The App Store Keyword Field: How to Use All 100 Characters

The App Store keywords field is a hidden, 100-character list of search terms you enter in App Store Connect. Apple uses it, together with your app name, subtitle and primary category, to decide which searches your app can appear for. To use it well: separate terms with commas and no spaces, never repeat a word that’s already in your app name or subtitle, use the singular form of words, leave out category names, the word "app" and competitor names, and fill every character you can.

It’s also localized. Each storefront reads more than one localization, so a US app can use a second keyword field that Apple attaches to the US store. That’s covered further down.

What the App Store keyword field is

The keyword field is a localizable, version-level metadata field in App Store Connect. It’s required, it’s limited to 100 characters, and its only job is search. Apple’s App Store search page lists the text that feeds search relevance as your app’s title, subtitle, keywords and primary category. Description and promotional text aren’t on that list, and Apple says outright that promotional text doesn’t affect ranking.

That gives you roughly 160 indexed characters per localization: 30 for the name, 30 for the subtitle and 100 in the keyword field. The name and subtitle have to read well to a human. The keyword field doesn’t, which is why it’s the place to pack in the long tail.

One detail worth knowing: Apple’s App Store Connect Help reference describes the limit as 100 bytes rather than characters. For English that’s the same thing. For scripts where one character takes more than one byte, such as Japanese, Chinese or Korean, you may run out sooner than the character count suggests.

App Store keyword field rules

These come from Apple’s product page guidance and App Store Connect Help. Breaking the first few wastes space; breaking the last few gets you rejected.

Single words or phrases?

Apple’s own example is Property,House,Real Estate, so multi-word terms are allowed. In practice most ASO practitioners use single words, because they observe that the App Store matches combinations of words across your name, subtitle and keyword field. If your subtitle has "expense" and your keyword field has "tracker", the common reading is that you can rank for "expense tracker" without spending characters on the phrase. Apple doesn’t document exactly how words are combined, so test it: after a release, check whether you appear for the combinations you’re counting on.

Singular or plural?

Apple’s guidance is to skip plurals of words you’ve already included in singular form. That suggests the store treats them as the same term, though it isn’t spelled out. Most teams keep the singular and spend the saved characters elsewhere. If a plural has a genuinely different meaning ("glass" versus "glasses"), it’s a different word and can earn its place.

Should keywords go in the app name too?

Usually one, if it fits naturally. The app name is indexed and visible, and Apple’s App Review Guideline 2.3.7 limits it to 30 characters and asks for a unique name with keywords that accurately describe the app. A pattern like "Brand: Main Keyword" is common for that reason. What tends to go wrong is a name that becomes a keyword list, like "Budget Money Expense Tracker Pro": it reads as spam to the person scrolling, and Apple can reject metadata it sees as packed with irrelevant phrases. Keep the brand, add the one term that matters most, and let the subtitle and keyword field carry the rest.

How to fill all 100 characters, step by step

1. List candidate terms. Write down what someone would type to find an app like yours: the problem ("debt"), the job ("split bills"), the method ("envelope budgeting") and the thing ("receipt"). Look at the autocomplete suggestions in the App Store search bar for each one.
2. Check relevance and competition. A term you could plausibly rank for beats a huge one you can’t. Apple Ads shows relative search popularity for terms if you have an account; third-party ASO tools estimate it too.
3. Put the most important terms in the name and subtitle. They’re indexed and visible, and they need to read naturally. Our post on making App Store screenshots covers how the visible copy should line up with them.
4. Remove every word already used. Strike anything that’s in the name, subtitle, category or your company name (App Store Connect Help notes the app name and company name are already searchable).
5. Reduce to single, singular words. Split phrases into words unless the phrase only works together.
6. Pack it. Commas, no spaces. Count. Swap long, weak words for short, relevant ones until you’re as close to 100 as you can get.

A worked example

Say the app is a budgeting app named Pennywise: Budget Planner (25 characters) with the subtitle Track spending & save money (27 characters), in the Finance category.

A first-draft keyword field often looks like this (62 characters):

budget app, money tracker, Mint, finance apps, budgets, budget

Almost everything in it is wasted. "budget" appears three times and is already in the name; "money" is in the subtitle; "app" and "finance" repeat the word app and the category; "Mint" is another company’s product; the spaces after commas cost five characters.

A cleaned-up version (97 characters):

expense,tracker,bills,savings,goal,debt,payoff,income,wallet,receipt,split,cash,envelope,paycheck

Every word is new, singular where it can be, and relevant. With the name and subtitle, this lets the listing target combinations like "expense tracker", "debt payoff", "savings goal", "split bills" and "envelope budget" without spelling any of them out.

Using extra localizations to get more keyword space

Each App Store storefront has a default language and, often, additional supported languages. Apple publishes the full list in its App Store localizations reference. A few examples from that table:

ASO practitioners have long reported that the App Store indexes the metadata of these additional localizations for search in that storefront. For a US-focused app, that means filling in the Spanish (Mexico) localization gives you a second name, subtitle and 100-character keyword field that can count toward US search. Apple’s table describes which languages a storefront supports; it doesn’t document how search weights them, so treat this as well-established practice rather than an Apple promise.

Two cautions. First, people really do see these localizations: an iPhone set to Spanish in the US may get your Spanish (Mexico) metadata. Use the extra field for genuine Spanish keywords, like the example below, rather than stuffing it with English words a Spanish-speaking user will see as gibberish. Second, the list changes, so check Apple’s table for each storefront you care about rather than relying on an old blog post.

presupuesto,gastos,ahorro,finanzas,deuda,ingresos,recibo,dividir,efectivo,quincena

If you’re going to fill a localization, it’s worth doing the screenshots and visible copy properly too. We wrote about why in translating a listing isn’t localization, and our screenshot localization guide covers the visual side.

How to measure whether your keywords are working

Keywords change only when you ship a new version, so each change is a small experiment with a slow feedback loop. Make it count:

• App Analytics by source type. In App Store Connect, filter impressions, product page views and downloads to the App Store Search source. A keyword change that works shows up as more search impressions. Apple doesn’t break this down by individual search term in App Analytics.
• Apple Ads. If you run search ads, the search terms report shows real queries that matched your app, which is a good source of new keyword ideas.
• Keyword rank tracking. A rank tracker checks your position for specific terms each day, which is the most direct way to see whether a new word did anything. Launch Shots includes daily keyword rank tracking in its ASO console, free on every plan; dedicated ASO tools do this too.

Give a change two to four weeks before judging it, and keep a simple log of what was in the field for each version. If your installs have flattened after an early run of keyword wins, our post on the ASO plateau covers what to look at next. And if you manage metadata for several apps or localizations, Store Listings in Launch Shots keeps the fields in one place.

The short version

• Fill as close to 100 characters as you can, commas and no spaces.
• Put the most important keywords in the name and subtitle; don’t repeat them in the keyword field.
• Single words, singular forms, no category names, no "app".
• Never use competitor names or trademarks.
• Check Apple’s localization table for your storefront and fill the additional localizations with real keywords in that language.
• Change keywords with each release, one experiment at a time, and track ranks and search impressions in between.