How to Choose an App Store Category
You get a primary and a secondary category. Apple indexes both. The primary one also decides which tab you sit on, and which chart a browser is even looking at.
Quick answer
How do you choose an App Store category?
Pick a primary category that matches the app’s main job, and an optional secondary category only if a second job is real. Apple says the primary category is where the app appears when people browse or filter search, and it decides Apps tab versus Games tab placement. Search text relevance includes the title, subtitle, keywords, and primary category. The secondary category is indexed too. A category that does not fit the app is grounds for rejection.
- Two slots: primary and secondary
- Primary category is a browse filter and a search signal
- Secondary category is indexed, not a junk drawer
- Games can add up to two subcategories
- Do not also spend the keyword field repeating the category name
On this page
- Key takeaways
- What the primary category actually controls
- Apple’s three tests, with their own example
- Pairs that get mixed up
- Games, Kids, and Time Allowances
- Do not spend keywords on the category name
- The screenshot set has to survive the shelf
- Pick the category before you write the keyword field
- App Store category questions
The App Store category is not a vibe. It is the shelf. People browse it, filter search with it, and Apple’s search page lists the primary category next to your title, subtitle, and keywords as text the algorithm matches. Picking Lifestyle because it feels less competitive, when the app is a bank, is how you land in the wrong charts and in App Review’s notes.
Apple’s decision guide is Choosing a category . The search sentence is on App Store search . You set both categories under App Information in App Store Connect. The full catalog, with Apple’s examples, stays on Apple’s page — this post is the choice, not a second copy of the list.
What the primary category actually controls
You can assign two categories, primary and secondary. The primary one is the category people see when they browse or filter search results. On iPhone and iPad it also decides whether you sit on the Apps tab or the Games tab. On the Mac App Store it drives browse, search filters, and the Categories tab from macOS 10.14 on.
| Primary | Secondary | |
|---|---|---|
| Required? | Yes — pick the main job | Optional |
| Browse and search filters | This is the shelf | Not the shelf people filter first |
| Search index | Named in Apple’s search factors | Apple says it is indexed too |
| Apps vs Games tab | This choice places you | Games as secondary still has rules; see below |
| Keyword field | Do not retype the category name | Same. The index already has it. |
Spend the primary slot on the job users would browse for. Use secondary only for a second job that is actually in the app. Do not repeat either name in the 100-character keyword field.
Apple’s three tests, with their own example
Apple walks through a photo-sharing social network that could be Photo & Video or Social Networking. The tests they give are the ones to use, in this order:
- Purpose. The primary category should describe the main function or subject, not a side feature you hope to rank for.
- Where those users already look. If they think of you as a camera, Photo & Video. If they think of you as a network, Social Networking.
- Where similar apps already sit. People learn the shelf from the apps they already use. Check that shelf before you invent a quieter one.
The third test is empirical. Open the Top App Store Apps charts for your country and look at the category on the peers a stranger would name next to you. If every app a user would compare you with is in Finance, “Utilities” is not a clever flank. It is a different aisle.
Pairs that get mixed up
Apple publishes a short definition for every category. These are the collisions that show up on indie listings. The test is still “main function,” not “which chart looks easier this week.”
| If the main job is… | Lean toward | Not this, unless it is the real job |
|---|---|---|
| Sending invoices, budgets, or bank connections | Finance | Lifestyle or Utilities |
| A todo list, notes, or a calendar | Productivity | Utilities (calculators, flashlights, converters) |
| Workouts, runs, or meditation | Health & Fitness | Medical, unless you are a clinical or reference tool |
| Capturing or editing photos and video | Photo & Video | Social Networking, unless the network is the product |
| A store or a checkout | Shopping | Lifestyle |
| A game with a streak | Games, plus a subcategory | Health & Fitness, just to escape the Games charts |
File the app where a stranger would browse for the main job. A secondary category can hold a real second job. It cannot launder the primary one.
Games, Kids, and Time Allowances
If the app is a game, you can choose up to two Games subcategories. People browse those subcategories and their charts. Apple’s advice if you are unsure is to look at the games already in each subcategory before you tick a box.
Kids is not a way to borrow the Education chart. For ages 11 and under you select Made for Kids, pick an age band (5 and under, 6–8, or 9–11), and pass the kids review guidelines. The app can still be discovered in another primary and secondary category, such as Games, Entertainment, or Education. Standalone sticker packs are their own case: a Stickers primary category is discoverable in search, not in the iPhone and iPad category browse.
Entertainment or Games as a primary or secondary category also places the app in a Time Allowance category. Social media is different: that label follows the age-rating questionnaire, not the category menu. Details are in App Store time allowances.
Do not spend keywords on the category name
The 100-character keyword field already tells you to skip category names. Apple indexes the category on its own. Typing “finance” again in the comma list burns characters you could spend on “invoice” or “estimate.” The subtitle can still name the job in human language — “Invoices for freelancers” — without turning the keyword field into a second copy of the category menu. Subtitle examples are in App Store subtitle examples.
Tags are a third system. They describe metadata Apple can label; they do not replace the category. If you are pruning those, use the App Store tags guide.
The screenshot set has to survive the shelf
Browse traffic arrives with a category already in mind. A Health & Fitness chart clicker expects a workout, not a settings screen. Frame one should be the job that justified the primary category. The order test is in the first three screenshots. If you later add a real second job, that is a candidate for a secondary category and, if the story is different enough, a custom product page — not a reason to move the primary shelf.
Pick the category before you write the keyword field
Do this while the version is still editable. A category that App Review disagrees with is not something you can patch in promotional text.
Write the main job in one sentence
“Send invoices,” not “a platform for financial wellness and lifestyle habits.” If the sentence has two jobs joined by “and,” you have a primary and maybe a secondary, not a blend.
Check the peers
Look up three apps a user would name next to yours and note their categories. If you cannot explain why you would sit somewhere else, you should not.
Set primary, then secondary
Primary is the shelf. Secondary only if the second job is in the binary and a person might browse for it. Games: add at most two subcategories you have actually looked at.
Remove the category name from keywords
The index already has it. Spend the 100 characters on specifics the category name does not cover.
Match frame one to the shelf
The first screenshot should depict the job that earned the primary category, in the UI you ship.
App Store category questions
How many App Store categories can an app have?
Two: a primary and a secondary. Games can also have up to two subcategories. Sticker packs can use the Stickers category and a Stickers subcategory. Kids apps use an age band and can still appear in another primary and secondary category.
Does the App Store category affect search?
Yes. Apple says search text relevance includes the title, subtitle, keywords, and primary category, and that the optional secondary category is indexed as well. Downloads, ratings, and reviews are separate behavior signals.
Should I put the category name in the keyword field?
No. Apple already indexes the category. Repeating “productivity” or “finance” in the 100-character field spends characters you could use on a specific phrase.
Can I choose a less competitive category on purpose?
Only if it is still the true main job. Apple says categories that are not appropriate are against the review guidelines and may get the app rejected. The chart you wish you were in is not a category.
Sources, verified 2026-09-22:
Need store-sized exports? Use the App Store screenshot generator or the Google Play screenshot generator.
Keep reading
App Store Keyword Field: How to Use All 100 Characters
Apple gives you 100 hidden characters. Most indies waste 20–30 of them repeating the title. How to format, what to skip, and worked examples.
App Store Tags: Make Metadata Apple Can Label
App Store Tags are glanceable terms generated from your App Store Connect metadata, large language models, and human review. They already show in US search and on the product page. Here is how indie teams should manage them — and why screenshot copy is part of the input.
App Store Time Allowances: What Devs Must Do by September
iOS 27 Time Allowances sort apps into Entertainment, Games, and Social Media. The age-rating questionnaire now asks about social capabilities — and from September 2026 you cannot submit an update until you answer.
App Store Subtitle Examples That Fit 30 Characters
The App Store subtitle character limit is 30. Here are examples that rank and read, plus the mistakes that waste the second indexed line under your name.
The First 3 App Store Screenshots Decide the Tap
Apple search shows up to three frames before anyone opens the page. Play often leads with screenshot one. What each of those slots is for.
App Store vs Google Play ASO: What Indies Should Do Differently
The stores look similar. Indexed fields, screenshots, descriptions, and ranking signals are not. One checklist per store.
Free tools that help here
Top App Store Apps
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ASO Character Counter
Count characters for every App Store and Google Play metadata field against exact store limits. Live counts and over-limit warnings - nothing gets truncated at submission.
Screenshot Beautifier
Add polished backgrounds, padding, shadows, and rounded corners to any screenshot in seconds. Perfect for social posts, docs, and portfolios.
The category sets the shelf. Screenshots have to look like they belong there.
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