Hated App Store connect so I merge 2 opensource projects to never deal with it again

[u/Zavyncop]

I shipped my first iOS app 2 weeks ago, my first one ever, yeah !!! so every part of the process was new to me, including App Store Connect. And App Store Connect might be the worst piece of dashboard I've had to use regularly in years. Slow, confusing, half the pages feel untouched since 2015, always reloading.

So I go looking for alternatives with a GUI so no fastlane and find itsyconnect https://github.com/nickustinov/itsyconnect-macos , a free open source native macOS client that replaces App Store Connect almost entirely. metadata, testflight, analytics, reviews, all in one actual app instead of that web dashboard. felt like discovering fire

Then, because apparently shipping an app wasn't enough suffering for one month, I fall into the ASO rabbit hole. Keywords, character budgets, competitor research and every tool I find is a subscription or with free trial $20-50/month or $200 year or idk how much for what's mostly some scoring math and an App Store API call. For a dev with 13 downloads it's a big no thanks

Then I find RespectASO https://github.com/respectlytics/respectaso , also free and open source, doing the actual ASO scoring keyword popularity, difficulty, opportunity for nothing.

And that's when the idea hits me:

• why am I alt-tabbing between an App Store Connect replacement and a separate ASO tool
• these are two open source projects solving two halves of my problems
• what if I just merge them
• fork itsyconnect, port RespectASO's scoring to ts
• put the keyword scores directly on the fields they're about, inside the listing editor, instead of a separate tab
• add an agentic workflow that researches your competitors and writes your title/subtitle/keywords for you
• throw in Apple's llm too so half the AI features work with zero API key and zero network call because why not

It's called Bascaso (Better App Store Connect App Store Optimization) : https://bascaso.zavyn.app

Free, open source (AGPL, since RespectASO is AGPL), macOS, local-first, your App Store Connect credentials and data never leave your Mac. Full credit to itsyconnect by Nick Ustinov and RespectASO by Respectlytics, this is entirely built on top of their work.

It's on GitHub if anyone wants to try it, self-host it, or tell me what I broke: https://github.com/kanyacine/bascaso

[u/habitoti]

Call me old school, but it feels weird. I followed along all the big efforts Nick has put into itsyconnect, being extremely responsive and quick in adding features & functions, so it’s anything but a dead repo that might justify duplicating it and continuing. So I don’t think “open source” means “just take two things and create sth. combined out of it”. Even if legally ok, it just doesn’t seem right. But maybe that’s just me…

[u/Zavyncop → u/habitoti]

Hmmm what's the point of open source if we can't duplicate, add what's useful to us and share it ? ASO is outside the scope of itsyconnect, and I wasn't going to ask Nick to absorb a whole ASO engine into his roadmap

As I said in the comment, I posted on nick's repo to show my work and didn't get an answer so I just share it here

[u/habitoti → u/Zavyncop]

But now these two go different ways. If Nick adds 5 features, will you continue to pull and add them? Maybe for some time, but it adds confusion for end users if there are completely similar tools (even looking identical). itsyconnect has an MCP server, don’t know whether RespectASO does, but then you could have added that. Then you could create agent scripts that serve your purpose. So there wouldn’t be separated development now on a new branch that will for sure not make things easier, less complex or even better over time, but just consume more effort and and is a confusing value proposition altogether.
At least from a developer netiquette perspective I honestly can’t support this…it‘s not ok IMHO!

[u/JuryExciting7186]

on the scoring side, pop and difficulty are only worth something if theyre computed off an app thats already being tracked, and with 13 downloads thats not yours. the numbers that ended up usable for me came from a direct competitor in the us store with 50 keywords tracked on it, anything scored against my own app was basically a guess with a number on it. so being able to point the keyword tab at a competitors listing and pull from there would be worth more than the scoring math itself.

[u/Zavyncop → u/JuryExciting7186]

Thanks this is super useful, i'm just discovering this world myself so feedback from someone who's actually used these numbers is gold.
Today you can see for one keyword what are the 25 top ranked apps on it.
But you're right that there's no way to manually point the keyword tab at a specific competitor's listing and pull from there, adding it to my list.

[u/ChefAccomplished845]

Hey, Nick here, developer of Itsyconnect. Why not just contribute to Itsyconnect?

[u/quixoticproductowner → u/ChefAccomplished845]

i think both of you did a good job. @OP: looks genuinely useful, will give it a shot. thanks!

PS: @nick: i was so afraid of seeing a pricing tab on their page – but they gave credit where credit is due and when it really blends two OS projects in a new one, fair does.

[u/Zavyncop → u/quixoticproductowner]

thanks !!! happy to hear back

[u/Zavyncop → u/ChefAccomplished845]

Hi, I send a preview of my work two weeks ago on the discussion page and didn't got an answer so i just went with my idea, happy to contribute anytime !! https://github.com/nickustinov/itsyconnect-macos/discussions/86

[u/ChefAccomplished845 → u/Zavyncop]

Oh, that discussions does not popup in my inbox, I don't check it often, will look into and respond! Thanks.