The plan to improve the discovery of app store using APEL’s App Tagging techniques is now available in the developer beta build of iOS 26.
However, tags do not yet appear on the public app store, nor are they informing the App Store Search Algorithm at the public store.
Of course, with any upcoming app store updates, there is speculation about how changes will affect an app search ranking.
A new analysisSFor example, by app intelligence provider APFIGURES, it suggests that the metadata extracted from the screenshot of the app is affecting its ranking.
The firm said that Apple was extracting text from screenshot caption. First, only the name, subtitle and keyword list of the app will be counted towards its search rankings, it said.
The conclusion that the screenshot is notified the discovery of the app, is accurate, is based on what Apple has announced in its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC 25), but the way Apple is extracting that data, that data is incorporating that data, not the OCR technology.
At its annual developer conference, Apple reported that screenshots and other metadata will be used to help improve the discovery of the app. The company said that it is using AI techniques, which would otherwise be buried in the details of the app, its category information, its screenshot or other metadata, for example. This also means that developers should not need to take other steps to add keywords to the screenshot or affect the tag.
This allows Apple to assign a tag to better classify the app. Finally, developers will be able to control which of these AI-assigned tag will be associated with their apps, the company said.
In addition, Apple assured the developers that humans would review the tag before it is live.
Over time, it will be important for developers to understand the tag better and which will help find their app, when tags reach the global app store users.
