Collected September 28, 2026 · US storefront · 160 live product pages · no device test
Apple gives your subtitle 30 characters, and it "appears below your app's name throughout the App Store" (Apple Developer, Creating your product page). In Apple's 2022 data, almost 65% of App Store downloads happened directly after a search (Apple Ads, Ads on the App Store). Yet the only device-specific figure we found for how much of a subtitle shows in search is five years old: 25 characters, on an iPhone X, in 2021.
Most App Store subtitle examples online don't help much. One list that ranks for this query, from April 2026, prints 24 "real-world" subtitles; 19 run past 30 characters, up to 49 (our count, Sept 28, 2026). We checked five of its apps on the live US store that day, and none showed the subtitle it prints.
So we read the live subtitles of 160 top-chart apps and drew 40 by a published rule. For what's allowed rather than what shows, see every App Store and Google Play character limit.
Key Takeaways
- Of 160 top-chart apps, 146 set a subtitle. The median was 28 characters, and 22% used all 30 (ASO Agency sample, September 2026).
- 32% repeat a word already in the app name.
- Keyword lists were the most common pattern: 11 of 40.
- Width, not count, decides the cut. Put your keyword first.
What do top-chart App Store subtitles look like in 2026?
On September 28, 2026, 146 of the top 160 free iPhone apps in eight US categories had a subtitle set, and the median ran to 28 of Apple's 30 characters. Two in three (68%) used 27 or more, and 22% used exactly 30 (ASO Agency sample, 2026). Only 11 were 20 characters or shorter.
- 14 of 160 apps (9%) showed only a category name in the subtitle line, which is what the web store shows when no subtitle is set (our reading). Four airlines and Amtrak all showed "Travel."
- 46 of 146 subtitles (32%) repeat a word from the app name. Photo & Video had the most, at 10 of 20.
- 14 subtitles (10%) mention AI, 8 of them in Productivity.
- 9 subtitles (6%) use a generic claim word such as "easy," "best" or "#1."
- Finance ran fullest: 8 of its top 20 used exactly 30 characters. Travel had none at 30.
Subtitle length in the top 20 free apps of eight US categories
| Category (top 20) | Subtitle set | Median length | Exactly 30 | Repeats a name word |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finance | 20 of 20 | 28.5 | 8 | 5 |
| Health & Fitness | 19 of 20 | 29 | 3 | 2 |
| Education | 16 of 20 | 28 | 4 | 6 |
| Productivity | 20 of 20 | 27 | 4 | 8 |
| Photo & Video | 20 of 20 | 29 | 5 | 10 |
| Travel | 15 of 20 | 27 | 0 | 4 |
| Shopping | 19 of 20 | 29 | 6 | 3 |
| Games | 17 of 20 | 26 | 2 | 8 |
| All eight | 146 of 160 | 28 | 32 | 46 |
How did we collect and choose the 40 examples?
We read every subtitle from Apple's public product pages, because the iTunes Search and Lookup API returned no subtitle field when we checked on September 28, 2026. The frame was the top 20 free iPhone apps in eight US categories, from Apple's RSS charts that morning. A seeded random draw then picked 40 of the 146 set subtitles: five per category, with length quotas.
| Step | What we did |
|---|---|
| Charts | Apple's RSS feed, Top Free iPhone apps, US, 08:15–08:17 PT, September 28, 2026: Finance (genre 6015), Health & Fitness (6013), Education (6017), Productivity (6007), Photo & Video (6008), Travel (6003), Shopping (6024), Games (6014) |
| Frame | Top 20 per category: 160 apps, none charted twice |
| Collection | The line under the app name on each apps.apple.com product page, read 15:17–15:54 UTC, 4 to 7 seconds apart |
| No subtitle | The line matched one of the app's own genres from the iTunes Lookup API (14 apps) |
| Counting | Unicode code points, the method our Metadata Character Counter uses |
| Draw | Seed 20260928; per category, 1 short (≤20 characters), 2 mid (21–26) and 2 full (27–30); an empty band passes its slot to the next longer one (Finance and Productivity had no short subtitle); one app per developer; English only |
| Width | Inter Regular 4.1 advance widths, in em (multiples of the font size) |
How we classified words and patterns
Words. We lowercased each subtitle and split it on spaces and , . & - : / + | !. Each word got the first class that fits:
- Filler: and, the, a, an, for, with, your, of, to, in, on, you, at, by, is, my, our, from, all, it, as, that, this.
- Generic claim: best, #1, top, ultimate, simple, easy, powerful, new, amazing, world's, fastest, easiest, smart, perfect, great.
- Name repeat: the word, or its regular plural, is in the app name.
- Brand: the word is in the developer name. One manual call: "SpaceXAI."
- Candidate keyword: any other word, broad ones like "life" included. We didn't check search demand, so these are candidates, not proven keywords. Long-tail keyword research is how you'd test them.
Patterns, checked in this order: audience or claim qualifier; game descriptor (Games only); keyword list (two or more parallel items split by commas, ampersands or periods); verb-led job (a verb plus a concrete object); descriptive phrase (one noun phrase); promise or tagline (a benefit or brand line that names no feature). One coder, the author, applied them.
The quotas keep near-limit subtitles in the sample. All 40 are in the data appendix, and all 160 in the CSV.
What subtitle patterns do top apps use?
The 40 subtitles fall into six patterns plus one outlier. In our September 2026 sample, keyword lists were the most common (11 of 40), then descriptive phrases (9), promises (6), game descriptors (5), audience or claim qualifiers (4) and verb-led jobs (4). One subtitle repeated its app name word for word (ASO Agency sample, 2026).
| Pattern | Of 40 | Median length | Live example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keyword list | 11 | 26 | "Credit, Cash back, Savings" |
| Descriptive phrase | 9 | 26 | "Autonomous ride-hailing" |
| Promise or tagline | 6 | 22.5 | "One app. All the rides." |
| Game descriptor | 5 | 23 | "Water Sorting Puzzle" |
| Audience or claim | 4 | 23.5 | "Workouts for everyone" |
| Verb-led job | 4 | 29 | "Check What's in Your Products" |
| Name echo | 1 | 16 | "Trusted Traveler" |
Examples verified on the live US store on September 28, 2026. Subtitles change with each new app version.
1. Keyword list (11 of 40)
Two or more parallel items, split by commas, ampersands or periods. Each item can be a term people type.
- "Credit, Cash back, Savings"
- "Videos, creators & friends"
- "Hair, Age Filter & Gender Swap"
Lists front-load a whole term: in 10 of our 11, the first item was complete within 15 characters. Our hypothesis is that a late cut costs a list less than a sentence, though iOS can still cut mid-word. The risk is repetition: 6 of the 11 reuse a name word, like "Banking" in "Banking, Budgeting & Investing." Each item also pairs with name words, which is how keyword combinations multiply.
2. Descriptive phrase (9 of 40)
One noun phrase that says what the app is. It suits short brand names that don't explain themselves.
- "Autonomous ride-hailing"
- "Your everyday AI assistant"
- "Subscription & Expense Manager"
Watch the word order. English puts the head noun last, so in "Subscription & Expense Manager" the word that says what the app is sits at the end, where a cut would fall.
3. Promise or tagline (6 of 40)
A benefit or brand line that names no feature. These were the shortest subtitles in the sample, with a median of 22.5 characters.
- "One app. All the rides."
- "More benefits, fewer steps"
- "Share the moment!"
Promises suit brands whose name already says the category. For a new app, they spend the space on broad words like "moment" and "benefits," which our word classes still count as candidate keywords.
4. Game descriptor (5 of 40)
A genre or gameplay line. All five came from Games, whose sampled subtitles spent 21% of their characters on name repeats, the most of any category.
- "Water Sorting Puzzle"
- "Guide Ants & Clear Pixel Art"
- "Bus Traffic Fever:Color Puzzle"
The last one spends its first 17 characters restating the app name, and the genre words players search for, "Color Puzzle," sit at the far end.
5. Audience or claim qualifier (4 of 40)
A subtitle built around who it's for or a ranking claim. These carried the fewest candidate keywords, 2.25 per subtitle against 2.83 across all 40.
- "Workouts for everyone"
- "#1 Verified Promo Code App"
- "Best School VPN for iPhone"
Guideline 2.3.7 says subtitles "should not include inappropriate content, reference other apps, or make unverifiable product claims," and 2.3.8 reserves "For Kids" and "For Children" for the Kids Category (App Review Guidelines, updated June 8, 2026). We describe these subtitles; we don't judge their review status.
6. Verb-led job (4 of 40)
A verb plus a concrete task. These ran longest, with a median of 29 characters, because the verb pushes the noun to the right.
- "Check What's in Your Products"
- "Protects your online identity"
- "Earn Hotel and Travel Rewards"
It fits when the job is the search, as in "check products." Watch repeats: "Hotel" is already in Hilton Honors: Book Hotels.
The outlier. One subtitle was simply the app name: "Trusted Traveler," from US Customs and Border Protection. So which pattern should you pick? Let your name decide:
- Known brand, clear category: a keyword list or a descriptive phrase.
- New category or unfamiliar job: a verb-led job that names the task.
- Household name: a promise can work, ideally with one category word in it.
How much of a subtitle shows in App Store search?
There's no fixed number. The cut depends on letter width, screen width and text size. The only device-specific figure we found is dated: on an iPhone X, "only the first 19 characters of the title and the first 25 characters of the subtitle are visible" (GoodBarber, July 2021, updated March 2022).
Does that hold on an iPhone 17 running iOS 27? We found no current device-by-device test. What we can show is why one number misleads: 30 characters of "i" and "l" take far less room than 30 of "W" and "M." So we computed the width of real subtitles in a font.
Same 30 characters, different widths
Our frame had 32 different subtitles at exactly 30 characters. Set in the same font, the widest, Duolingo's "Languages, Math, Music & Chess," came out 17% wider than the narrowest, Claude's "AI assistant for life and work." Equal length doesn't mean equal width.
Text size matters too. One step above the default, Apple's Subhead style grows from 15 to 17 pt and Footnote from 13 to 15 pt (Apple Human Interface Guidelines, Typography, updated December 2025): 13% to 15% more width, by our arithmetic. Apple doesn't say which style the search card uses.
Names can be cut too: GoodBarber saw 19 name characters on that iPhone X. Half of the 160 names in our frame ran 25 characters or longer, and 55% used a "Brand: keyword" shape, so a cut takes the keyword first. That trade-off is the keyword-versus-brand call for your name. If you decide to shorten it, change a live name safely.
Since October 5, 2026, apps can replace the screenshots in this card with a search results asset on iOS 27 and later (Apple Developer News, 2026; see which format to build). This post describes the standard card, which still shows on earlier iOS versions and whenever no search asset is set. US cards can also show app tags; here's how Apple generates them.
- Borrow the smallest iPhone you can. iOS 27 still supports the iPhone SE (2nd generation), 12 mini and 13 mini (Apple Support).
- Search your exact app name, then a keyword you rank for. Note what shows before each "…".
- Raise the text size one step in Settings and repeat.
- Preview your subtitle in a search card as you try rewrites, then confirm on the device. The tool renders one frame in your system font, so it's a preview aid, not a measurement.
Where do subtitle characters go?
Candidate keywords take two-thirds of the space: across our 40, they took 66% of characters, and spaces and punctuation took 16%. Repeated name words took 10%, filler 7%, and generic claims and brand names about 1% each (ASO Agency sample, September 2026). Sixteen of the 40 repeated at least one word from the app name.
Where subtitle characters go, by word class
Repeats cluster in Games and Travel, at 21% and 17% of characters. Why spend scarce characters on words the name already shows? Apple's search guide tells you not to repeat words from your name, subtitle or category in the keyword field (Apple Developer, App Store search). That's Apple's rule against repeating words across fields, and a repeat in the subtitle gives shoppers nothing new to read either.
Filler is smaller but common: 19 of the 40 used at least one filler word, most often "for," "your" or "the," and 7 of the 146 subtitles in the frame opened with "Your," "The" or "A." See stop words. Only 3 of the 40 used a generic claim word.
How do you write a subtitle that survives the cut?
Put your most valuable keyword first, then check the result on the smallest iPhone you support. Apple counts the subtitle among four text-relevance inputs, with the title, keywords and primary category (Apple Developer, App Store search), so a hidden word may still rank while shoppers never read it. Here's how much the subtitle weighs in ranking.
- Front-load the keyword. In our sample, 27 of 40 subtitles opened with a candidate keyword. The tail can carry a secondary word you can afford to lose.
- Pick a pattern that fails gracefully. A list that loses its last item still reads as complete; a sentence cut midway doesn't. That's our hypothesis.
- Don't repeat name words, and skip filler. Spend those characters on a second keyword or a concrete benefit.
Claims rules are under pattern 5, the text-size check is in the 10-minute test, and testing is in the FAQ. For copy you can change between releases, use promotional text.
Our Store Page Preview's sample habit tracker, Lumina, uses "Build routines that stick" (25 characters): its first keyword starts at character 7, and "that" is filler. "Routines, goals & streaks," also 25, completes its first keyword by character 8, and we'd expect a cut tail to hurt it less, though iOS can still cut mid-word. Made-up app; no result claimed.
What are the limits of this sample?
It's one storefront (US), one language (English), one day (September 28, 2026) and 160 Top Free iPhone apps. Treat the numbers as a dated snapshot, not a rule.
- Web pages only. We read subtitles from apps.apple.com. We didn't capture iPhone search cards, so this post has no per-device truncation numbers.
- Modeled widths. The width comparison uses Inter, an open-source font, instead of Apple's San Francisco, without iOS letter spacing. It shows how width varies at equal length; it doesn't predict where your subtitle is cut.
- One coder. The author coded the patterns alone; a second coder would tighten borderline calls.
- No demand data. Candidate keywords are content words, with no measured search volume.
- Subtitles change with each version, so every example is dated. Localized subtitles cut differently, too.
We'll re-run the sample on devices once search results creative assets go live, and publish per-device counts then.
Frequently asked questions
How many characters of an App Store subtitle show in search results?
It varies with letter width, screen width and text size. The only device-specific figure we found is GoodBarber's from 2021: the first 25 subtitle characters on an iPhone X. Check your own listing on the smallest iPhone you support.
Should you use all 30 subtitle characters?
Yes, if every word earns its place; 22% of the top-chart subtitles we read used exactly 30. Assume the last few characters may be hidden in search, so put the keyword first. The limit itself is covered in our character limits guide.
Why is my app name truncated in App Store search?
Long names run out of room. In GoodBarber's 2021 test, an iPhone X showed only the first 19 characters of the name in search results. The end of the name, often the keyword after a colon or dash, is what a cut removes first, so lead with the part that must be seen.
Can you A/B test an App Store subtitle?
Not in the store. Apple's product page optimization tests "app icons, screenshots, and app preview videos," and custom product pages vary screenshots, promotional text, previews, keywords and deep links. You change the subtitle only with a new app version, so test it sequentially, one change per release. See what product page optimization can test.
Should the subtitle repeat words from the app name?
No. Repeating a word across the name and subtitle spends characters without adding ranking weight, per the cross-field de-duplication rule. Still, 32% of the 146 top-chart subtitles we read in September 2026 repeated a name word. Use the space for a second keyword or a clear benefit.
Can a subtitle say "#1" or "best"?
Avoid it. Guideline 2.3.7 says subtitles shouldn't "make unverifiable product claims," and Apple's product page guidance says to avoid "generic descriptions such as 'world's best app.'" A claim word also tells shoppers nothing about what your app does.
The bottom line
Top apps fill their subtitles: a median of 28 characters in our September 2026 sample. How much of that a shopper sees depends on width, so lead with the keyword, prefer a list, and cut repeats and filler.
Put your name and subtitle into the free Store Page Preview and Metadata Character Counter, then check the result on a small iPhone. For what else wins the tap, see our conversion guide. Or book a free 30-minute call, and we'll check your listing on the iPhones your users carry. Our keyword and metadata optimization and conversion optimization work usually starts with the fixed-price ASO audit.
Data appendix: all 40 subtitles
Every row was read from the app's apps.apple.com product page on September 28, 2026, US storefront. Lengths are Unicode characters. "Keywords" counts candidate keywords, and "Repeats" counts characters spent on words already in the app name. Width is in em, set in Inter Regular. Download all 160 apps as CSV (app, ID, category, rank, storefront, subtitle or empty, retrieval time).
| Category | Rank | App name | Subtitle | Length | Pattern | Keywords | Repeats | Width (em) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finance | 4 | Venmo | Send Money, Debit card | 22 | Keyword list | 4 | 0 | 11.4 |
| Finance | 9 | Chime® – Mobile Banking | Credit, Cash back, Savings | 26 | Keyword list | 4 | 0 | 12.7 |
| Finance | 11 | Rocket Money - Bills & Budgets | Subscription & Expense Manager | 30 | Descriptive phrase | 3 | 0 | 15.6 |
| Finance | 18 | TradingView: Track All Markets | From stocks to crypto | 21 | Descriptive phrase | 2 | 0 | 10.4 |
| Finance | 19 | Bank of America Mobile Banking | Banking, Budgeting & Investing | 30 | Keyword list | 2 | 7 | 14.7 |
| Health & Fitness | 3 | Planet Fitness | Workouts for everyone | 21 | Audience or claim | 2 | 0 | 10.9 |
| Health & Fitness | 4 | Tolan: Your Friendly Guide | Made for everyday life | 22 | Promise or tagline | 3 | 0 | 10.7 |
| Health & Fitness | 6 | Yuka - Food & Cosmetic Scanner | Check What's in Your Products | 29 | Verb-led job | 3 | 0 | 14.8 |
| Health & Fitness | 8 | Cal AI - Calorie Tracker | Food & Macro Counter | 20 | Descriptive phrase | 3 | 0 | 10.7 |
| Health & Fitness | 17 | New EōS Fitness | Elevate your fitness routine. | 29 | Promise or tagline | 2 | 7 | 13.2 |
| Education | 2 | Learna: Speak & Learn English | AI Tutor for Language Learning | 30 | Descriptive phrase | 4 | 0 | 14.8 |
| Education | 6 | Imprint: Visual Micro Learning | Learn and grow daily | 20 | Promise or tagline | 3 | 0 | 9.9 |
| Education | 10 | Gizmo: AI Tutor | AI flashcards & quizzes | 23 | Keyword list | 2 | 2 | 11.0 |
| Education | 14 | Ziggy: Learn ASL Sign Language | ASL Dictionary & Practice | 25 | Keyword list | 2 | 3 | 12.0 |
| Education | 20 | Vocabulary - Learn words daily | Word of the day widget & games | 30 | Keyword list | 3 | 4 | 15.4 |
| Productivity | 2 | ChatGPT | Your everyday AI assistant | 26 | Descriptive phrase | 3 | 0 | 12.6 |
| Productivity | 5 | Gmail - Email by Google | Secure, fast & organized email | 30 | Descriptive phrase | 3 | 5 | 14.4 |
| Productivity | 6 | Grok AI | AI assistant by SpaceXAI | 24 | Descriptive phrase | 1 | 2 | 11.8 |
| Productivity | 13 | Microsoft Authenticator | Protects your online identity | 29 | Verb-led job | 3 | 0 | 13.2 |
| Productivity | 20 | VPN - Fast & Secure VPN ™ | Best School VPN for iPhone | 26 | Audience or claim | 2 | 3 | 13.1 |
| Photo & Video | 3 | Videos, creators & friends | 26 | Keyword list | 3 | 0 | 12.2 | |
| Photo & Video | 7 | Snapchat | Share the moment! | 17 | Promise or tagline | 2 | 0 | 9.0 |
| Photo & Video | 13 | Twitch: Live Streaming | Stream, Watch, Chat. Live. | 26 | Keyword list | 3 | 4 | 12.6 |
| Photo & Video | 14 | KICK - Live Streaming | Watch games, IRL & chat live! | 29 | Keyword list | 4 | 4 | 14.0 |
| Photo & Video | 18 | Face Maker: Baby Photo & Video | Hair, Age Filter & Gender Swap | 30 | Keyword list | 5 | 0 | 14.6 |
| Travel | 2 | Lyft | One app. All the rides. | 23 | Promise or tagline | 3 | 0 | 10.4 |
| Travel | 4 | Waymo | Autonomous ride-hailing | 23 | Descriptive phrase | 3 | 0 | 11.6 |
| Travel | 5 | Trusted Traveler | Trusted Traveler | 16 | Name echo | 0 | 15 | 7.9 |
| Travel | 11 | Lime - #RideGreen | Electric Scooter & Bike Share | 29 | Descriptive phrase | 4 | 0 | 13.7 |
| Travel | 14 | Hilton Honors: Book Hotels | Earn Hotel and Travel Rewards | 29 | Verb-led job | 3 | 5 | 14.6 |
| Shopping | 3 | Temu: Shop Like a Billionaire | Shop incredible deals on Temu! | 30 | Verb-led job | 2 | 8 | 14.9 |
| Shopping | 5 | Amazon Shopping | More benefits, fewer steps | 26 | Promise or tagline | 4 | 0 | 12.7 |
| Shopping | 7 | Shop: Track, Pay, Discover | Shopping app & package tracker | 30 | Keyword list | 4 | 0 | 15.4 |
| Shopping | 8 | Koupon: Real Deals & Codes | #1 Verified Promo Code App | 26 | Audience or claim | 3 | 4 | 13.4 |
| Shopping | 9 | SHEIN - Shopping Online | Fashion for Everyone | 20 | Audience or claim | 2 | 0 | 10.1 |
| Games | 7 | Magic Sort! | Water Sorting Puzzle | 20 | Game descriptor | 3 | 0 | 9.9 |
| Games | 8 | Colony Flow! | Guide Ants & Clear Pixel Art | 28 | Game descriptor | 5 | 0 | 13.1 |
| Games | 13 | Brain Puzzle 3: Crazy Mind | A New Brain Puzzle Game | 23 | Game descriptor | 1 | 11 | 12.3 |
| Games | 16 | Amaze GO! | Help the arrows escape! | 23 | Game descriptor | 3 | 0 | 11.5 |
| Games | 17 | Bus Traffic Fever! | Bus Traffic Fever:Color Puzzle | 30 | Game descriptor | 2 | 15 | 14.4 |
Frame: top 20 free iPhone apps in eight US categories, 160 apps, 146 with a set subtitle. Draw seed: 20260928. To cite this data: ASO Agency, "App Store subtitle examples: 40 live subtitles by pattern," US storefront, collected September 28, 2026.
