Keyword Research
RespectASO provides comprehensive keyword research tools for the iOS App Store.
Searching Keywords
On the Keywords page, enter your keywords, comma-separated or one per line, and pick up to 5 countries. With Pro you can paste a whole list of up to 1,000 keywords and let RespectASO work through it in the background: switch tabs, keep working, even quit the app, and it picks up where it left off next time you open it. Searches line up in a queue you can reorder, and a quick one-keyword check can go first at any time. The free version researches 3 keywords per search. RespectASO queries the iTunes Search API to find which apps rank for each term. Results are displayed with expandable details for each keyword.
RespectASO does its background work while it runs and your Mac is awake, including the daily ranking refresh. Closing its window does not stop it: it keeps running in the menu bar, and it can open by itself when you log in (Settings → Mac App). The Docker version keeps working as long as the container runs.
Each search returns up to 200 results per keyword, showing you the full competitive landscape including the top 10 ranking apps with their icons, names, ratings, genres, and seller info.
Understanding Difficulty Scores
Every keyword gets a difficulty score from 1 to 100, calculated using a 7-factor weighted algorithm:
| Score | Tier | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| 1–15 | Very Easy | Almost no competition. Rank immediately with basic metadata. |
| 16–35 | Easy | Light competition. Achievable with good metadata. |
| 36–55 | Moderate | Meaningful competition. Requires strategic keyword targeting. |
| 56–75 | Hard | Strong competition from established apps. |
| 76–90 | Very Hard | Dominated by major apps. Breaking in requires exceptional execution. |
| 91–100 | Extreme | Category-defining keywords held by the world's largest apps. |
See Methodology for the full algorithm details including all 7 factors and their weights.
Popularity Scores
Popularity (1 to 100) says how sought after a keyword is compared with others, on Apple's scale. Higher values mean more potential traffic.
Insight Tags
Every keyword gets one of five color-coded tags, and each tag is one range of one number on its row, so a tag never disagrees with the numbers beside it. Low Volume reads the Downloads at #1 column: it depends on demand alone, so the same keyword in the same storefront is Low Volume for every app and at every difficulty. Every other tag reads the Opportunity score. Each tag says what to do with the keyword: target it now, target it and climb, or skip it. Hover a tag in the app for what it means for that row, for the app you track it for or for a brand new app.
- Sweet Spot: 10 or more downloads a day at the rank you can expect (Opportunity 70 and up). Your best targets.
- Good Target: 1 to 10 downloads a day (Opportunity 50 to 69). Worth the work.
- Supporting: one download every 10 days to 1 a day (Opportunity 30 to 49). Target it as a supporting keyword.
- Worth Climbing: less than that at the rank you can expect today, but #1 brings a download a day or more. Worth targeting: it pays more as the app climbs.
- Low Volume: even #1 brings under one download a day in that storefront. Skip it.
The tags do not judge difficulty a second time, because the Difficulty column already shows it and it already decides where an app lands. Read the two together: a keyword with real demand and a low difficulty is what ASO guides call a hidden gem, and its tag says what it is worth at the rank you can expect.
The Opportunity column shows one number per keyword, and the Keywords page says above it whose score it is: the app named under each keyword, or a new app for a keyword not tied to one. Apps land all over the results and a few reach the top, so the score averages the downloads over all of them. Hover a score for what it means for that app, in downloads a day. The Downloads at #1 column beside it is what the keyword pays whoever holds the top spot: the size of the prize, not what you would get.
Download Estimates
Expand any keyword to see estimated daily downloads for ranking positions 1 through 20. These estimates help you gauge the traffic potential of each keyword and set realistic growth expectations.
Tracking Rankings
When you add an app (from the Apps page) and search keywords, RespectASO highlights your app's rank in the results. Every keyword you search is tracked, so you see how your rank moves over time. Arrows (↑↓) show how rank, popularity and difficulty changed since the previous check.
- Every day: tracked keywords update by themselves while RespectASO runs, with nothing to set up
- One keyword: click the refresh icon on its row to update it now
- Update all now (in the table's ⋯ menu): updates every keyword in the app and country you are viewing
Labels
Group keywords your own way, with labels like seasonal, high intent or competitor. Tick keywords in the table, choose Labels in the bar that appears, and type a new label or pick one you already use. A label shows under its keyword in every country you track it in, and its × takes it off again.
The Labels filter shows only the keywords that carry the labels you pick, so a list of hundreds of keywords narrows to the group you are working on.
Country Opportunity Finder
Discover → Countries lets you scan a single keyword across the App Store storefronts you pick, in the background. For each country, it calculates an Opportunity Score (0 to 100): the downloads the keyword would bring in that country, averaged over where apps like yours land (or a brand new app, if you pick none). Because it is downloads, the countries compare fairly: a small market can only come out ahead when it genuinely pays more. Results are displayed in a ranked table with the best market highlighted in a "Best Opportunity" card. Each country also shows Downloads at #1 and the same Insight tag as the Dashboard.
This is ideal for developers targeting multiple markets: find where your keywords have the best chance of success.
Exporting Data
Export what the Keywords table shows as CSV, with the filters you have set. Each row has the keyword, its app and labels, popularity, difficulty, Opportunity, the Insight tag, your app's rank and the date, ready for a spreadsheet or for sharing with your team.
Country Support
RespectASO supports every App Store storefront Apple operates, 175 of them, from the United States and Japan to Bulgaria, Israel and Côte d'Ivoire. See the full list of supported countries, which also says where Apple publishes search popularity and where Apple offers an App Store listing language.
The keyword search covers up to 5 countries at a time. The Country Opportunity Finder has no limit: pick as many storefronts as you want and it works through them in the background.