Smartphone displaying app store search results with highlighted app titles showing keyword placement strategies for ASO optimization.

Your app title is the single most powerful ASO element at your disposal. In just 30 characters, you need to communicate what your app does, include a high-value keyword, and convince users to tap. Research shows that apps with keyword-optimized titles see 10.3% higher rankings on average^[1]. Yet most developers waste this space with generic names that do nothing for discoverability.

Whether you're launching a brand-new app or rethinking your existing listing, getting the title right can mean the difference between page-one visibility and digital obscurity. In this guide, we'll break down the character limits for every platform, reveal the formulas that top apps follow, analyze 20 real-world examples, and show you how AI tools can generate optimized title options in seconds.

Character Limits by Platform

Before you brainstorm a single title idea, you need to know exactly how much space each platform gives you — and what gets indexed where. The rules differ between Apple and Google, and misunderstanding them means leaving search visibility on the table.

Apple App Store

Apple provides three distinct metadata fields that all contribute to keyword indexing:

App Name (Title): 30 characters maximum. This is the most prominent text users see and carries the highest keyword weight in Apple's search algorithm^[2].
Subtitle: 30 characters maximum. Displayed directly below the app name in search results and on your product page. Also indexed for search, though with slightly less weight than the title.
Keyword Field: 100 characters (hidden from users). This backend field lets you add additional search terms that don't appear publicly.

Together, these three fields give you 160 characters of indexed real estate. The key rule: never repeat keywords across these fields. Apple's algorithm treats them as a combined set, so duplicating a word wastes precious characters^[2].

Google Play Store

Google Play takes a fundamentally different approach to indexing:

App Title: 30 characters maximum (reduced from 50 in 2021).
Short Description: 80 characters. Indexed for search and visible on the listing page.
Full Description: 4,000 characters. Unlike Apple, Google indexes every word in your full description for search rankings.

The 30-character title limit on Google Play makes keyword placement even more critical. However, because the full description is also indexed, you have more flexibility to spread secondary keywords elsewhere. We cover this in detail in our app metadata optimization guide.

What Gets Indexed: A Quick Comparison

Field	App Store (Apple)	Google Play
Title / App Name	30 chars, indexed	30 chars, indexed
Subtitle / Short Description	30 chars, indexed	80 chars, indexed
Keyword Field	100 chars, indexed	N/A
Full Description	Not indexed for search	4,000 chars, indexed

Understanding this matrix is the foundation of effective title optimization. On Apple, your title and subtitle are your primary search weapons. On Google Play, the title matters most, but you have the full description as a keyword safety net. For a deeper dive into keyword strategy, see our guide on choosing app store keywords that drive downloads.

The Formula for a Perfect App Title

After analyzing hundreds of top-ranking apps across both stores, a clear formula emerges. The most effective app titles follow a Brand + Primary Keyword pattern — or the reverse, depending on brand strength.

Pattern 1: Brand First (For Established Brands)

If users already search for your brand name, lead with it:

Spotify - Music and Podcasts (26 characters)
Duolingo - Language Lessons (27 characters)
Notion - Notes & Docs (20 characters)

These brands are searched by name millions of times per month. Putting the brand first ensures users find them instantly. The keyword after the separator helps capture generic searches like "music" or "language lessons."

Pattern 2: Keyword First (For New or Growing Apps)

If nobody is searching for your brand yet, lead with the keyword users ARE searching for:

Budget Planner - Finwise (24 characters)
Meditation Timer - Calm+ (24 characters)
Workout Tracker: FitLog (23 characters)

The primary keyword gets the most algorithmic weight from position one. The brand name follows to build recognition over time. This is the approach we recommend for most indie developers and startups.

Pattern 3: Pure Keyword (Maximum SEO)

Some apps skip the brand entirely in the title to maximize keyword density:

QR Code Reader & Scanner (25 characters)
PDF Scanner & Converter (23 characters)
Step Counter & Pedometer (25 characters)

This approach maximizes search relevance but sacrifices brand building. It works well for utility apps in competitive categories where the function IS the selling point. If you're unsure which pattern fits your app, AppDrift's AI metadata generator can create multiple title variations and test which pattern performs best for your category.

What to Avoid in Your Title

Apple and Google both enforce title guidelines. These will get your listing rejected or suppressed:

Using the word "free" or referencing price
Including ALL CAPS for attention (e.g., "BEST Photo Editor")
Adding competitor brand names or trademarks
Using excessive punctuation (!!!, ..., etc.)
Including generic terms in isolation ("app," "the best")

Keyword Placement Strategies

Where you place keywords within those 30 characters matters just as much as which keywords you choose. Position, separators, and the relationship between title and subtitle all affect rankings.

Front-Loading Keywords

Apple's algorithm gives extra weight to keywords that appear earlier in the title^[3]. This means the very first word of your title has the greatest impact on search rankings. If your primary keyword is "meditation," these rank in order of effectiveness:

Meditation Timer - ZenApp (strongest ranking signal)
ZenApp - Meditation Timer (moderate ranking signal)
ZenApp: Daily Meditation (weaker ranking signal)

For new apps with no brand recognition, front-loading is almost always the right choice. As your brand grows and users begin searching for your name, you can gradually shift to a brand-first format.

Separator Usage: Hyphens, Pipes, and Colons

The separator between your brand and keyword serves both a functional and visual purpose:

Hyphen (-): The most common and cleanest separator. "Notion - Notes & Docs"
Colon (:): Implies the second part describes the first. "Headspace: Mindful Meditation"
Pipe (|): Less common but valid. "Trello | Project Manager"
Dot/Period (.): Works for brands that use dots. "Calm. Sleep & Meditation"

Each separator uses one to three characters. When you're working within a 30-character limit, every character counts. A hyphen with spaces takes 3 characters ( - ), while a colon with one space takes 2 (: ).

Title + Subtitle Synergy (Apple Only)

The most overlooked optimization opportunity on Apple is the relationship between your title and subtitle. Since both are indexed, they should work together to cover maximum keyword ground:

Good example:

Title: "Headspace: Mindful Meditation"
Subtitle: "Sleep Sounds & Focus Music"

Bad example:

Title: "Headspace: Meditation App"
Subtitle: "Meditation & Mindfulness"

In the bad example, "meditation" is repeated in both fields, wasting characters that could capture additional keywords. For a comprehensive approach to optimizing all your metadata fields, check our ASO checklist for 2026.

20 Real App Title Examples (Analyzed)

Let's examine titles from top-performing apps across multiple categories. For each, we'll break down what works and why.

Productivity & Utilities

Notion - Notes & Docs (20 chars) — Clean and descriptive. Brand-first works because millions search "Notion." Captures "notes" and "docs" generics.
Todoist: To-Do List & Planner (28 chars) — Uses nearly all 30 characters. "To-Do List" and "Planner" are both high-volume keywords. Excellent keyword coverage.
1Password - Password Manager (28 chars) — The category keyword "password manager" captures the exact phrase users search for.
Grammarly: AI Writing Assist (27 chars) — Cleverly truncates "Assistant" to fit the limit. Adds "AI" as a trending modifier.

Health & Fitness

MyFitnessPal: Calorie Counter (29 chars) — "Calorie Counter" is the #1 searched fitness term on both stores. This title targets it perfectly.
Headspace: Mindful Meditation (29 chars) — "Meditation" gets 50K+ monthly searches on the App Store. The modifier "mindful" adds a second keyword.
Strava: Run & Ride Tracker (26 chars) — Covers two activities (run, ride) plus "tracker" — three keywords in one subtitle-like structure.
Flo Period & Pregnancy Track (28 chars) — Targets two major use cases. Drops "er" from "Tracker" to fit — Apple still indexes partial matches.

Finance

Mint: Budget & Bill Planner (26 chars) — Two high-volume keywords ("budget" and "bill") connected by the versatile "planner."
Robinhood - Invest in Stock (27 chars) — Verb-based approach ("invest in stock") matches how users naturally search.
YNAB: Budget & Finance Track (27 chars) — "Budget" is the primary keyword, with "finance" adding category coverage.

Social & Communication

Telegram Messenger (18 chars) — Simple and effective. Could use more characters, but the brand is strong enough to not need them.
Signal - Private Messenger (25 chars) — Differentiator ("Private") acts as both a keyword and a brand positioning statement.
Discord - Chat & Talk (20 chars) — Captures both text ("chat") and voice ("talk") search intents in minimal characters.

Photo & Video

VSCO: Photo & Video Editor (26 chars) — Covers both "photo editor" and "video editor" queries with a shared word.
Canva: Design & AI Editor (25 chars) — Adds "AI" to capture trending search queries. "Design" and "editor" are high-volume standalone terms.
Lightroom: Photo & AI Edit (26 chars) — Adobe's approach drops the brand prefix for the keyword-rich descriptor.

Games & Entertainment

Spotify - Music and Podcasts (27 chars) — Uses "and" instead of "&" for readability. Captures two massive categories in one title.
Shazam: Find Music & Concerts (29 chars) — "Find Music" mirrors the user's search intent (action + noun). "Concerts" adds discovery potential.
Chess - Play & Learn (19 chars) — Generic category name is the brand itself. "Play" and "learn" capture the two main user intents.

Key Takeaways from These Examples

Most top apps use 25-30 characters — nearly the full limit
The ampersand (&) is preferred over "and" to save one character
Colons and hyphens are the dominant separators
Two-keyword titles outperform single-keyword titles consistently
Trending modifiers like "AI" are being added across categories

Want to see how your title stacks up? Learn more about measuring your listing's effectiveness in our app store conversion rate optimization guide.

Common Title Mistakes

Knowing what NOT to do is just as important as knowing the best practices. Here are the title mistakes we see most frequently — and each one is costing developers downloads.

Mistake 1: Keyword Stuffing

Trying to cram every possible keyword into 30 characters creates unreadable titles that Apple may reject:

Bad: "Photo Edit Filter Camera Pic"
Good: "PhotoLab - Photo Editor & AI"

Apple specifically warns against "irrelevant, inappropriate, or misleading keywords" and may remove listings that violate this rule^[4].

Mistake 2: Using ALL CAPS

Some developers capitalize entire words for attention (e.g., "BEST Workout PRO"). Both Apple and Google discourage this practice, and it can trigger review flags. Proper capitalization looks more professional and builds more trust with users.

Mistake 3: Special Characters and Emojis

While emojis might catch the eye, they waste character space and can cause indexing issues on some platforms. Apple explicitly prohibits emojis in app names. Special characters like ™ or © are also not recommended — they consume characters without adding searchable value.

Mistake 4: Generic or Vague Names

Titles like "My App" or "Photo Pro" tell users nothing specific. A generic name forces you to rely entirely on paid ads for discovery since organic search results will never surface your app for competitive keywords.

Mistake 5: Ignoring Subtitle Synergy

On the App Store, many developers repeat the same keywords in both the title and subtitle. This is one of the costliest mistakes because it wastes half of your indexed character space. Every word in your subtitle should be unique from your title to maximize keyword coverage. Review our guide to writing app store descriptions for a comprehensive metadata strategy.

Mistake 6: Never Testing or Updating

Your title isn't a set-it-and-forget-it element. Search trends change, competitors shift, and new keywords emerge. Top-performing apps update their titles at least quarterly based on keyword performance data. A/B testing on Google Play (via store listing experiments) lets you compare title variations before committing.

Using AI to Generate Optimized Titles

Manually brainstorming app titles is time-consuming, and it's easy to miss high-potential keyword combinations. This is where AI-powered metadata tools fundamentally change the game.

How AppDrift Generates Optimized Titles

AppDrift's AI metadata generator uses GPT-4 and Gemini models trained specifically on app store data to create title options that are:

Character-limit compliant: Every generated title respects the 30-character limit for both Apple and Google Play
Keyword-integrated: Primary and secondary keywords are naturally woven into each title variation
Duplicate-free: The AI ensures no keyword overlap between your title, subtitle, and keyword field
Category-aware: Title suggestions reflect naming conventions for your specific app category

Instead of one title, AppDrift generates multiple variations so you can A/B test and find the highest-performing option. The AI also generates matching subtitles and keyword fields that work in concert with your title for maximum search coverage.

AI Title Generation in Action

Here's what the process looks like: you enter your app's URL or describe its core function, select your target market, and the AI produces a complete set of optimized metadata in under 60 seconds. For a fitness tracking app, you might get title options like:

"FitTrack - Workout & Calories" (29 chars)
"Workout Log & Fitness Tracker" (29 chars)
"FitTrack: Exercise Planner" (26 chars)

Each variation targets different keyword clusters, giving you options to test. Learn more about the differences between AI-powered tools in our complete metadata optimization guide.

Multilingual Title Optimization

Title optimization gets exponentially more complex when you're localizing for multiple markets. A keyword that ranks well in English may have a completely different search volume in Japanese, German, or Portuguese. AppDrift's metadata translation doesn't just translate your title — it researches local keywords in each market and generates culturally appropriate titles that target what users in that locale actually search for.

This is critical because direct translation of keywords almost never works for ASO. The German word for "budget planner" isn't what German users type when searching for budgeting apps. AI-powered localization bridges this gap automatically across 40+ languages.

Ready to optimize your app title? Get started with AppDrift — the free plan includes the screenshot generator, and paid plans start at just $9.99/month for full metadata generation and translation across 40+ languages.

FAQ

What is the character limit for an App Store app name?

Apple allows a maximum of 30 characters for the app name (title) in the App Store. Google Play also allows up to 30 characters for the app title. Additionally, Apple provides a 30-character subtitle field that gets indexed separately for search. Every character matters for discoverability, so use the full limit strategically.

Should I put my brand name or keywords first in the app title?

It depends on your brand recognition. If your brand is well-known (like Nike or Spotify), put it first. For lesser-known brands, lead with your primary keyword and follow with your brand. For example, "Budget Tracker - FinApp" outperforms "FinApp - Budget Tracker" for unknown brands because the keyword gets more search weight from its position.

Can I change my app title after publishing?

Yes, you can change your app title with each new version update on both the App Store and Google Play. In fact, ASO experts recommend testing different title variations quarterly. However, changing your title too frequently can confuse users and temporarily affect rankings, so plan changes strategically and track the impact.

What characters are allowed in an app store title?

Apple prohibits certain special characters and symbols in app names, including price references ("free"), generic terms like "app" by itself, and excessive punctuation. Google Play is slightly less restrictive but still enforces trademark policies. Both platforms allow hyphens, colons, pipes, and standard punctuation for separating brand from keywords.

How does the App Store subtitle differ from the title for ASO?

The App Store subtitle is a separate 30-character field that appears below your app name. Both fields are indexed for search, but the title carries more ranking weight. The subtitle should complement the title by targeting different secondary keywords rather than repeating words already in the title. Together, they give you 60 characters of indexed keyword real estate.

References

SplitMetrics — Research on the impact of keyword-optimized app titles on search rankings and visibility in app stores.
Apple Developer Documentation — Official guidelines for App Store product page metadata, including title and subtitle character limits.
Apple Developer Documentation — App Store search optimization best practices and keyword indexing behavior.
Apple App Store Review Guidelines — Rules regarding metadata, naming conventions, and prohibited content in app listings.
Google Play Console Help — Store listing guidelines for app titles, descriptions, and metadata on Google Play.

Title Optimization

App Store Title Optimization: Character Limits, Keyword Placement, and Real Examples