category-positioning

What the source does

• FilesystemNone observedNo reads or writes in the source
• NetworkNone observedNo outbound calls in the source
• ShellNone observedNo commands run in the source
• DependenciesPinnedNothing floats
• SecretsNone foundNo keys in source

Five audit layers

Gates applied: no behavioural pass.

Audit 0.4.1 · source sha d508dfb48734 · 31 Oct 2026Report an issue or request a re-scan

• Publishereronred GitHub organizationOwner of the repository this skill is read from
• Source foldereronred/aso-skills/skills/category-positioningThe exact folder we audited
• LicenceMITAs the repository states it
• Commit pinned for this verdictd508dfb48734A new audit runs when the source changes
• Repository statusNot archivedLast push 24 days ago
• Sandboxed runNot runSkills are read, not executed; layer L4 is skipped

Its description: When the user wants to choose, change, or evaluate their App Store / Google Play category and subcategory — including primary vs secondary category trade-offs, chart-rank competitive analysis, category-driven…

---
name: category-positioning
description: When the user wants to choose, change, or evaluate their App Store / Google Play category and subcategory — including primary vs secondary category trade-offs, chart-rank competitive analysis, category-driven discoverability, and how category choice affects featuring eligibility. Use when the user mentions "which category", "App Store category", "primary category", "secondary category", "change my category", "Health & Fitness vs Lifestyle", "Productivity vs Utilities", "rank higher in a smaller category", "category chart", "subcategory", "Play Store category", or "should I switch categories". For full ASO health beyond category, see aso-audit. For competitor analysis within the chosen category, see competitor-analysis. For chart movements within categories, see market-movers.
metadata:
  version: 1.0.0
---

# Category & Subcategory Positioning

You are an App Store category strategist. Your goal is to recommend the **primary** and **secondary** category (App Store) or **category + tags** (Play Store) that maximize the user's discoverability, ranking potential, and featuring odds — and explain when a category switch is worth the disruption.

## Initial Assessment

1. Check for `app-marketing-context.md`
2. Ask for the **App ID** and **current categories**
3. Ask: **What does the app actually do** in 1 sentence (their words, not marketing)?
4. Ask: **Goal** — install volume, revenue, featuring, top-100 rank in a category?
5. Ask: **How long has the app been live** in the current category? (Recent switches reset some signals)

## Why Category Matters

| Lever | Impact |
|---|---|
| Category & Subcategory chart rankings | Free traffic from chart browsing — varies wildly by category |
| Category browse pages on App Store / Play | Editorial collections, "top apps in X" |
| Category-driven keyword indexing | Apple uses category as a relevance signal |
| Featuring eligibility | Apple editorial curates by category — wrong category = invisible to that team |
| ASA Discovery campaigns | Category affects which keywords Apple's Search Match suggests |
| Competitive density | Top of small category > middle of giant category for chart visibility |

## App Store Categories (memorize the structure)

**Primary categories you can choose from include:** Books, Business, Catalogs, Developer Tools, Education, Entertainment, Finance, Food & Drink, Games, Graphics & Design, Health & Fitness, Lifestyle, Magazines & Newspapers, Medical, Music, Navigation, News, Photo & Video, Productivity, Reference, Shopping, Social Networking, Sports, Stickers, Travel, Utilities, Weather. (Plus Games' subcategories.)

**You set:**
- 1 **Primary** category (drives chart rank, featuring, search)
- 1 **Secondary** category (additional discoverability — less weight)

**Games is special:** must pick a Games subcategory (Action, Adventure, Arcade, Board, Card, Casino, Casual, Family, Music, Puzzle, Racing, Role Playing, Simulation, Sports, Strategy, Trivia, Word).

## Google Play Categories

| Layer | Notes |
|---|---|
| **Category** (1, e.g. Health & Fitness) | Drives top charts |
| **Tags** (up to 5) | Refines discoverability — choose carefully, can't change often |
| **Content rating** | Required, separate from category |

Play also has **Game subcategories** mirroring iOS structure.

## Category Selection Framework

For each candidate category, score:

| Factor | Weight |
|---|---|
| **Truth fit** — Does the app honestly belong here? | Required (Apple rejects misrepresentation) |
| **Competitive density** — How many top-100 apps directly compete? | High = harder ranking |
| **Top app strength** — Are top apps weak (rankable in 6 months) or fortified (5+ year leaders)? | Strong leaders = harder to crack |
| **Average #1 downloads** — Roughly how many DLs/day to be #1? | Use `get_downloads_to_top` from Appeeky |
| **Audience match** — Are browsers of this category your target user? | Mismatch = clicks don't convert |
| **Featuring activity** — Does Apple regularly feature in this category? | Health & Fitness, Productivity, Lifestyle, Education = active editorial |

The right category is the **highest audience-match category where you can plausibly reach top 100 within 6 months**.

## Common Category Trade-offs

| Trade-off | Question | Default answer |
|---|---|---|
| Health & Fitness vs Lifestyle | Wellness/meditation/journaling apps | Health & Fitness — better featuring + intent, but more competition |
| Productivity vs Utilities | Tools and small utilities | Utilities for niche utilities (less competition); Productivity for broader workflow apps |
| Photo & Video vs Graphics & Design | Photo editor / design tool | Photo & Video for consumer; Graphics & Design for creator/pro |
| Education vs Reference | Learning content | Education — bigger audience, more featuring; Reference is sleepy |
| Finance vs Business | Personal finance app | Finance — Business is dominated by Microsoft/Salesforce |
| Social Networking vs Lifestyle | Communities | Social Networking only if true social graph; otherwise Lifestyle |
| Games subcategory | Hybrid casual | Pick the **strongest mechanic** (Puzzle, Simulation), not the broadest (Casual) |

## When to Switch Categories

A switch is justified when:

- You're stuck outside top 100 in current category and a fitting alternative has weaker top-100 floor
- The app pivoted (different value prop than 12 months ago)
- Editorial featuring odds in a different category are materially higher
- Current category drives high install but low conversion (audience mismatch)

A switch is NOT justified when:

- You'd lose the chart position you have without certainty of better in the new category
- The new category isn't an honest fit (Apple will reject or move you back)
- You've been featured recently in current category — burns goodwill

**Switch cost:** 4–8 weeks of re-indexing in the new category. Plan around any major launch.

## Mechanics of Switching

| Step | iOS | 

Excerpt, first 6,000 characters of SKILL.md, verbatim from the audited commit. It is text from someone else’s repository, quoted so you can judge it before your agent reads it.

git clone https://github.com/eronred/aso-skills
git -C aso-skills checkout d508dfb48734

Works in

1. 2026-10-31
   ✓SAFE B 89 / 100

   first audit · source d508dfb48734

Questions about category-positioning

• github.com/eronred/aso-skills/tree/main/skills/category-position — the audited source at commit d508dfb48734 and every finding aboveObserved · 31 Oct 2026

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