Google Play competitor analysis: a simple weekly routine

Most people treat competitor analysis like a one-time research task. They open a few apps, take notes, and forget about it.

The real value comes from doing it the same way every week, so you can answer one question clearly:

What changed since last week?

You don't need fancy tools to start. You need a small competitor list and a habit of taking snapshots.

Start with the right competitors (keep it small)

If you track 30 apps, you'll do it for two weeks and stop. Start with 5 to 10, and split them like this:

• Direct: same problem, same audience
• Adjacent: different approach, same user goal
• Aspirational: bigger players you learn from

A quick way to find them is simple: search your core keywords, check "Similar apps", and look at your category's top charts. Don't overthink it — you can refine the list later.

What you should actually track (and what you can ignore)

A lot of metrics look important but don't help you decide anything.

What tends to matter most in practice is:

1) Update cadence

If a competitor starts updating more often than usual, something's happening. Either they're iterating hard, fixing issues after a big release, or pushing growth.

Just record:

• last updated date
• version number

2) Reviews and rating momentum

Even if installs are vague, review velocity usually tells you if attention is increasing.

Record:

• rating
• total ratings
• new ratings since last snapshot

3) Store listing changes

When competitors change screenshots, icons, or descriptions, they're often testing positioning and conversion.

You don't need to track every pixel. Just write what changed:

• "New icon + first two screenshots"
• "Short description changed"
• "More aggressive benefit-driven headline"

That's enough.

The weekly snapshot routine (10 minutes, same day every week)

Pick one day. Same time. Every week.

For each competitor, do a quick scan:

• update/version
• rating and total ratings
• listing changes
• any obvious market targeting signals (new language, country-specific screenshots, etc.)

Then stop. Don't fall into a rabbit hole.

This routine works because it builds a timeline. After 4–6 weeks, patterns become obvious.

A simple template you can paste into a spreadsheet

You don't need a complicated system. You need something you'll actually use.

How to write "Notes" so it stays useful:

Write facts, not opinions. You want future-you to understand it in 5 seconds.

Bad: "They improved UI."

Good: "Replaced screenshots with onboarding flow + changed tagline to 'Track spending in 60 seconds'."

How to recognize a real push (without guessing too much)

Over time you'll notice a few repeating patterns. These don't always mean "growth," but they're usually signals worth watching:

• Creative refresh + copy change around the same time (often conversion work)
• Update cadence increases compared to their normal baseline
• Reviews accelerate week-over-week (attention is rising)
• Localization appears (new markets, new targeting)

The key is not to jump to "why." Just note the pattern and compare it to the next snapshot.

Turn it into one action (otherwise it's just research)

Competitor analysis is only useful if it changes what you do.

Each week, choose one action:

• change your first screenshot or headline if competitors are repositioning
• adjust messaging to differentiate (don't copy)
• improve onboarding if that's what others highlight
• test new keywords or categories if you see consistent patterns

One action per week beats a "big plan" you never ship.

If you're doing this often, spreadsheets get heavy

Manual tracking works, especially early. But once you're watching many apps, developers, and keywords across both platforms, it becomes a lot.

We're building a product that helps you do this faster — deep profiles, history, and alerts when something changes.

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