App Store app-name rules: 30 characters, reserved names and subtitle tricks

Apple's rules for app names are short, but the way developers work around them is where the real strategy lives.

The hard limits

• 30 characters for the name, including spaces. It used to be 50, and before that 255, which is why old apps have names like a paragraph.
• 30 characters for the subtitle, shown under the name on the product page and in search results.
• No prices, no "free", no "best", no competitor names, no generic category words used as the whole name. Apple's review team enforces this unevenly, but they do reject.
• Names must be unique within the App Store. Two apps can't share an exact name, though "Notes" and "Notes." can both exist.

Reserved names

When you create an app record in App Store Connect you pick a name, and from that moment nobody else can use it. You don't need to upload a build. Apple releases the name if the app is never submitted, but the window has moved around and isn't documented.

This is why a store search can show your name as clear while App Store Connect rejects it. There's no public list of reservations. If the name matters to you, create the app record the same day you check it. It's free with a developer account.

Where the keywords go

Because the name is so short, keyword work happens in the subtitle and the hidden keyword field. A good pattern:

• Name: the brand and nothing else. "Lumen"
• Subtitle: what it does, using the two or three words people search. "Focus timer & habit tracker"
• Keywords field: everything else, comma-separated, no spaces, no repeats of words already in the name or subtitle.

The name is weighted more heavily than the subtitle in search, and the subtitle more than the keyword field. So a common workaround is a name like "Lumen: Focus Timer". It works, and it's allowed, but it eats characters that a brand-only name would leave for a cleaner listing. Choose based on whether you expect to be found by brand or by category.

Localized names

Every storefront can have its own name and subtitle. If your brand word means something unfortunate in Spanish or Japanese, you can localize it there without changing the global brand. Check the countries you plan to launch in before you decide.

A short checklist

1. Under 30 characters, ideally under 15 so it fits handles too.
2. Not a generic word on its own.
3. Not already an exact title in your launch countries.
4. Reserve it in App Store Connect the day you decide.
5. Put category keywords in the subtitle, not the name.