Custom product pages vs Product Page Optimization

Custom product pages and Product Page Optimization solve different App Store problems. Use a custom product page when you want a tailored message for a defined audience or campaign. Use Product Page Optimization when you want to test creative alternatives against your default product page.

Both features live in App Store Connect, but one controls relevance and the other supports experimentation.

Custom product pages vs Product Page Optimization

Verified September 2026, both features are available on the App Store for iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 or later, and require an app that has reached an eligible distribution state. Their content must also pass App Review before users can see new assets.

Use custom product pages for relevance

A custom product page is a persistent alternative to the default page. Apple currently lets you create up to 70 per app, each with its own URL. You can adapt screenshots, app previews, promotional text, and localizations.

For example, a fitness app could create one page around strength training and another around running plans. Each campaign link opens the page that matches the promise made in the advertisement, email, or social post.

Apple also lets you assign keywords from the latest approved app version to a custom product page. When that page is approved and visible, customers searching those assigned terms can see it instead of the default page. These are not extra hidden keywords. You select from existing approved keywords and configure them by localization.

An optional deep link can direct users on supported systems to relevant content after they open an installed app. It must be configured, tested, and approved.

App Analytics reports metrics for each page once Apple’s minimum reporting conditions are met. Use this information to evaluate audience quality, not to treat pages as a controlled A/B test. Campaigns can attract visitors with different intent, so a simple conversion comparison may not isolate the page creative.

Use Product Page Optimization for testing

Product Page Optimization, or PPO, randomly shows treatments to part of your default product-page traffic. The original page remains the control.

You can create up to three treatments and choose the proportion of traffic included. If three treatments share 30% of total traffic, each receives 10%, while the original receives the remainder.

Treatments can test screenshots, app previews, and alternate app icons that meet Apple’s requirements. New creative metadata may require review. Alternate icons must already be included in the current app binary.

A test can run for up to 90 days or until you stop it. Apple estimates duration using your existing impressions, downloads, selected traffic allocation, and desired improvement. The estimate is guidance, not a promise that the test will become conclusive.

Results appear in App Analytics after the reporting threshold is reached. Apple compares treatment conversion rates with the original and reports estimated improvement and confidence. Avoid selecting a treatment simply because its early conversion rate looks higher. Wait for enough evidence and consider whether an app update, campaign, or seasonal event changed the traffic during the test.

Our guide to A/B testing App Store screenshots explains how to form one hypothesis and keep unrelated variables stable.

Choose the feature from the question

Use a custom product page when asking:

• How should we present this app to a specific audience?

• Which page should a campaign or community link open?

• Should a search context emphasize a particular use case?

• Do we need an approved page that remains available after launch?

Use Product Page Optimization when asking:

• Does outcome-first screenshot copy outperform feature-first copy?

• Does a larger interface improve comprehension?

• Does a different screenshot order change conversion?

• Does one eligible app icon perform better on the default page?

Do not run an experiment when the real need is audience targeting. Do not call campaign-level results an A/B test when visitors were not randomly assigned.

Use both as a sequence

The features can complement each other without operating on the same page. Apple states that PPO tests are not available for custom product pages.

A practical sequence is:

1. Use PPO to test a focused creative hypothesis on the default page.

2. Apply a supported winning treatment when the evidence justifies it.

3. Reuse the learning, not blindly the exact design, when creating pages for specific audiences.

4. Measure each custom page within its acquisition context.

Shipper can help Apple developers prepare screenshot variants, maintain reusable layouts, adapt assets to Apple specifications, localize screenshots and metadata, and publish approved screenshot and metadata sets. App Store Connect remains responsible for CPP targeting, PPO traffic allocation, analytics, and test decisions.

Use screenshot templates to keep variants consistent, and review App Store localization before adapting either workflow across markets.

Custom product pages improve message relevance for chosen audiences. Product Page Optimization tests creative alternatives on the default page. Start with the question you need to answer, then use the feature whose traffic model can answer it.

References

• Configure Custom Product Pages: page limits, URLs, assets, keywords, localization, deep links, and publication.

• Product Page Optimization overview: eligibility, treatments, supported assets, localization, and App Analytics.

• Create a Product Page Optimization test: traffic allocation, duration estimates, and the 90-day limit.

• Configure PPO treatments: screenshots, previews, app icons, and review requirements.

• Custom Product Page analytics: acquisition and downstream measurements.