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App Store and Google Play character limits

App Store limits: app name 30 characters, subtitle 30, keywords 100, promotional text 170, description 4,000 and What's New 4,000. Google Play limits: app name 30, short description 80, full description 4,000 and release notes 500 per language. Every figure below comes from Apple's and Google's own help pages, linked at the end.

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01App Store character limits

FieldLimitWhere it appearsIndexed for search
App name30 characters (min. 2)Product page, search resultsYes
Subtitle30 charactersUnder the name, search resultsYes
Keywords100 charactersNowhere — hiddenYes
Promotional text170 charactersAbove the descriptionNot listed by Apple
Description4,000 charactersProduct pageNot listed by Apple
What's New4,000 charactersVersion update informationNot listed by Apple
App Review notes4,000 bytesOnly App ReviewNo

The "indexed" column follows Apple's own search page, which names the title, subtitle, keywords and primary category as text relevance. Apple does not list the description or promotional text there. Name, subtitle, keywords, description and What's New are set per localization, so each language you add has its own copy of every limit.

  • Promotional text can be changed without submitting a new version.
  • What's New is not available for an app's first version and is required for every version after it.
  • Description is plain text; HTML is not supported.

"App Store title" and "app name" are the same field: App Store Connect calls it Name, Apple's search documentation calls it the title, and it is the text shown above the subtitle on the product page and in search results. There is no separate title limit beyond its 30 characters.

02App Store keywords: 100 characters or 100 bytes?

Apple words it two ways. The App Store Connect help page says the field takes "up to 100 bytes"; Apple's App Store search page says keywords "are limited to 100 characters total". In App Store Connect the field counts characters: accented letters and non-Latin scripts count as one each, so a Turkish or Japanese field holds as many characters as an English one.

Separate terms with commas and no spaces, and don't repeat words that are already in your name, subtitle or category. The full set of rules, with the habits that waste the field, is in the 100-character keyword field; the keyword field tool packs a list into it.

03Google Play character limits

FieldLimitWhere it appears
App name (title)30 charactersStore listing, search results
Short description80 charactersFirst text on the details page
Full description4,000 charactersStore listing
Release notes500 Unicode characters per language"What's new" on the listing

Google states that the store listing limits apply the same way to full-width and half-width characters. Play has no hidden keyword field: the title and the descriptions are the text Play reads, and Google's help asks you to keep the title focused because long titles may be shortened on some devices.

04App Store vs Google Play, field by field

PurposeApp StoreGoogle Play
Name / title3030
Line under the nameSubtitle · 30Short description · 80
Hidden keywords100—
Editable promo linePromotional text · 170—
Long description4,0004,000
Release notesWhat's New · 4,000500 per language
The same 30-character name can't carry the same weight in both stores: on the App Store it shares search text with a subtitle and 100 hidden characters, on Google Play it shares it with descriptions people actually read. Writing one listing and pasting it into both stores leaves space unused on each.

05Checking your text against the limits

The character counter checks App Store name, subtitle, keywords and promotional text and Google Play title and short description in one form, and shows which words repeat between fields. Screenshot and preview sizes are a separate set of limits, covered in App Store and Google Play screenshot specs.

Spaces, commas and punctuation count toward every limit. In the keyword field that is the reason to drop the space after each comma; in the name and subtitle it is the reason separators such as " – " or ": " cost two or three characters each. Emoji and special characters are a policy question rather than a counting one: Apple's search guidance asks you to avoid special characters in keywords unless they are part of your brand.

Staying inside a limit only makes the text valid; whether a word in it earns rank depends on demand and competition, which is the subject of App Store keyword research.

Frequently asked

What is the App Store subtitle character limit?

30 characters, per localization. The subtitle appears under the app name and is one of the fields Apple names as text relevance for search.

What is the App Store description character limit?

4,000 characters, plain text without HTML. The same 4,000-character limit applies to What's New in This Version.

What is the Google Play short description character limit?

80 characters. The full description allows 4,000 and the app name 30.

What is the Play Store release notes character limit?

500 Unicode characters per language, according to Play Console Help. On the App Store, What's New allows 4,000 characters.

What is the App Store name character limit?

30 characters, with a minimum of two. The name is set per localization, so each language can use its own 30 characters.

What is the App Store promotional text character limit?

170 characters. Promotional text appears above the description and, unlike the description, can be changed without submitting a new app version.

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