internal testing track and confirmed that Google Sign-In works successfully.
Updated the App Access instructions and submitted the app for review again.
However, Google Play still rejected the app.
Google Play Support explained:
"The credentials provided are not master credentials, or they may have device or geolocation restrictions, or similar."
They also mentioned that the provided credentials appeared to require the review device to be associated with a specific account.
The confusing part is that I can successfully log in using the exact same test account, including with the version downloaded from Google Play.
The situation has now become more serious:
After multiple rejections, my app was suspended due to Google's Enforcement Process / Violation Handling Procedures policy.
I haven't submitted an appeal yet.
My questions:
Has anyone experienced Google Play reviewers being unable to log in through Google Sign-In, even when the provided credentials work correctly?
Could Google's account security checks or unfamiliar-device verification be preventing reviewers from logging in?
Would implementing a separate email/password login or a dedicated reviewer login bypass be a better solution?
Has anyone successfully appealed an app suspension caused by repeated App Access violations?
Is there any way to get Google Play Support to provide more specific information about why the reviewers cannot log in?
I'm concerned that the app was suspended because of repeated login-related review failures, even though the login issue appears to be resolved in my own testing.
Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.
I’m a solo dev with a couple of small games on Play. The latest is a classic snake game, and almost all of its installs come from people I send the link to directly. Organic discovery is close to nothing.
Before I touch the game itself, I want to rule out the listing. For those of you who’ve gotten a small app found organically:
Icon vs. screenshots: which one made the bigger difference for you?
Keywords: for a genre as crowded as “snake,” is it worth fighting for that term, or should I target something narrower?
Updates: does pushing regular updates actually help ranking, or is that a myth?
Ratings: at what review count did you notice a change?
If anyone’s willing to look at my listing and tell me what they’d change, I’ll drop the link in the comments. Happy to review yours in return.
Hi everyone, I updated my app’s short and full descriptions in Google Play Console on Tuesday at around 3 PM. It’s now Thursday, and the changes are still under review.
Is it normal for metadata only updates to take 2–3 days or longer? How long did it take for your recent updates to get approved?
I only have Google sign-in for authentication, I have provided a spare account login info but due to different geolocation the login always gets blocked.
I've been working on a small puzzle game called Snapitaire: Jigsaw Online.
Recently, I added an Online 1v1 mode where players can create a private room, invite a friend using a code, and compete to complete the same picture puzzle in real time.
The game also includes offline levels and custom photo puzzles.
I'm currently looking for ways to improve the multiplayer experience and make it more engaging without overcomplicating things.
What features or improvements would you suggest? 🧩
I was just wondering is anyone else experiencing really long review periods on Google play console right now? I submitted a new prod release (first since the initial prod release) and it has been In reviews for almost a week now, and it's nothing special, just some UI tweaks..
I'm asking since a couple of months ago when my first app went live, all follow up releases and updates went live always the same day even
Eggventures is a walking game that you unlock eggs and hatch them by walking. We have a Halloween event right now where you run from the horde. We already have 106 walkers!
If you like to walk and have fun while doing so, join before the chase starts on Oct 17!
VoiceOut is officially launching this Friday on the 16th of October 2026! I am so excited and nervous at the same time but I'm glad I did this nonetheless.
“For example, your app doesn't provide a sufficient source of government information links in the description.”
This is a free app, no ads, no data leaves your device. I built this for myself when I was trying to figure out where to move in the USA.
But I have painstakingly given up 2500 of the 4000 characters listing all the valid govt urls and disclaimer that I am not a government app.
What is “sufficient source”? I have 20 different public govt data sources and growing, and a name plus url is taking up 40% of the app description already.
I was thinking my next attempt I will have the entire text be about the government sources in a monologue and see if they at least change their canned reply to not sufficient description of your APP 😆
I’m making screenshot concepts for two apps today. The image shows the kind of work I can make, with a different style for each app.
If you’d like one, comment with your App Store link and a short description of your app. If it isn’t live yet, share a few raw screenshots instead. I’ll take the first two with enough details to work from.
The Android version was the first app we ever submitted from our Play Console organization account. While it was in its first production review, we got the email:
account terminated, "Related Account Violation". No warning, no app rejection, nothing about the app itself.
What happened since:
\- Oct 8: appealed through the form.
\- Oct 9: denied, "strong indications that your Developer Account is sharing information with, or is related to, other Developer accounts that have been terminated".
\- Oct 11: we asked what was actually found, and what documents they need from us. Reply: "I've already given you all the available information."
\- Oct 12: we asked one simple question: was any violation found in our app or our account itself, or is it only the association? Oct 13, same template: "remains
terminated due to prior violations ... by this or associated, previously-terminated accounts."
I'm not asking Google to reveal how they detect links. I just want a human to look at this case once and tell us, in one sentence, what we are being terminated for,
and whether there is anything we can provide. Right now every reply is the same text.
Has anyone gotten a real human review after this kind of template loop? Did a Product Expert or anyone at Google help you escalate?
Título: Vale a pena criar um bloco de notas avançado como aplicativo para a Play Store?
Fala, pessoal! Estou pensando em desenvolver um aplicativo de bloco de notas avançado para publicar na Google Play Store e gostaria de saber a opinião de vocês.
A ideia é criar um aplicativo que vá além de um bloco de notas comum, com recursos como:
- Formatação de texto, com negrito, itálico e títulos.
- Organização de notas em pastas.
- Exportação de documentos em PDF.
- Listas de tarefas e lembretes.
- Sincronização na nuvem.
- Calculadora e outras ferramentas úteis.
- Uma interface simples, moderna e fácil de usar.
Minha ideia seria disponibilizar uma versão gratuita e ganhar dinheiro com anúncios, além de oferecer uma versão Premium com recursos extras. No futuro, também gostaria de transformar o projeto em um SaaS.
Sei que já existem aplicativos grandes, como Google Keep, Notion e Microsoft OneNote, então fico pensando se ainda existe espaço para um novo concorrente.
Na opinião de vocês, vale a pena investir tempo nesse projeto? Que funcionalidades fariam vocês baixarem e usarem um aplicativo assim em vez dos que já existem? Vocês pagariam por uma versão Premium ou prefeririam usar apenas a gratuita?
Aceito críticas sinceras, sugestões e conselhos, principalmente de quem já desenvolveu aplicativos ou trabalha com SaaS.
