The French searches an English-first listing misses in Québec
In Canada the App Store indexes both English and French listings, but each search has to match within one of them. What that meant for our Québec driving test app.
How the App Store works in Canada
Apple indexes the English and the French (Canada) listing of an app in the Canadian storefront. But a search only matches if all its words are in one listing: it can't take “examen” from your French keyword field and “saaq” from your English name. An English-first app can rank for “saaq test” and still miss “examen théorique saaq”.
What AppGrowly found
Keyword research found 14 related searches people use in Canada for our Québec driving test app, mixing English and French. The app ranked #3 for “test saaq québec” and #5 for “saaq quebec”, two of the most searched.
Apple Ads Search Match then surfaced French searches the research hadn't listed, like “examen theorique saaq” and “saaq test theorique”, and they turned taps into installs.
What we're changing
AppGrowly now gives the French (Canada) listing its own editor, with its own target searches, a French subtitle suggestion and a French keyword field built from the French searches, while counting what the English listing already covers. We're moving the French searches into the French listing, one update at a time, so each change gets its own result.
The lesson
If you sell in Canada, treat the French listing as a second chance to rank, not a translation. Put French searches in the French listing, and check which of your English searches it doesn't need to repeat.
Result due about 17 days after the French listing update ships. We'll add it here.
AppGrowly does the same for iPhone and Android apps: what to change, the store policy check, Apple Ads analysis and a measured result for every change.