ASO AgencyEducation · US iPhone listing
Does their ASO suck?
Listing creative score · first three captured iPhone screenshots
5/10Fine. A dangerous place to stop.
Memrise spends two early frames on needs, levels, flags and a user count. The real-situation clip is the first convincing teaching material. Put it first and show what the learner does with it.
Gab’s verdict · 5/10Gabriel Machuret
One storefront, one language and a dated capture. This is an independent editorial audit, not a client case study.
Gab’s take · Five criteria. Two points each.
The native-speaker clip and strong typography give the lesson a useful starting point. Bring that forward. The flags and breadth can support the product after somebody understands the practice. Rebuild around hearing one phrase, understanding it and making a response. Keep the strong typography. Scale and language flags should support the lesson rather than postpone it.
Language choice and learning context identify a relevant use case, but the menu-led opening postpones the distinctive practice benefit.
A native-speaker clip appears without a learner response.
Bold type and yellow contrast create clear hierarchy.
Two connected introduction frames delay the practical lesson.
Everyday native-speaker context gives a specific but incomplete distinction.
0: not earned · 1: useful but incomplete · 2: clearly demonstrated. Judged on the dated opening creative; public metadata provides context. These points assess creative execution, not private conversion or ranking performance. Read the scoring criteria · See all ten verdict levels
Inspect the numbered original, read the problem, then compare the proposed fix. The publisher’s creative stays unchanged.
What the visitor sees → what I’d change
Look at the original: The phone presents several learning intentions rather than a single lesson.
Why I’m flagging it: Four intentions introduce categories instead of an actual practice.
Open with one authentic everyday phrase and a clear learning benefit.
What the visitor sees → what I’d change
Look at the original: The frame adds breadth and social proof to the connected opening.
Why I’m flagging it: Flags and a count add reassurance without teaching proof.
Use this frame for the meaning or practice step from the same phrase.
What the visitor sees → what I’d change
Look at the original: The example demonstrates a specific everyday phrase in context.
Why I’m flagging it: Watching a speaker does not show what happens next.
Demonstrate the follow-up interaction without inventing pronunciation or fluency outcomes.
Proposed copy for discussion. These are not current listing fields or tested winners.
Observed listing
Learn Spanish, Japanese & More
Proposed alternative
Real videos. Practice phrases.
Name 30/30 · Subtitle 30/30 charactersRetain the category-rich name and make the visible video-based practice format explicit. The alternative describes content and activity without a fluency timeline.
The tradeoff: It removes Spanish and Japanese from the subtitle and may reduce language-specific relevance. Video-led positioning needs current coverage and audience evidence before replacing those terms.
Read the sequence from top to bottom on mobile, left to right on desktop. These are message-layout sketches, not screens from Memrise or tested results.
Proposed headline
Put this in the frame: A verified travel-goal selection leading to a current lesson, designed as the first half of a connected pair.
Why it earns the space: Keep the needs-led promise but give it a specific destination.
Proposed headline
Put this in the frame: The actual lesson reached from that choice, using authorised native-speaker footage.
Why it earns the space: Connect the purpose to product proof instead of using the second frame only for scale.
Proposed headline
Put this in the frame: A verified replay, response or review step from the same lesson.
Why it earns the space: Finish a small learning loop without inventing assessment accuracy or a guaranteed outcome.
The test: Does a complete goal-to-phrase opening pair explain the needs-led proposition better than the current choice-and-social-proof pair? The sketch gives the designer a direction; the actual product and access conditions decide what can ship.
Bring the listing. I’ll help you decide what to keep, what to fix and what to test.
Observed competitor metadata
Learn Spanish, French, English
Busuu names language learning with Spanish, French and English.
The lesson: Memrise can explain the link between a chosen purpose and a specific situation rather than competing only on a language list.
Observed competitor metadata
Learn Spanish, French & more
Babbel names language learning and familiar language examples.
The lesson: The shared category vocabulary makes actual practice format useful differentiation; do not infer comparative learning quality from metadata.
Observed competitor metadata
Languages, Math, Music & Chess
Duolingo spans language lessons, math, music and chess.
The lesson: Memrise’s language-specific purpose menu is a focused proposition. Demonstrate that focus without adopting historical reviewer criticism of another app.
Intent candidates grounded in the listing—not fabricated search-volume or difficulty scores.
Visitor’s job: Start or resume learning a particular language.
Evidence: The name identifies language learning and the subtitle explicitly names Japanese and Spanish.
Decision: Verify current course and level coverage before broadening the metadata claim.
Visitor’s job: Prepare for a recognisable situation while travelling.
Evidence: Travel appears in the goal menu and the third frame shows a practical French question.
Decision: Connect a verified goal choice to an actual lesson; do not infer search volume or immediate conversational ability.
Visitor’s job: Hear how people speak in context.
Evidence: The third screenshot explicitly presents a native-speaker clip and a subtitle.
Decision: Research the watch-to-practice step and verify available replay or review controls before promising them.
The unseen keyword field may already cover some of these terms. Build an evidence-backed keyword shortlist before making a metadata change.
Three accounts from 2018, 2019 and 2024 were selected for video practice, pacing and review control. The oldest accounts are useful for learner language, not present-day feature specifications. Their prices, offline access and personal progress are not adopted as current facts.
Sample: 3 selected accounts from 8 displayed reviews. Dates: 23 August 2018–12 January 2024. No sentiment percentage is calculated.
7 June 2019 · 5/5 stars
“repeating the video”
A June 2019 reviewer valued native-speaker clips and repeated listening while studying Japanese.
What I’d investigate: Use the motivation as a research lead; its offline-access, pricing and course-feature claims are historical and require fresh verification.
Listing review source · Review ID 428035040423 August 2018 · 5/5 stars
“step by step”
An August 2018 reviewer liked the learning pace and range of practice formats.
What I’d investigate: Do not treat the account’s personal progress or old AI-chat description as evidence of current effectiveness or functionality.
Listing review source · Review ID 310116786612 January 2024 · 4/5 stars
“review what I have already learned”
A January 2024 account praised videos but criticised reduced control over vocabulary review after an interface change.
What I’d investigate: Investigate the current return-and-review experience instead of assuming the reported restriction still exists.
Listing review source · Review ID 10813880920A displayed review can be old, unusually positive or internally inconsistent with its star rating. These accounts suggest questions; they do not establish current defects or typical customer experience. Use the Review Research Desk to keep evidence and interpretation separate.
Four intentions introduce categories instead of an actual practice.
Deliverable: Open with one authentic everyday phrase and a clear learning benefit.
Creative brief and current-product checkFlags and a count add reassurance without teaching proof.
Deliverable: Use this frame for the supported meaning or practice step from the same phrase.
Creative brief and current-product checkWatching a speaker does not show what happens next.
Deliverable: Demonstrate the supported follow-up interaction without inventing pronunciation or fluency outcomes.
Creative brief and current-product checkDoes a complete goal-to-phrase opening pair explain the needs-led proposition better than the current choice-and-social-proof pair?
Check Apple’s current product page optimization guidance and custom product page guidance before configuring a test. Write your experiment brief.
1–3: thumbs down · 4–6: thumbs up and down · 7–10: thumbs up
The basics need a serious rethink.
Too many obvious things have been left unfinished.
There is a useful product here. The listing needs to show it.
Some basics work, but the opening wastes attention and under-explains the benefit.
There is usable creative here, but too much of the sales argument is left to the visitor.
Real strengths, undermined by meaningful gaps in the opening story or execution.
A clear, useful demonstration with specific refinements still needed.
The main promise is clear and supported. Refinement matters more than reinvention.
Clear positioning, thoughtful choices and very few loose ends.
An unusually clear, convincing storefront worth learning from.
An editorial verdict on the captured storefront, not a measured ASO score or an assessment of an agency’s private work.
No private analytics, search-rank dataset or internal keyword field was supplied. Review quotations are short excerpts; explanations are our summaries. App names and screenshots belong to their respective owners. We are not affiliated with Memrise. Read our editorial methodology.
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