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Apple is finally set to introduce A/B testing to its app store, and it has come not a minute too soon. Mobile marketers have used alternative ways to get these results, and they have not been the best solutions for many reasons. With this new release imminent, in this episode, we set expectations of what is and isn’t possible.
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KEY HIGHLIGHTS
⛏️ No more hacky A/B testing workarounds
🏄 What to expect from Product Page Optimization
FULL TRANSCRIPT BELOWOne of the big announcements at Apple’s WWDC this year was that A/B testing is *finally* going to be on the appstores.
For years, we’d had to use indirect ways to run these tests. Most often, we used the Google Play Dev Console experiments to get results that we’d use on iTunes – which was always a risk considering the kinds of users on those platforms are very different.
Some larger advertisers we work with had used what we’ve described as ‘fake app store pages’ to run A/B tests on iTunes, which again was risky given that the fake pages were, well, fake and it wasn’t clear if Apple frowned on these. Plus of course UA platforms such as Facebook would send different kinds of traffic to a fake web page as compared to a real app store, so it was never clear if these approaches were reliable.
With iOS 15 though, this is all set to change – with what Apple calls Product Page Optimization.
While the UI and specific implementation is still not announced, Product Page Optimization will live within iTunes – and you will be able to test icons, screenshots and app previews (which are preview videos) within iTunes.
You can test up to 3 variants of each of these elements, so that does allow you significant numbers of variables to test.
Plus: you can run separate tests in different geos – so you could be running multiple tests across geos.
What isnt yet clear is as to what the visualization of results will look like – but whatever it will be, it will be a step forward from right now.
While this is a big step, there are definitely limitations to what’s going to be available.
a. You do need to submit your app for review – every test asset needs to be approved by Apple – so it isnt quite going to be ‘plug and play’ like Google Play is.
b. You still cannot AB test the app name, subtitle or description. The name and subtitle in particular can be very critical levers to conversion – and there seems to be no way to evaluate these just now.
c. You can’t segment your results by sources of traffic – not even new or returning users; so your overall results will be somewhat high level.
With all this said, the coming changes are a huge step forward after what seemed like years of inertia – and we’re excited to see movement and progress on this front.
A REQUEST BEFORE YOU GO
I have a very important favor to ask, which as those of you who know me know I don’t do often. If you get any pleasure or inspiration from this episode, could you PLEASE leave a review on your favorite podcasting platform – be it iTunes, Overcast, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast fix. This podcast is very much a labor of love – and each episode takes many many hours to put together. When you write a review, it will not only be a great deal of encouragement to us, but it will also support getting the word out about the Mobile User Acquisition Show.
Constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement are welcome, whether on podcasting platforms – or by email to shamanth at rocketshiphq.com. We read all reviews & I want to make this podcast better.
Thank you – and I look forward to seeing you with the next episode!