Short Description (Google Play) is the 80-character summary line on a Google Play listing: the first text users see on the app's detail page, and Play's closest equivalent to the App Store subtitle.
A Google Play listing has three main text fields: a 30-character title, the 80-character short description and a 4,000-character full description. Google describes it as a "quick synopsis" and the first text users see on an app's detail page in the Play Store app; its store listing guidance adds that the line appears in places like search results. In our experience Play reads it for search relevance alongside the title and full description, but Google says plainly that unnecessary keywords here "will not impact ranking" and make for a bad user experience.
Treat it as a conversion line first. A strong short description states one concrete benefit in plain language, with any keywords worked into the sentence rather than listed. Google's guidance narrows the options further: no performance or ranking claims ("Best", "#1", "Top"), no price or promotional language ("Discount", "Sale"), no user testimonials and no calls to action such as "download now". Because it is text, it can be localized per language, tailored in custom store listings and tested in localized store listing experiments.
Example
A habit-tracking app replaces "Habit tracker, goals, routine planner, daily to-do list" with "Build habits that stick with streaks, reminders and simple daily goals". The new line keeps "habits" and "daily goals" in natural language and gives visitors one clear reason to tap Install.