Ever noticed how some apps seem to be everywhere, while others sit quietly in the App Store collecting dust despite being genuinely useful? If you’ve built an iOS app and you’re watching the download numbers crawl along, you are not alone. Getting more iOS app installs is one of the most common and frustrating challenges for app owners, developers, and founders, and the solution is rarely as simple as “just market it more.”
The good news is that increasing your installs comes down to two things working together: getting more people to discover your app in the first place, and then convincing the people who find it to actually hit that download button. Both matter equally. Nail one and ignore the other, and you’ll always be leaving growth on the table.
Start With App Store Optimisation
App Store Optimisation (ASO) is essentially SEO for the App Store. It is how you make your app show up when someone searches for something relevant. Most app owners underestimate how much of their organic App Store downloads come through search, so this is genuinely worth spending time on.
Keywords, Title, and Subtitle
Your app title and subtitle carry the most weight for search rankings. Include your most important keyword naturally in the title if you can, and use the subtitle to reinforce what the app does for the user. Apple also gives you a 100-character keyword field in App Store Connect — use it wisely. Do not repeat words already in your title; instead, fill it with relevant terms that real users are likely to search for.
Tools like Sensor Tower, AppFollow or even a simple Google search can help you identify what terms your potential users are actually typing. Think about the problem your app solves, not just what your app is called.
Screenshots and App Preview Videos
Your screenshots are your shop window. Many people decide whether to install an app before they’ve even read a word of the description, so strong visuals matter enormously. Show the app in action, lead with your most compelling feature, and use short captions that speak to the benefit rather than just describing what’s on screen.
An app preview video can boost your App Store conversion rate noticeably. Keep it under 30 seconds, show real functionality early, and don’t waste the opening frames on an animated logo.
Your App Icon
The icon is the first impression, and it travels everywhere your app does — search results, featured lists, your users’ home screens. Keep it simple, bold, and distinctive. A cluttered icon that looks fine on a big screen often becomes unreadable as a small thumbnail. Test a few options if you can, because small changes here can have a real impact on click-through rates.
Ratings and Reviews
An app sitting at 3.2 stars will lose installs to a competitor with 4.6 stars, even if your app is technically better. Encourage genuine reviews by asking users at the right moment — after a successful action, not when they’ve just hit a bug or loading screen. Apple’s native review prompt is the right tool for this. Don’t incentivise reviews in ways that violate App Store guidelines, and always respond to negative feedback professionally. It signals to future users that someone is actually listening.
Driving Discovery Beyond the App Store
Organic App Store search is valuable, but it is not everything. The most consistent app download growth tends to come from building multiple acquisition channels. Here are five such examples:
1) Apple Search Ads
Apple Search Ads places your app at the top of relevant App Store search results and tends to have strong conversion rates because the intent is already there. The user is actively searching. You should begin by launching exact-match ads centred on your most valuable keywords. See you cost per install and grow from there once you find out what works.
2) Meta and Google Ads
Ads on Meta (Facebook and Instagram), Google and even TikTok, when executed properly, can result in a substantial increase in the number of iOS apps installed. The secret is to test ideas aggressively and target the correct demographic.
Short video ads typically outperform static images on most platforms right now. Use App Store product pages as your landing experience, and make sure your tracking is set up so you can see which campaigns are actually producing installs versus just impressions.
3) Content Marketing and SEO
If your app solves a specific problem, there are likely people searching for that problem on Google right now. A well-written blog or landing page that ranks for those queries can drive a steady stream of warm, interested users to your App Store listing. It takes time to build, but the traffic compounds. Pair it with useful content on social media and you start building an audience that trusts you before they’ve even seen your app.
4) Influencer Marketing
A suggestion from a trusted influencer or a social media creator holds more weight than a polished ad. Look for creators whose audience matches with your target users – not necessarily the greatest names in the game, but the ones whose followers actively interact. A niche YouTuber or TikTok creator with a highly relevant audience can drive more meaningful installs than a broad celebrity mention.
5) Reddit and Online Communities
Some of the most qualified consumers you’ll ever discover are sitting in groups discussing the same issue that your app solves. Reddit, in particular, can be a goldmine if you approach it correctly. Don’t spam your link; participate genuinely, contribute to discussions, and share your app when it’s relevant and helpful.
There’s already a Reddit community talking about increasing iOS app installs where developers and app marketers share real experiences, which is worth exploring for insights and ideas from people navigating the same challenges. Discord servers and niche forums follow the same logic: be useful first, and let the app speak for itself.
Referral Programmes and Word of Mouth
Your existing users are often your best acquisition channel, and it costs far less than paid advertising. A simple referral mechanism, where users get a tangible benefit for bringing in a friend, can accelerate app user acquisition in ways that scale naturally. The key is making sharing feel effortless and the incentive feel genuinely worthwhile.
Onboarding, Retention, and Why They Drive More Installs
This might feel counterintuitive, but improving what happens after the install is one of the most powerful ways to grow your install numbers over time. An app with strong retention gets better word-of-mouth. It keeps users long enough to trigger your referral mechanics. It generates more positive reviews. And it makes your paid campaigns more efficient because your lifetime value per user goes up, which means you can afford to spend more to acquire each one.
Audit your onboarding flow honestly. Does a new user understand the value of your app within the first two minutes? If the answer is no, fix that before scaling any marketing spend.
Test What’s on Your App Store Listing
Apple allows product page optimisation testing, which lets you run A/B tests on your screenshots, icon, and app preview video. Use it. Small changes to your App Store page can meaningfully shift your conversion rate, which means more installs from the same traffic. Track every change, give tests enough time to reach statistical significance, and don’t assume your first instinct is correct.
Always Track Where Your Best Users Come From
Not all installs are equal. A user who installs, engages for two days, and disappears is worth far less than one who becomes a loyal, paying customer. To find out which channels are generating worthwhile installations, use an attribution tool like Adjust or AppsFlyer. Then put more resources behind what is working and cut what is not.
Growing your iOS app installs is a long game built from many moving parts working together. Get your App Store presence right, build more than one way for people to find you, make the first experience count, and keep measuring. There’s no single trick that does it all, but there is a real, repeatable path, and it’s more achievable than it might look right now.
