App does not show up in search results.

1) How long has the app been in the store? If it's a new app, it can take a day or two for it to be available throughout the App Store CDN.

2) App Store search and discovery in general has been abysmal for many years. Lots of people are in that situation - can't even search for their own app by name. There have been some minor improvements recently but it's still generally terrible. You can't rely on app store search - you have to do your own marketing outside the store. With the recent corporate reorg (different VP now in charge of the App Store) hopefully things will improve... <-- glass is half full

If you care to reveal the app name, perhaps someone can confirm, etc.

But yeah, as jp said, app store search has sucked for quite a while and is not the dev's friend.

"...you have to do your own marketing outside the store." Then why do we have to pay Apple 30% for nothing? This may be OK for the big developrs but for the little guys this *****. We should be able to sell directly to the customer.

Apple is for Apple...devs are just fodder to bring customers into the fold, but this dev has done well regardless, thank you very much. And again, this isn't new.

While I agree there's plenty of room for improvement, the 30% is not for "nothing". They provide the infrastructure to distribute apps (with on-demand resources, hosting of IAP content, etc.) dealing with all the security and customer support related to purchases. You can go on vacation and not worry about whether your server / eCommerce stuff is down or has been hacked. More importantly, with their strict app review policies and careful hardware marketing they've created a community of users who are not afraid to install new apps, and spend more money on apps than on other platforms. (At least that was still true last time I checked.)

They also handle ALL the paperwork of collecting sales taxes etc. You just get a direct deposit every month and literally don't have to lift a finger.

So yes I would love to see some improvements (customers also bought, free trials, promo codes for IAPs, maybe reply to reviews, better search, etc.) but personally I am OK with the current setup.

Oh big deal. We sell our books, audio material, Windows and OSX software (CDs and downloads) directly to our customers and maintain a close relationship with them and have done so since 1991. Our iOS Apps for iPad have to go via the App Store where Apple does nothing and collects 30% for nothing. Also, as the App Store is based in $USD and because of the current exchange rate our iPad Apps seem overpriced in our own country. If we sold directly this would not be the case. We're a small developer but have a niche education market.

If what Apple does really is "nothing", then even as a small developer you should be able to easily have your own mobile device market and global app store up and running in no time.

Good luck with that.

One of my apps has been in the App Store since 2008. I just typed its name in the search results today and dozens of the imitation apps which are probably more popular/successful show up before mine. As other have said, yeah, it is lousy. Not much anyone here can do about it. As for the percentage fee, Apple created the hardware, API, and distribution, and obviously controls access. If you want to make your app free, you get distribution for free as well. If you do not, then Apple takes their cut as your partner. If you don't like the terms, don't partner up.

It's 2023 now, and it seems that most of the time when I search the Apple App Store, using the EXACT name of an app, not only is it not at the top of the results, it often isn't in the results at all. Part of this, depends on whther I search from my Macbook or my iphone. The results seem to hide apps that are not compatible with devise on which I search. For Example, I just searched "contact mapping" on my MacBook, and nothing shows up. On my iphone, it did show up. Apple well knows I use both devices often. Such a waste of my time to have to search twice. And I only learned this after being a nerdy Apple customer with a Macbook, iPad and iPhone for 2 years now.

Ideally the search results on either device would show all options.

Or, at least, have a prominent reminder that I have to search again on my iPhone or Ipad to get the actual results from this search.

Doube Ugh!

Case in point on this issue: I searched for an app that I've installed previously because I wanted to reinstall it on my current Mac. It's an app called "Meeter for Zoom, Teams & Co."

A search on the Mac App Store for keyword "Meeter" brought it up as the 28th spot in the app list. I had to scroll pretty far down to see it. A ton of other unrelated or newer knock-off versions of the app appear above it in the list, with totally different app names that were nowhere near "Meeter." I had to search for exactly "Meeter for Zoom, Teams & Co" to get it to come up first.

I've worked in eCommerce and web marketing for years, and to me this seems like a bad algorithm, where Apple isn't prioritizing a partial match on app title, when they should be. If the search keyword is an exact match for part of an app title, it should show near the top... right? Obviously other factors are in play, but this has been an issue for years with the Mac Store search, and I don't seem to have the same problem when I search on my iPhone, as others have said. If the iPhone App Store search is in working order, I don't get why they still can't bring the Mac Store search up to speed in 2023. This isn't just about developers -- it's extremely frustrating as a user to not be able to easily find an app that I want to find, by name. I often end up just Googling "Mac app Meeter" or similar because Google gets it right, ironically. Apple/MacOS devs, please, please fix this so we don't have to rely on Google just to find the app we're looking for in the Mac App Store.

(Description of photo above: Screenshot showing Meeter app at 28th spot in search for "Meeter")

My app Stylistz is NOT appearing on search But other app StylistzSP appearing in search. Why?

It's Feb 2024, and it is happening on my app now.

I can not seach my app by it's name in app store, it appears last week.

We've been calling apple MANY times and their customer service said EVERYTHING LOOKS OK. We are still waiting for a RESPONSE. We're frastrated.

Apple, please have a look at this. Many companies are loosing customers and money because of a small bug and no one is caring about it.

It's 2024.03.25 it is happening on my app. I can not seach my app by its name in app store, it appears last week. bad apple!!!!!!

On 2020 OCT 2, it happens to my app too, my app suddenly disappeared in AppStore search result, even I search with its unique long name. It worked well before. I am losing 10k users everyday, how can I fix it?