Some context
I had already built and shipped a vocabulary learning app on both iOS and Android before. It was pretty basic — nothing fancy in terms of design. But it kept getting steady organic downloads without any marketing at all. The revenue wasn't life-changing, but watching users show up on their own was honestly motivating.
I wanted that same feeling with my second app. I wasn't chasing big money. I just wanted to build something where users would keep coming in, little by little. And I figured the best way to do that was to focus on one sharp feature instead of building an app that tries to do everything. I wanted to nail one thing and see how people react.
So I came up with the idea for a reading app — you save sentences you like from books, turn them into nice-looking cards, and share them. I built it with Flutter, and the MVP was almost done.
Why I went back to check the keywords
During the early planning phase, I used AI to do some market research. Back then, it suggested a certain keyword as my main target — something along the lines of "reading ****s." The competition looked manageable at the time.
But right before launch, I asked the same AI again. And it gave me a different answer. Maybe the market had changed, or maybe it was just looking at things from a different angle. Either way, I decided I couldn't just go with the old plan. Time to start over.
What I was really looking for
It wasn't just about finding keywords with low competition. I needed to check three things:
- Is this a niche that actually exists?
- Is there proven demand?
- Can a new app actually get in?
I needed all three to be true at the same time.
I started searching myself
I thought about using paid ASO tools, but decided to just search the app stores directly first. I grabbed my iPhone, typed in keywords one by one, and took screenshots of every result.
The keyword ideas came up naturally while chatting with AI. I'd check what showed up in autocomplete, look at how competitor apps wrote their subtitles, and we'd go back and forth narrowing things down.
First search: my original target
I searched for the keyword I had picked during planning. Turns out my earlier judgment was wrong. The top app had 18,000 reviews and was ranked #19 on the charts. Four more apps below it had reviews in the thousands. App names were even showing up in autocomplete — that's how packed it was.
Second search: similar keyword
Tried a variation. Same apps showed up again. The top two apps combined had over 20,000 reviews. Pass.
Third search: a feature-based keyword
This time I searched for something that directly describes what my app does. Things looked different here. The top app had around 360 reviews. That told me two things — the demand is real, and the top spot isn't locked down by a giant. From the second result on, most apps had fewer than 30 reviews.
Fourth search: the turning point
Then I tried one more keyword, and the results were completely different.
The top app had 17,000 reviews. So clearly, people search for this term a lot. But here's the thing — that app wasn't even in the "Books" category. It was in a totally different one. Same for the second result. There wasn't a single Books-category app ranking for this keyword.
So the search volume was there, but the category was wide open. Honestly, I wasn't sure if this was a real opportunity or not — I'd only know after launching. Whether the people searching actually want what my app offers, whether they'd actually install it — that's something only real data can answer. But it definitely felt worth trying.
More searches: finding more gaps
I searched for a few more keywords in a similar style. Either no relevant apps showed up, or the ones that did had 1 to 3 reviews. Tiny.
What autocomplete told me
I also noticed something useful while typing. When I entered a certain word, autocomplete suggested several related keyword combinations. That's a pretty clear sign that real people are actually searching for those terms.
Checked Android too
I didn't stop at iOS. I ran the same searches on Google Play. There were a few more competing apps on Android, but the overall pattern was the same — demand exists, but there's no great solution yet.
What I learned from competitor reviews
I downloaded the most direct competitor and tried it out. Read through the reviews too.
Users loved that it was "lightweight," "fast," and "easy to use." That confirmed the demand is real. I also saw feature requests and complaints, but I didn't adjust my app's direction based on those. I just took note and moved on. All I needed to confirm was two things: the market exists, and existing apps aren't perfect.
The result
After taking around 20 screenshots and going through everything, my keyword strategy changed completely. I dropped all the keywords I had picked during planning and rebuilt around the ones I found through this process.
What's next
The app is almost ready to ship. Right now I'm thinking about how to make the store screenshots stand out, and how to put together marketing content that actually grabs attention.
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