The App Store keyword field: fill all 100 bytes without waste
The App Store keyword field is a hidden, comma-separated list of up to 100 bytes per localization, and you fill it without waste by separating terms with commas and no spaces, leaving out every word already in your app name, subtitle or category, keeping only one of singular or plural, and never using other apps' or companies' names.
The keyword field is the only App Store text users never see, and it is one of the few fields Apple names as input to search. It holds up to 100 bytes per language. Every byte spent on a space, a repeat or a plural is a search term you lost, so the work is mostly removing waste, then filling the space with words people actually type.
What are Apple's rules for the keyword field?
Apple's rules come from three official pages. Together they say what to put in and what to leave out.
| Rule | What Apple says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Length | Up to 100 bytes (the search page says 100 characters) | App Store Connect Help, App Store search |
| Each keyword | Greater than two characters | App Store Connect Help |
| Separator | Commas, no spaces; spaces are fine between words of a phrase, as in Property,House,Real Estate | App Store search |
| No repeats | Don't repeat words from your app name, subtitle or category; the app is already searchable by app name and company name | App Store search, App Store Connect Help |
| Plurals | Don't add plurals of words you already have: "climbs" and "climb" are duplicates | App Store search |
| Leave out | Generic terms like "app" or "game", filler words like "the" and "to", special characters, irrelevant terms | App Store search |
| Names | Names of other apps or companies aren't allowed; no unauthorized trademarks, celebrity names or competing app names | App Store Connect Help, App Store search, guideline 2.3.7 |
Your primary and optional secondary category are indexed too, which is why their words are wasted in the field. You edit the keywords on the version page in App Store Connect: in Apps, pick the app, open the platform version in the sidebar, and choose the language from the menu at the top right.
How do bytes change the count?
In UTF-8 each English letter, digit and comma is 1 byte, but ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş, ü, ä, ß and accented letters such as é are 2 bytes. A Turkish or German field therefore fits fewer than 100 letters. For example, planlayıcı,hatırlatıcı,ajanda,motivasyon,su içme,uyku,meditasyon,egzersiz,yapılacaklar,sabah is 92 characters but 99 bytes. The full table with German and Turkish examples is in App Store and Google Play character limits.
What does a wasted field look like? A before and after
Take an invented habit tracker. Its app name is "Fitly: Habit Tracker", its subtitle is "Daily routines and streaks", and its category is Health & Fitness.
Before (100 characters, 100 bytes, full but almost empty of new words):
habit tracker, habits, daily, routine, routines, health, fitness, streak, goals, best habit app, app
| Problem | Words | Why it wastes bytes |
|---|---|---|
| Spaces after commas | 10 spaces | Apple asks for no spaces; 10 bytes gone |
| Already in the name | habit tracker, habits | The name is already indexed; "habits" is a plural of "habit" |
| Already in the subtitle | daily, routine, routines, streak | Subtitle words; "routine" and "streak" are singular forms of subtitle words |
| Already in the category | health, fitness | The category is indexed |
| Generic or a claim | app, best habit app | Apple lists "app" as too generic; "best" is the kind of claim guideline 2.3.7 warns about |
| New and useful | goals | The only term that adds coverage |
After (95 characters, 95 bytes, 13 new terms):
planner,reminder,goal,journal,mood,self care,discipline,checklist,todo,morning,water,sleep,calm
Nothing repeats the name, subtitle or category, every comma has no space, each term is longer than two characters, and 5 bytes are left for one more short word after the next round of research.
How do I dedupe against the name, subtitle and category?
Run this check every time you edit any of the three indexed text fields, not only the keyword field.
- Write the name, subtitle and category name in one line and split it into words.
- Split the keyword field at the commas, then each phrase at its spaces.
- Delete any keyword word that appears in step 1, including its plural or singular form.
- Delete generic words ("app", "game"), filler words ("the", "and", "for") and any word of two characters or fewer.
- Delete every space after a comma.
- Count the bytes, not the characters. Fill what is left with the next most relevant term from your research.
Apple does not document how words from different fields combine into longer searches. Many developers write single words rather than phrases on the assumption that they do, which saves bytes; treat that as common practice, and check it against your own rank data.
Singular or plural?
Keep one. Apple's own example calls "climbs" and "climb" duplicates, so adding both spends bytes for nothing. Choose the form your users type more often; keyword research or the store's autocomplete shows which. Apple's examples are English; it does not say how it treats suffixes in languages such as Turkish, where one word can take many endings, so the safe default there is also one form per word.
Can I add competitor names?
No. App Store Connect Help states that names of other apps or companies aren't allowed in the field. Apple's search page lists competing app names, unauthorized trademarks and celebrity names among the terms to avoid. Guideline 2.3.7 of the App Review Guidelines asks you not to pack metadata with trademarked terms or popular app names and adds that Apple may modify inappropriate keywords at any time. Tracking a rival's brand search is fine; putting it in your field is not.
Can I use a second language's keyword field in the same storefront?
Apple's App Store localizations table gives each storefront a default language and additional supported languages. Some examples from that table:
| Storefront | Default language | Additional supported languages |
|---|---|---|
| Türkiye | English (U.K.) | Turkish |
| Germany | German | English (U.K.) |
| France | French | English (U.K.) |
| Brazil | Portuguese (Brazil) | English (U.K.) |
| Mexico | Spanish (Mexico) | English (U.K.) |
| United States | English (US) | Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), French, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish (Mexico), Vietnamese |
Many developers fill the keyword field of both languages for a storefront, for example Turkish and English (U.K.) for the Turkish store, to get two fields of 100 bytes. Be clear about the evidence: Apple's page lists them as the default and additional supported languages of each storefront and does not say they are indexed for search there. It is a widely used practice, not an Apple rule, so check the effect with rank data before you rely on it. Two more cautions: the English (U.K.) localization is also the default listing of the UK storefront and a supported language in many others, so its name and subtitle must stay real English; and the keyword rules above apply to each language separately. The full list is in the App Store localization languages table.
Do custom product pages have their own keywords?
They use yours. Apple lets you assign keywords from your latest approved app version to a custom product page, and suggests a unique set for each page so the most relevant page appears. The page shows in search only after it is approved and set to visible. See custom product pages.
How often should I change the keyword field?
Apple gives no official rule. We also found no official sentence that the field can only change with a new app version, although App Store Connect shows it on the version page and developers commonly report that changes ship with a version. A sensible rhythm: change it when data gives you a reason, change a few terms at a time, and read daily ranks over weeks rather than days, as described in keyword rank tracking. The promotional text, which you can change any time, does not help here: Apple says it does not affect search ranking (promotional text vs description).
How can Uptika help?
Paste your name, subtitle and keywords into the free Metadata Linter: it counts the keyword field in bytes and flags words repeated from the name or subtitle, singular/plural pairs and brand risks. To check a term's popularity and difficulty in up to 10 countries, use the free Keyword Atlas. In the panel, the free "Keyword field" packer fills the 100 bytes by popularity without repeats, and Keyword radar records your rank, popularity and difficulty for each keyword every day, so you can see whether a change worked. Create a free account; no card needed.
Questions
What is the App Store keywords character limit?
App Store Connect Help says up to 100 bytes; Apple's App Store search page says 100 characters. In English the two are equal. Letters such as ç, ş, ü, ä or é take 2 bytes each, so a Turkish or German field holds fewer than 100 letters.
Should I use spaces after commas in App Store keywords?
No. Apple asks for terms separated by commas with no spaces. A space inside a phrase such as "real estate" is fine; a space after a comma only costs a byte.
Should keywords repeat the app name?
No. Apple says your app is already searchable by its app name and company name, and its search page asks you not to repeat words from the app name, subtitle or category. Use those bytes for new words.
Can I use competitor names in keywords?
No. App Store Connect Help says names of other apps or companies are not allowed, Apple's search page lists competing app names and unauthorized trademarks as terms to avoid, and guideline 2.3.7 says Apple may modify inappropriate keywords at any time.
How often should I change App Store keywords?
Apple gives no official rule. Change the field when you have a reason, such as a word that does not rank after several weeks or a new feature, and give each change time to settle before you judge it from daily rank data.