App Store Keywords Field: Character Limit & How to Fill It Right
The App Store keywords field is the highest-leverage 100 characters in your entire listing — and the one most indie makers waste. It is hidden from users, it directly feeds Apple's search algorithm, and small mistakes (spaces after commas, repeating your app name, plural forms) quietly burn characters you could have spent ranking for real searches.
This guide covers the exact character limit, the formatting rules that maximize it, and a repeatable method for choosing which keywords to include. If you want the wider strategy this fits into, start with our ASO playbook for indie and no-code developers; this post is the deep dive on the one field that does the most quiet work.
What is the App Store keywords field character limit?
The App Store keywords field has a 100-character limit, including the commas that separate your terms. It lives in App Store Connect under your app version's Localizable Information, and it is private — users never see it. Its only job is to tell Apple's search which queries your app should show up for.
Keep three numbers in mind, because Apple indexes all three for search:
| Field |
Character limit |
Visible to users? |
Indexed for search? |
| App name |
30 |
Yes |
Yes |
| Subtitle |
30 |
Yes |
Yes |
| Keywords field |
100 |
No |
Yes |
That means your effective keyword surface on iOS is 160 characters across name + subtitle + keywords. The keywords field is where you put terms you want to rank for but don't want (or can't fit) in your visible name and subtitle.
Note that Google Play works completely differently — there is no hidden keywords field at all. Everything covered here is Apple-specific.
How to format the keywords field (the rules that save characters)
The formatting rules are simple, but each one you break costs you rankable characters:
- Separate with a comma, no space.
budget,expense,tracker — not budget, expense, tracker. Every space after a comma wastes one character and buys you nothing.
- No repeats. Do not repeat any word that already appears in your app name or subtitle. Apple already indexes those. Repeating "budget" in the keywords field is a wasted duplicate.
- Use single words, not phrases. Apple automatically combines your individual keywords into phrases. If you enter
budget and tracker, you can rank for "budget tracker" without spending characters on the space. So enter single terms and let Apple do the combining.
- Skip "app," your category name, and your brand. You already rank for your own brand and category. Don't spend characters on
app, free, or your company name.
- Singular or plural, not both. Apple handles most stemming, so pick one form.
receipt usually covers "receipts."
- No plurals of the same root, no filler words. Drop "and," "the," "for," and connector words — the comma is your only separator.
Here is 100 characters used well for a bill-splitting app (name already contains "Splitwise-style bill splitter"):
expense,receipt,scan,friends,group,trip,roommate,ious,settle,reimburse,tab,dinner,vacation,owe
Every character is a rankable term. No spaces after commas, no duplicates of the name, no filler.
How to choose which keywords to include
You have 100 characters and unlimited candidate words. The method for narrowing down:
1. Brainstorm from the user's language
Write down the words a real person would type to find your app — not the words you use internally. "Roommate," "IOU," "settle up," and "who owes who" beat "financial reconciliation platform." Read your own reviews and competitor reviews; users hand you their exact search vocabulary.
2. Cover the three keyword types
- Category terms — what your app is (
tracker, planner, journal).
- Feature terms — what it does (
scan, reminder, widget, offline).
- Use-case / intent terms — when and why people need it (
trip, roommate, wedding, budget).
A balanced field mixes all three rather than piling on synonyms of one.
3. Favor achievable, specific terms
A brand-new app will not out-rank giants for a single broad word like "fitness" or "budget." Longer, more specific combinations — "roommate expense," "receipt scanner offline" — have less competition and attract users who convert. Chase winnable searches first, then expand as you gain ratings and downloads.
4. Prioritize by fit, not just volume
If you must cut, keep the terms that most accurately describe your app. Ranking #1 for an irrelevant popular term wins you tap-throughs that bounce and hurts your conversion signal. Relevance beats reach.
Where else your keywords should appear
The keywords field is only part of Apple's search picture. Because your app name and subtitle are also indexed, your most important keyword phrase should live there — visible to users — and the keywords field should carry the supporting terms that don't fit.
A quick keyword-field checklist
- [ ] Total length is at or under 100 characters, commas included
- [ ] Commas only — no spaces between keywords
- [ ] No word repeated from the app name or subtitle
- [ ] Single words, letting Apple auto-combine into phrases
- [ ] No "app," "free," category name, or brand name
- [ ] One form of each word (singular or plural, not both)
- [ ] Mix of category, feature, and use-case terms
- [ ] Every term genuinely describes the app (relevance over reach)
Test, measure, iterate
Keywords are not set-and-forget. You can update the field with each new app version, so treat it as an ongoing experiment: check your keyword rankings and impressions in App Store Connect analytics after each release, drop the terms that never rank, and reallocate those characters to new candidates. A field that changes every couple of releases will always out-perform one you filled once and forgot.
And remember: even perfect keywords only win you the tap onto your product page. What happens next is decided by your screenshots and description. When you are ready to make that page convert, our App Store screenshot generator exports store-ready screenshots at the exact required dimensions so the visits your keywords earn actually turn into installs.
Frequently asked questions
What is the character limit for the App Store keywords field?
The Apple App Store keywords field has a 100-character limit, including commas. This field is private — users never see it — and it exists only in App Store Connect. It is separate from your app name (30 characters) and subtitle (30 characters), which are also indexed for search.
Do I put spaces after commas in the App Store keywords field?
No. Separate keywords with a comma and no space, like "budget,expense,tracker". A space after each comma wastes one of your 100 characters per keyword and adds no value. Apple recognizes the comma alone as the separator.
Does Google Play have a keywords field?
No. Google Play has no hidden keywords field. It indexes your app title, 80-character short description, and 4,000-character full description instead. On Android you rank by using terms naturally in that visible copy, not in a separate field.