App Store competitor tracking · 8 min read
How to track App Store competitors without making a false comparison.
Competitor tracking becomes useful only when both apps are measured inside the same chart scope. This guide explains how to choose a fair comparison, read the gap, and avoid conclusions the public data cannot support.
The short version
- Track a small set of direct, aspirational, and market-similar competitors.
- Calculate a gap only for the same country, category, Free or Paid chart, and time window.
- Review each storefront independently instead of averaging countries.
- Combine the current gap with both apps’ direction and historical curves.
- Use public ranking data to investigate a change, not to claim causation automatically.
Choose competitors a user could genuinely compare
Begin with apps solving a similar problem for a similar audience. The biggest app in a broad category may be interesting, but it is not always the most useful operational benchmark for an indie product.
Build a small set: one direct product competitor, one aspirational leader, and one app with a similar market or distribution model. A focused list produces clearer decisions than dozens of unrelated names.
Require the same category and Free or Paid chart
A numerical gap is meaningful only when both apps appear in the same primary category, storefront, and price-type chart. Comparing #20 in Books with #20 in Education creates a neat number but no valid competitive signal.
RankMemo checks category and Free or Paid compatibility before calculating a gap or overlaying curves. When the scopes differ, the product explains the mismatch rather than manufacturing a comparison.
- Same storefront
- Same primary category
- Same Free or Paid chart
- Observations close enough in time
Keep competitor timelines separate by country
Your closest competitor in France may be invisible in Canada. Storefronts reflect different launches, localisation, brand awareness, and seasonal patterns, so averaging countries hides the story you need to see.
Choose the markets where both apps compete and review each one independently. Add a country only when it can change a product, localisation, or acquisition decision.
Read the rank gap together with direction
A ten-place gap means something different when both apps are stable, when you are closing quickly, or when the entire category is moving. Record the current gap, each app’s 24-hour change, and the recent curve.
If one app leaves the covered chart, label it outside coverage rather than assigning an invented rank. The gap is then unknown until both apps return to comparable positions.
- Current rank gap
- 24-hour movement for both apps
- Seven-day direction
- Chart-entry, exit, and milestone events
Investigate divergence instead of assuming causation
When your app rises while a competitor falls, check release timing, featured placements, pricing changes, campaigns, reviews, and storefront metadata. These clues help form a hypothesis, but public rank history cannot prove the cause by itself.
The most reliable use is comparative timing: what changed, where it changed, how long it lasted, and whether the same pattern appeared in another country.
Alert on competitive events, summarise the rest
Immediate notifications are useful when you overtake a selected competitor, enter a chart they already occupy, or experience a confirmed sharp loss while their position stays stable. Routine gap changes belong in a daily or weekly review.
This keeps competitor monitoring actionable. The system should tell you when the relationship changes, not demand attention every time either app moves one place.
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