iOS How do app store sorts work?

[fixie rider]

Of the three sort options on the iTunes App Store: new release, name, and most popular, how does most popular work? Is it most downloads total? For a given period of time? Average sales per day? Or does it not have to do with downloads?

I would like to know how many applications I'm selling compared to others. I'm pretty sure I understand release date and name...=)

 

[ayasin]

I believe most popular is the number of downloads in a sliding time window. I don't know what the size of that window is but based on how "jumpy" it can be I'd say not more than 14 days.

 

[fixie rider]

I believe most popular is the number of downloads in a sliding time window. I don't know what the size of that window is but based on how "jumpy" it can be I'd say not more than 14 days.

I wonder if they do the same thing for all the apps owned by a specific company. I've noticed that mine are sorted by top selling. I assumed it was total sales, but it's probably a similar algorithm to the most popular. So curious...