ASO news digest for February 2026
Apple moved the search bar back to the top of the screen in the App Store with iOS 26.4, Google reported a major cleanup of Google Play, removing malicious apps and spam reviews, and Asodesk introduced three new integrations for review management. All the key ASO updates from February — in our latest digest.
App Store News
Apple moved the search bar back to the top of the screen
In iOS 26.4 beta 1, Apple updated the App Store interface by moving the search bar back to the top of the screen. The Search tab is now integrated into the bottom navigation bar instead of being positioned separately.
Google Play News
Google shared the results of its efforts to combat malicious apps and strengthen the security of the Google Play ecosystem.
Google published a report outlining its efforts to ensure the security of the Google Play and Android app ecosystem in 2025.
According to the company, more than 1.75 million malicious apps were blocked on Google Play at the submission stage in 2025.
In addition, more than 80,000 developer accounts were banned for attempting to publish malicious content.
In 2025, Google Play blocked 255,000 apps that attempted to gain excessive access to user data, and removed 160 million spam reviews from the store.
Asodesk News
Asodesk introduced three new integrations for review management.
In February, we introduced three new integrations that expand review management capabilities in Asodesk.
You can now:
- Manage reviews from Huawei AppGallery and Samsung Galaxy Store alongside App Store and Google Play;
- Set up reports and notifications, and reply to user reviews directly in Telegram.
Asodesk continues to build a unified ecosystem for managing reviews across all major app stores — from a single interface.
