What the App Store app name is for

In App Store Connect, the name (sometimes called the app name or display name on the storefront) is the primary title string for that localization. It appears in search, charts, and the product page header. It is not the subtitle, not the promotional text, and not the home-screen icon label under the installed app — though those should not contradict each other.

  • Hard ceiling: 30 characters per localization (count after localization — expansion languages eat the budget fast).
  • Highly visible: shoppers see it before screenshots finish loading.
  • Locale-specific: each App Store localization can have its own name string.
  • Brand + clarity job: it should still feel like your product, not a keyword salad.
  • Review-sensitive: trademark claims, competitor names, and misleading category words get rejected.

App Store name localization is not "translate the English title until it fits." It is rewriting a 30-character identity so a shopper in that market recognizes the brand and the job — without looking like spam.

App name vs subtitle, keywords, and the on-device display name

Before you draft locales, separate the jobs. Crowding every phrase into the name produces truncated mush and weak subtitles.

  • App name (30 chars): brand + primary identity shoppers must recognize instantly.
  • Subtitle (30 chars): secondary benefit or category phrase — your main ASO expansion valve beside the name.
  • Keywords (100 chars, index-only): discovery phrases shoppers should not have to read as a title.
  • On-device display name / home screen label: may differ from the storefront name; keep them coherent so installs do not feel like a bait-and-switch.
  • Bundle / SKU identifiers: engineering IDs — never confuse them with the localized storefront name.

When you localize, keep those boundaries. A Japanese name should not become a keyword dump because the English brand is long. A German subtitle should not try to redo the whole name job.

Character limits, expansion languages, and truncation rules

Thirty characters is generous in English and tight in German, Finnish, or any locale that lengthens compound words. Plan the English name knowing every priority locale must still fit.

  1. Draft English under ~22–24 characters when you know DE/FR/ES will expand — leave headroom.
  2. Count after localization with the same rules App Store Connect uses (characters, not "visual width" guesses).
  3. Prefer shorter brand forms or accepted abbreviations only if they are already how customers say the product.
  4. Never ship a name that relies on ellipsis or mid-word cuts — rewrite until it fits cleanly.
  5. Keep a spreadsheet of name strings per locale next to subtitle and keywords so reviewers see the whole row.

If the localized name only fits by deleting the brand, you chose the wrong English structure. Fix the system of names — do not orphan the brand in one market.

Trademark, brand, and App Review constraints

Localizing the name does not give you a free pass on trademark or misleading claims. App Review and IP complaints still apply per locale.

  • Do not insert competitor brand names or "for [Popular App]" patterns into the title.
  • Do not claim official status, awards, or rankings you cannot substantiate in that market.
  • Keep category words honest — "editor," "tracker," "wallet" must match what the binary does.
  • Register and protect brand marks where you operate; localization is not a workaround for conflicts.
  • If legal requires a fixed trademark spelling, keep that token stable across locales and localize the descriptive half only.

When in doubt, make the name safer and push exploratory phrases into subtitle and keywords. A rejected name blocks the whole localization ship.

ASO choices: brand-first vs descriptive names per locale

Yes, relevant language in the name can support discovery. No, stuffing three head terms into 30 characters does not make a better listing. Localize for recognition first; place natural category cues where they still read like a product name.

  • Brand-led markets: keep the global brand primary; use subtitle for localized benefit language.
  • Category-led markets: a short descriptive cue after the brand can help cold searchers — only if it still sounds human.
  • Align vocabulary with subtitle, keywords, and screenshot captions so the page feels like one product.
  • Avoid repeating the same phrase in name and subtitle just to "use the limit."
  • Test readability with a native speaker — ASO wins that confuse shoppers are not wins.

When you localize listing assets at https://asolocalization.com, treat the app name as row one of the same locale checklist as subtitle, keywords, description, and screenshots — not an English leftover pasted on ship day.

How to ship app name locales in App Store Connect

Operationally, name localization should ride with the rest of the metadata pass — not as a panic edit after creatives are approved.

  1. List every storefront localization you actually ship (not every language Apple offers).
  2. Lock glossary tokens: brand spelling, product line names, forbidden competitor words.
  3. Draft name + subtitle + keywords together per locale so character budgets and phrase roles do not collide.
  4. Native-review the name aloud: would someone say this when recommending the app?
  5. Enter strings in App Store Connect per localization, save, and screenshot the row for QA.
  6. Submit with the version that includes matching screenshots and description — mismatched languages look broken.
  7. After release, watch locale search impressions and conversion; revise names with the same discipline as any other ASO experiment.

A clean workflow is a shared sheet (or tool) where each locale row shows name, subtitle, keywords, and screenshot caption status before anyone clicks Submit. That is the same checklist mindset behind https://asolocalization.com — keep the name in the pass, not outside it.

Common mistakes when teams localize the app name

  • Leaving English everywhere and hoping subtitle localization is enough.
  • Machine-translating a long English title until Connect truncates mid-word.
  • Different brand spellings across locales with no glossary.
  • Keyword stuffing that fails review or looks scammy in search results.
  • Localizing the storefront name but leaving an English-only home-screen label that confuses installers.
  • Changing the name every release without measuring — shoppers lose recognition.

Fix the process once: glossary, character budgets, paired subtitle/keywords, native pass, Connect QA. Then the name becomes a stable asset you improve deliberately.

Checklist: localize App Store name without drama

  1. Confirm 30-character fit for every priority locale after real localization.
  2. Keep brand token consistent; localize descriptive halves only when needed.
  3. Separate name / subtitle / keywords jobs — no phrase does all three.
  4. Screen for trademark, competitor, and misleading category risk.
  5. Native-review pronunciation and search-result readability.
  6. Ship name with matching subtitle, keywords, description, and screenshots.
  7. Log the live strings and revisit with ASO data — not vibes.

Localize the App Store app name like a product identity, not like a meta tag. Short, clear, brand-true names in every locale beat clever stuffing that shoppers cannot trust.