Homesteading the “Wild West” of educational apps: Ranking cultures and the struggle for algorithmic visibility on Apple’s App Store

The proliferation of preschool apps marketed as educational has created a challenging landscape in which their actual educational value is difficult to assess, a phenomenon some authors have described as a “digital Wild West.” While education apps have received continuous scholarly attention, the specific conditions governing their distribution remain understudied. From a software and platform studies perspective and drawing on digital methods, this paper investigates how app stores mediate access to educational apps for young children. We examine the “ranking cultures” on Apple’s App Store through the empirical study of search results of early literacy apps. We present our findings, paying attention to both the strategies employed by app stores and the tactics used by app developers to adapt to algorithmic governance. This lens prompts a discussion on the ranking dynamics that influence app makers’ tactics and how these negotiations shape the current offer for preschool education.