A short weekly show for app makers. Each episode takes real App Store data from AppSieve, looks at what is rising and why, and ends with one step you can take on your own app this week.
DealSeek's year, read from one public number: its rating count. A fast summer, a sudden stall, and a comeback built on four updates in seven weeks.
An outside-in teardown of DealSeek: Coupons & Discounts (launched June 19, 2025; free, no in-app purchases; 4.87 stars).
US ratings: about 14,000 in early May 2026, 32,000 in mid June, 66,700 on August 10, 99,300 on November 8, and 101,900 on November 11
New ratings per week: close to 4,000 through the summer, under 300 in the last week of August, then 1,300, 2,000, 3,200, 4,900 and 5,300 by early November
Updates: July 9, then nothing until September 9, then September 30, October 17 and October 29
US iPhone free chart: #65 to #47 between November 2 and November 9
The lesson: total ratings show how big an app is; new ratings per week show how fast it is moving right now. The episode describes what happened, not why. The download figure is an AppSieve estimate.
Follow any app's ratings and versions day by day with AppSieve.
Episode 3: Keyword Teardown: Habit Tracker, and the One Word That Makes It Easy
Why an app with 2,600 ratings outranks one with 91,000 for "habit tracker", and how adding one word drops the difficulty score from 61 to 7.
A keyword teardown of "habit tracker" in the US App Store (November 11, 2026). AppSieve difficulty: 61 out of 100.
#1 Habit Tracker: about 149,000 ratings
#2 Habit Tracker - HabitKit: about 2,600 ratings
#3 Finch: 774,000 ratings
#6 Habit Tracker - Daily Goals: launched June 2024, about 3,500 ratings
#7 Productive - Habit Tracker: 91,000 ratings
Add one word, "kids habit tracker", and the difficulty drops to 7 out of 100. Page one then includes three apps launched in May 2026 with zero, four and one rating, at #3, #4 and #8. All three have the exact phrase in their name.
The lesson: put the exact words people type at the start of your app name, and win a smaller, more specific search first.
Check any keyword's difficulty and who ranks for it with AppSieve.
Episode 2: Niche Check: Subscription Trackers, Where a Page-One App Has Zero Ratings
One giant, two sleepy apps and a page-one app with zero ratings. Three checks that tell you whether a niche is really open, using the subscription tracker search as the example.
A niche check on the US App Store search for "subscription tracker" (November 11, 2026).
#1 Rocket Money: 406,000+ ratings, on the store since 2016
#2 Subpilot: launched September 2025, about 6,400 ratings, four updates in the last week
#3 Bobby: about 8,000 ratings, last updated December 2025
#4 Subscription Tracker: 259 ratings, last updated October 2022
#5 an app launched in May 2026 with zero ratings
#6 an app with 133 ratings
#7 MonoBoost: launched January 2025, about 6,300 ratings
The three checks: who is the weakest app on page one, are the leaders still shipping updates, and is anyone new making money. AppSieve scores this keyword 5 out of 100 for difficulty and 5 out of 100 for search demand. Revenue figures in the episode are AppSieve estimates, not reported numbers.
Run the same checks on your own keyword with AppSieve.
Episode 1: 5 Apps Rising This Week: Wishlists and Coupons Get Ready for Black Friday
GoWish, Giftful, Koupon, DealSeek and Fetch all climbed the US iPhone free chart this week. What it shows about seasonal demand, and the one step to take for your own app.
Five apps climbed the US iPhone free chart between November 2 and November 9, 2026, and all five help people buy gifts or pay less for them.
GoWish: #8 to #5, about 11,100 new US ratings in a week
Giftful: outside the top 100 to #54
Koupon: outside the top 100 to #44
DealSeek: #65 to #47, only 17 months old
Fetch: outside the top 100 to #69
The lesson: seasonal demand shows up before the season. Find your app's season, count back four to six weeks, and ship your new icon, screenshots and update then.
Data: AppSieve, US iPhone Free chart, Nov 2 vs Nov 9, 2026.
