Key Takeaways
- • Platformance has launched AppMonitor, a free tool that lets marketers benchmark their app against category competitors across the Apple App Store and Google Play, live in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
- • The tool tracks category rankings, ratings, version history, rank movement over time, and themes in user reviews.
- • Platformance says comparable app-store tracking tools are priced for large product organisations, putting them out of reach for most regional marketing teams.
- • According to the 2025 Middle East App Growth Report by Bidease and Sensor Tower, GCC app downloads grew 2.6% year on year in H1 2025 versus 0.5% globally, and in-app purchase revenue reached $700m, up 20%.
- • Platformance positions the tool as a way for marketers to bring app-store evidence to product teams, with Afzal saying the company is already working on its next measurement ecosystem.
Summary
Platformance has launched AppMonitor, a free tool that allows marketers to benchmark their app against competitors in the same category on the Apple App Store and Google Play, according to Campaign Middle East. The tool is currently live across the UAE and Saudi Arabia. It provides category rankings, ratings, version history, rank movement over time, and the themes running through user reviews.
Waseem Afzal, Founder and CEO of Platformance, said the company saw a gap between the share of the customer journey that now begins inside an app and how little the average marketing team can see of it. He said the underlying data has been sold at prices most teams in the market cannot justify, and that the company made AppMonitor free to give more marketers access to the same figures.
The company cites the 2025 Middle East App Growth Report, produced by Bidease and Sensor Tower and published in November 2025, for the scale of the regional opportunity. According to that report, app downloads across the GCC grew 2.6% year on year in the first half of 2025, compared with 0.5% worldwide, and in-app purchase revenue across the region reached $700m over the same period, up 20%.
Platformance argues that app-store performance directly affects customer acquisition costs, since an app ranked below category peers converts less of the paid traffic a brand has already bought. Ratings and review sentiment can also signal the causes of weak performance. The company notes that the fixes typically sit with digital and product teams rather than marketing, and says AppMonitor is designed to give marketers the evidence needed for that discussion.
Rehmath Hussain, Associate Director of App Marketing at Platformance, said rank movement, a version release, and a shift in review sentiment often explain a meaningful part of rising acquisition costs. Afzal added that measurement is difficult in the region because each channel has its own ecosystem, and that the app stores are one of them. He said the company is already working on coverage of the next one.
Waseem Afzal, Founder and CEO of Platformance, said the company saw a gap between the share of the customer journey that now begins inside an app and how little the average marketing team can see of it. He said the underlying data has been sold at prices most teams in the market cannot justify, and that the company made AppMonitor free to give more marketers access to the same figures.
The company cites the 2025 Middle East App Growth Report, produced by Bidease and Sensor Tower and published in November 2025, for the scale of the regional opportunity. According to that report, app downloads across the GCC grew 2.6% year on year in the first half of 2025, compared with 0.5% worldwide, and in-app purchase revenue across the region reached $700m over the same period, up 20%.
Platformance argues that app-store performance directly affects customer acquisition costs, since an app ranked below category peers converts less of the paid traffic a brand has already bought. Ratings and review sentiment can also signal the causes of weak performance. The company notes that the fixes typically sit with digital and product teams rather than marketing, and says AppMonitor is designed to give marketers the evidence needed for that discussion.
Rehmath Hussain, Associate Director of App Marketing at Platformance, said rank movement, a version release, and a shift in review sentiment often explain a meaningful part of rising acquisition costs. Afzal added that measurement is difficult in the region because each channel has its own ecosystem, and that the app stores are one of them. He said the company is already working on coverage of the next one.
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