App Store cross-localization by country: which keyword fields rank where

In 2022, 70% of App Store visitors used search to discover apps, and almost 65% of downloads happened directly after a search (Apple Ads, App Store, citing App Store worldwide data, 2022). Yet Apple lists ten localizations for the US storefront, each with its own name, subtitle and keyword field. How many is your app using?

That's cross-localization: one storefront reads more than one localization, so extra fields widen what you can rank for. The catch is the map. The popular tables disagree with Apple's, so teams fill English (U.K.) expecting US gains, or overwrite a real market's keyword field.

Here's Apple's own map for all 175 storefronts, where the popular tables go wrong, what each extra field gives and costs, and a safe workflow. To check a country as you read, look up any storefront in the free Cross-Localization Explorer.

Key findings: what Apple's 175-storefront table shows

As of September 24, 2026, Apple's App Store localizations table covers 175 storefronts and 311 storefront-localization pairs (Apple, App Store Connect Help: App Store localizations; ASO Agency analysis, 2026). Compared with archived copies and the two top-ranking third-party tables, seven patterns stood out.

• English (U.K.) is listed in 172 of 175 storefronts (default in 135, additional in 37), but not the US, Canada or Japan.
• The US lists 10 localizations: English (U.S.) plus Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), French, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish (Mexico) and Vietnamese.
• India lists 12, the most of any storefront, since March 31, 2026. Apple's February 2026 table listed two.
• 71 storefronts (41%) list a single localization, English (U.K.). The median storefront lists two, and the mean is 1.78.
• Three English fields reach every storefront. English (U.K.), English (U.S.) and English (Canada) together cover all 175.
• Both top-ranking third-party tables disagree with Apple. AppTweak's and MobileAction's miss India's March 2026 languages, add English (Australia) to the UK and list "Cantonese", which isn't an App Store localization.
• 30 of Apple's 50 localizations are listed in exactly one storefront. French spans 32, Spanish (Mexico) 19 and Arabic 17.

How did we build this dataset?

We parsed all 175 rows of Apple's "App Store localizations" table on September 24, 2026 (re-checked September 25). Then we compared it row by row with AppTweak's table (updated November 21, 2025) and MobileAction's (published April 15, 2026, last modified June 29, 2026). Wayback Machine snapshots from February 8, 2024, February 19, 2026 and April 1, 2026 dated the one change.

Apple's table documents the languages each storefront supports. Its help also says users "can search for your app using localized keywords in all countries or regions where the App Store supports French" (Apple, Localize app information). It doesn't say whether every shopper in a storefront, whatever their device language, matches every listed field, or how fields are weighted.

That part is industry observation. MobileAction's guide says Apple "does not describe keyword indexing behavior in the documentation cited in this article" (MobileAction, App Store cross-localization, 2026). So "lists" in this post is Apple's fact, and "ranks" is the industry's consistent finding, worth verifying for your own app.

How does App Store cross-localization work?

In 2026, Apple's App Store Connect Help gives every localization its own name, subtitle and keyword field. The name runs 2 to 30 characters and the subtitle up to 30 (Apple, App information; Apple, Platform version information). When a storefront lists several localizations, industry testing shows its search reads all of them, so each extra one adds indexable fields in that country.

Three different "primaries"

People mix up three ideas. Your app's primary language is, in Apple's words, "the default language for the metadata" used "when you don't provide localized metadata for a given country or region." A storefront's default language comes from Apple's table: in Saudi Arabia, Poland and Türkiye it's English (U.K.), and 64 storefronts pair an English (U.K.) default with at least one additional language. Primary and secondary localization are industry labels that tools use loosely, so don't assume a tool's "primary" is Apple's default.

What users actually see

Apple's French example is typical. The localization "displays to users whose language setting is in French." It "also displays to users in countries or regions where the App Store supports French but not English." If none matches, "the next most relevant localization is used." The keyword field stays hidden, but a secondary localization's name and subtitle are real copy for the people who read that language.

What combines, and what doesn't

Words form phrases only inside one localization. Put "bus" only in English (U.S.) and "metro" only in Spanish (Mexico). AppTweak says the app then "will most likely not be indexed for 'metro bus'" (AppTweak, App Store Localization: Primary and Secondary Languages, updated November 21, 2025). MobileAction reports the same, and Apple is silent, so treat it as consensus. Need a phrase? Put both words in one field.

How many characters you really get

Apple contradicts itself. App Store Connect Help says "up to 100 bytes," while its App Store search guide says keywords "are limited to 100 characters total" (Apple Developer, App Store search). Saved strings favor characters: a 100-character Thai string saved in a 2022 Apple Developer Forums thread, and Applyra reported the same in July 2026. Plan for 100 characters (Unicode code points) per field, in every script. Our keyword field rules post has the evidence and a test.

Which localizations does each storefront list, country by country?

Most storefronts list one or two localizations. Apple's App Store localizations table, as of September 24, 2026, shows 71 of 175 listing only English (U.K.), 89 listing two and 12 listing three. Three list more: Switzerland (4), the US (10) and India (12). In other words, 41% of storefronts give you a single keyword field, and 59% (104) give you two or more.

English (U.K.) is the near-global field, listed in 172 storefronts. Its three gaps matter most to US-first teams: the US doesn't list it, Canada lists only English (Canada) and French (Canada), and Japan lists Japanese and English (U.S.). Filling English (U.K.) and expecting a US lift is an easy misread of the map.

Why does the US list look the way it does? In 2019, 67.8 million US residents spoke a language other than English at home, 62% of them Spanish. The rest of the top five were Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Arabic (US Census Bureau, Nearly 68 Million People Spoke a Language Other Than English at Home in 2019, December 6, 2022). Four of the five are on the US list (Tagalog isn't an App Store localization). Apple hasn't given a reason, so that's our inference.

For the other storefronts, use the Cross-Localization Explorer. Which markets to localize for first is a separate decision with its own payback math; our guide to which languages to localize first covers it.

Why does India now list more localizations than the US?

On March 31, 2026, Apple added 11 metadata languages to help apps "reach more people worldwide, especially in India." That brought App Store Connect to 50 localizations (Apple Developer News, App Store expands support to 11 new languages, 2026). In Apple's table, India went from two localizations to twelve. Pakistan gained Urdu, and Slovenia gained Slovenian. Nothing else changed.

The archived snapshots pin this down. The February 8, 2024 and February 19, 2026 captures hold the same 299 storefront-localization pairs. The April 1, 2026 capture shows 311, identical to today's page. India added Bangla, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu to English (U.K.) and Hindi.

On paper, India now carries twelve 100-character keyword fields, more than any other storefront. But no public test we've seen shows whether all eleven additional fields are search-indexed, so call them "listed by Apple", not "proven". The popular tables haven't caught up: on September 24, 2026, AppTweak's and MobileAction's still showed India as Hindi plus English (U.K.).

If India matters to you, the English (U.K.) default and Hindi still carry most of the load. Treat the ten new fields as a test bed, not a launch list.

How accurate are the cross-localization tables online?

Not very, and they share errors. Against Apple's September 24, 2026 table, AppTweak's table (updated November 21, 2025) lists a different set of localizations in 10 storefronts, and 7 of those aren't explained by Apple's March 2026 update. MobileAction's (last modified June 29, 2026) differs in 7, with 4 unexplained by the update (ASO Agency analysis of each page's table, 2026).

Three results surprised us. "Cantonese" appears in both third-party tables, so those rows weren't copied from Apple. Arabic is listed in 17 storefronts and is never the default, not even in Saudi Arabia or the UAE. And the table barely moves: steady from at least February 2024 to February 2026, then three storefronts changed on one day.

The default-label gap matters too. Both tables call the local language "primary" in places like Saudi Arabia, Poland and Vietnam, where Apple's default is English (U.K.), and that label shapes which field teams write first. Our Explorer follows Apple's table, including India's twelve and Pakistan's Urdu.

The takeaway: treat any third-party table, ours included, as a pointer. Before every localization change, check Apple's table for the storefronts you sell in.

What does filling a secondary keyword field cost you elsewhere?

Every keyword field is shared by every storefront that lists that localization. In Apple's September 2026 table, Spanish (Mexico) is listed in 19 storefronts and is the default in 16 Latin American ones (Apple, App Store localizations; ASO Agency analysis, 2026). Fill it with English overflow for the US, and you spend that keyword space in all of them.

There are two costs. The first is keyword opportunity cost in markets you serve: Portuguese (Brazil) looks like a spare US field, but it's Brazil's main one. The second is visible leakage. Shoppers whose device language matches see that localization's name and subtitle, in every storefront that lists it. And a new language copies your primary's screenshots and properties "except for the description and keywords," per Apple. An English-overflow Spanish (Mexico) localization with an English title is what Spanish-speaking shoppers across Latin America will see.

Our rule of thumb (editorial judgment, not an Apple rule): the "free" US fields are the ones whose home markets you don't serve and won't soon. For most US-first apps, that's Vietnamese, Korean or Russian before Spanish (Mexico) or French. If you sell in Latin America, never Spanish (Mexico). The trade-off carries into localized custom product pages, which draw on the same keyword fields.

How should you use the extra keyword fields in the top markets?

Start from what each storefront lists, not from a translation plan. In Apple's September 2026 table, most large markets list exactly two localizations: the local language plus English (U.K.). The exceptions are the US with ten, India with twelve and the UK with one (Apple, App Store localizations, 2026).

• United States: best terms in English (U.S.). Use the least-shared secondaries for distinct overflow, with a readable name and subtitle in each.
• United Kingdom: one field, per Apple, so every word counts. Test the disputed English (Australia) claim before relying on it.
• Canada: English (U.S.) and English (U.K.) aren't listed. Add English (Canada) and French (Canada). Apple documents a display fallback, not a search one, so don't count on French (France) to rank there.
• Japan: the English (U.S.) field is listed here too, so it does double duty.
• Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Korea, Brazil, Mexico, China mainland, Taiwan: local language plus English (U.K.), your second English field in each.
• Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain: multi-language storefronts (Spain adds Catalan). Keep one theme per localization.
• Saudi Arabia, UAE, Türkiye, Poland: Apple's default is English (U.K.), with the local language additional. Fill both properly.
• India: English (U.K.) and Hindi first. The ten newer fields are for testing.

Keywords are a platform-version property, so changes go live with your next app version (Apple, Platform version information). Then know how long ranks take to settle before you judge a field. If a secondary market becomes a real one, localize your screenshots for the new market too, since new localizations inherit your primary's images.

Is cross-localization against Apple's guidelines?

Not explicitly, but it sits close to Guideline 2.3.7. As of 2026, Apple's App Review Guidelines ask you to "assign keywords that accurately describe your app" and not to "pack any of your metadata with... irrelevant phrases just to game the system." They add that "Apple may modify inappropriate keywords at any time" (Apple, App Review Guidelines 2.3.7).

AppTweak calls the practice "frowned upon by Apple" but notes "so far, no rejections from Apple have been publicized" (AppTweak, updated November 21, 2025). None of the sources we reviewed in September 2026 describes one either. The risk is speculative, not zero. What keeps it low?

• Relevance: keywords must still describe your app, in every field.
• No borrowed names: Apple's help says "Names of other apps or companies aren't allowed" in keywords.
• Readable visible copy: names and subtitles are shown to real readers.
• Honest language claims: don't claim language support you don't have.

That last point isn't theoretical. In October 2023, a developer posted a Guideline 2.3 rejection: "We were unable to locate some of the features described in your metadata. Specifically, 'Languages: English and Portuguese (PT and BR).'" The app did follow the device language, and it went back into review after an appeal explained that (Apple Developer Forums, thread 739868). Not a cross-localization case, but App Review does check language claims.

How do you set up cross-localization, step by step?

Six steps, one release. With 41% of storefronts listing a single field (Apple, 2026), the work concentrates in a handful of markets. Map them, pick fields nobody you serve relies on, write readable metadata, fill distinct terms, ship and verify.

1. Map. List your top 5 to 10 storefronts by impressions in App Analytics, and note every localization Apple lists for each.
2. Check who else reads each field. List the other storefronts that share each candidate (see the chart above). Skip any field that's the main field in a market you serve.
3. Write visible metadata first. Give each localization a name and subtitle its speakers can read.
4. Fill keyword fields with distinct terms. Don't repeat words across fields that count in the same storefront, unless you need a phrase inside one field. Use the Keyword Field Optimizer to pack each keyword field without duplicates.
5. Ship with a version, and log which term went into which field.
6. Verify per storefront. Use the Keyword Rank Checker to verify each term storefront by storefront at days 3, 7 and 14. A term that never appears points to a field that storefront doesn't read.

Want the map built across every storefront you sell in? That's part of our localization service and the fixed-price ASO audit.

Data appendix: how many storefronts list each localization

The full count behind the charts, from Apple's table as retrieved September 24, 2026 and re-checked September 25, using Apple's "default" and "additional" labels. Apple updates the table without notice, so re-check it before you ship.

To cite this data: ASO Agency, "App Store Cross-Localization by Country: Which Keyword Fields Rank Where," asoagency.io, September 25, 2026.

The bottom line

Cross-localization is real keyword space, but it's borrowed space:

• The map: Apple lists 175 storefronts, and 71 of them list a single field.
• The US: ten fields, and English (U.K.) isn't one of them.
• India: twelve fields since March 2026. Listed isn't the same as proven indexed.
• The cost: every field is shared, so borrow the ones nobody you serve relies on.
• The rules: phrases don't cross fields, keywords stay relevant under 2.3.7, and you verify storefront by storefront.

Look up your storefronts free in the Cross-Localization Explorer. For a field-by-field plan across every storefront you sell in, book a free 30-minute call or start with the fixed-price ASO audit.