Generate your app store metadata

Character limits shape every word you write, so keep them in front of you. Apple and Google both cap the most visible fields tightly, which means you are writing headlines, not paragraphs. Going over the limit is not allowed, and coming in far under it wastes valuable indexing and conversion space. Here are the numbers that matter for each store, counted per language.

• Apple app name: 30 characters. This is your strongest ranking and branding field.
• Apple subtitle: 30 characters, shown under the name and indexed for search.
• Apple keyword field: 100 characters, hidden from users, comma separated with no spaces to save room.
• Apple promotional text: 170 characters, editable any time without a review, shown at the top of the description.
• Apple description: 4000 characters, not indexed for keywords but critical for conversion.
• Apple release notes: 4000 characters per version.
• Google Play title: 30 characters, indexed and heavily weighted.
• Google Play short description: 80 characters, indexed and shown above the fold.
• Google Play full description: 4000 characters, fully indexed for search.
• Google Play release notes: 500 characters per version.

Yes, and this is the step most teams skip. Keyword research tells you the actual words people type when they look for an app like yours, and those words belong in your title, subtitle, short description, and keyword field long before you polish the marketing tone. Start by listing the terms that describe what your app does, then expand them with the search suggestions the stores themselves surface, and with the words your competitors rank for. Group them by how many people search for each and how directly it matches your app. High-volume, high-relevance terms earn a place in your title and subtitle. The long tail goes into the description and the Apple keyword field. Only once you know your target terms should you start writing sentences, because rewriting benefit copy to fit keywords in afterward almost always reads worse than building the copy around them from the start.

A practical way to check your draft is keyword density: after you write a description, measure which terms appear and how often, so you can confirm your priority keywords are present without stuffing. Repeating a keyword ten times does not help you rank and can read as spam to users. Aim for natural coverage where your main terms appear a handful of times across the title, short description, and body. Our free keyword density checker reads a block of description text and shows you the frequency of each term, which makes it easy to spot both gaps and overused words before you publish.

Ranking gets you seen, but conversion gets you installed, and the two goals pull in slightly different directions. Search indexing rewards clear keywords, while a browsing human rewards a clear benefit. The way to win both is to lead with the benefit and let the keyword ride along inside it. Instead of a title that is a comma-separated list of features, write a subtitle that says what the user gets. Your first line of description and your Apple promotional text are prime real estate, because most users never tap more to read the rest. Put your single strongest reason to install in that first line, then use short scannable blocks below it for features, social proof, and what makes you different.

1. Open with the outcome the user wants, not the internal feature name.
2. Put your top keyword inside a natural, benefit-led sentence rather than a keyword list.
3. Front-load the description: assume the reader only sees the first two lines.
4. Use short paragraphs or bullet-style lines so the copy is scannable on a phone.
5. End with a clear reason to choose you over the alternatives.

Localizing your listing is one of the highest-return moves in ASO, because a user searching in Spanish or Japanese is far more likely to install an app whose store page speaks their language. The trap is treating each locale as a separate manual project. The better approach is to finalize your source language metadata first, lock the structure, and then adapt each field per locale rather than translate it literally. Keywords in particular do not translate one to one: the term people actually search for in one market may be a different word than the direct translation, so you localize the intent, not the string. Keep a single source of truth for your metadata so that when you change your subtitle, you know every language that needs the same edit. If you manage a growing set of languages, our guide to managing multiple languages for a mobile app walks through keeping locales in sync without chaos.

AI is genuinely good at this specific task, as long as you keep a human in the loop for accuracy and brand voice. Generating metadata is a constrained writing problem: fixed fields, hard character limits, a known keyword list, and a known product. That is exactly the kind of brief where a well-prompted model produces strong first drafts in seconds, in every language at once. Where you must stay in control is factual accuracy and tone. AI does not know your exact feature set unless you tell it, so feed it your keyword list, your key benefits, and your brand rules, then review every generated field before publishing. Never let a model invent features, awards, or numbers you cannot back up, because both stores reject misleading metadata and users notice fast.

• Give the model your researched keywords, your top benefits, and your character limits as hard constraints.
• Generate all locales in one pass, then review each for accuracy and natural phrasing.
• Reject any claim, statistic, or feature the model added that is not true of your app.
• Run the output through a character counter and a density check before it goes live.

Here is an end-to-end sequence you can follow for any app, in any store, that keeps ranking and conversion in balance. Do it in order, because each step feeds the next.

1. Research your keywords first and group them by search volume and relevance.
2. Write your source-language title and subtitle or short description, fitting the top keyword into a benefit.
3. Draft the full description with your priority keywords covered naturally, front-loaded for the first two lines.
4. Write concise release notes that say what changed in plain language.
5. Generate or adapt every field for each target language, localizing keyword intent rather than translating literally.
6. Check every field against its character limit and run a keyword density pass.
7. Publish to App Store Connect and Google Play, then track which terms move you and iterate.

Once your metadata is live, ASO is a loop, not a launch. Refine your fields as you learn which keywords convert. For the store-specific mechanics, see how to improve your App Store Connect listing and how to improve your Google Play Console listing, which cover the settings and levers unique to each console.

The App Store keyword field is a hidden 100-character box where you list search terms, comma separated with no spaces, that users never see but Apple indexes for ranking. Google Play has no equivalent field. Instead, Google reads the keywords directly from your visible title, short description, and full description, so on Play your searchable terms and your marketing copy live in the same text.

Both stores allow up to 4000 characters, but length is not the goal. Most users only read the first two or three lines before deciding, so put your strongest benefit and main keyword up top. Use the remaining space for scannable feature lines, social proof, and differentiators. On Google Play the full description is indexed, so cover your priority keywords naturally, without stuffing.

On the Apple App Store, the description is not indexed for search, so keywords there help conversion but not ranking. Your Apple ranking comes from the app name, the subtitle, and the hidden keyword field. On Google Play it is the opposite: the full description is indexed, so the keywords you place there directly influence how you rank. This is why the same app needs a slightly different description strategy per store.

Revisit your metadata whenever you ship a meaningful feature, notice a keyword losing ground, or enter a new market. Apple promotional text can be changed any time without a review, so use it for timely messaging. Title, subtitle, and keyword changes on Apple are tied to a version submission, so plan them with releases. On Google Play you can edit most metadata independently of a release.