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App Store title and subtitle: how the two strongest fields are weighted

The title and subtitle are the two strongest search fields an app controls — 30 characters each, weighted above the hidden keyword field, and changeable only with a release.

What the App Store indexes

For each localization, App Store search indexes three metadata fields: the title (Apple calls it the app name, 30 characters), the subtitle (30 characters), and the hidden keyword field (100 characters). Together they form one combined word pool — a query can match words drawn from any mix of the three.

  • The description is not indexed for App Store search. Decades of community testing have found no ranking effect; treat it as conversion copy. (Google Play differs — its long description is indexed — but openaso covers Apple only.)
  • Promotional text (170 characters, editable without a release) is not indexed either.
  • Beyond the app's own pool, the developer name is searchable, and promoted in-app purchases and subscriptions have their own display names that surface in search results.

Field weight

Words in the title weigh most, then the subtitle, then the keyword field. The same word repeated in a second field adds nothing — the pool is a set, and the duplicate's characters are wasted budget. Word order and case do not gate what can rank; a phrase kept intact in the title or subtitle is a mild extra relevance signal, nothing more.

Field weight is a tiebreaker among relevant apps, not a guarantee: two apps carrying the same word in different fields can still be ordered by behavior signals — downloads and taps for that query.

Spending the 60 characters

  • Title: brand plus the one phrase worth the most, e.g. Ledger — budget tracker. Every character spent restating the category in a decorated way is budget not spent on a word that can match a query.
  • Subtitle: the next-strongest words that combine with title words into real queries — not a slogan. Plan, save, invest buys three pool words; Your money, reimagined buys one usable word.
  • Skip filler Apple's own guidance calls out: app, free, category names, and your own app name repeated. Keyword-stuffed names risk rejection under App Review Guideline 2.3.7, and the 30-character cap is enforced at submission.
coverage → field budgets (excerpt)
{
  "fields": [
    { "field": "title", "text": "Ledger — budget tracker", "chars": 23,
      "limit": 30, "remaining": 7, "overLimit": false },
    { "field": "subtitle", "text": "Plan, save, invest", "chars": 18,
      "limit": 30, "remaining": 12, "overLimit": false }
  ],
  "duplicates": []
}

Changes ship with releases

Title, subtitle, and keyword field can only change with a new app version submitted through App Review — there is no live edit. After release, re-indexing typically lands within about a day, but rankings settle over days to weeks as behavior signals accrue against the new metadata. Verify with rank after the release and let daily tracking catch the settling curve; a before/after comparison on day one overstates nothing so much as itself.

FAQ

Does the App Store index the app description?

No — community testing has consistently found no search effect from description text on the App Store. Put every word you want to rank for in the title, subtitle, or keyword field, and write the description for humans.

Do emoji or special characters in the title help ranking?

No. Search matches words; decoration spends characters without adding pool words, and heavily decorated names invite App Review friction.

Do I need the exact phrase in my title to rank for it?

No. A query can be assembled from words across the title, subtitle, and keyword field. An intact phrase in a visible field is a mild extra signal — worth having for your single most important query, not for every target.

How often can I change title and subtitle?

Every release, in principle. In practice frequent renames trade away brand recall and re-ranking stability for small pool changes — batch metadata changes with releases you are shipping anyway, and measure each change with daily rank history.

Terms

  • title (app name) — The 30-character public app name — the heaviest-weighted indexed field in App Store search.
  • subtitle — The 30-character line under the title on the product page; the second-strongest indexed field.
  • promotional text — 170 characters shown above the description, editable without a release — not indexed for search.

markdown mirror: /reference/title-subtitle.md · full corpus: /llms-full.txt