How to Localize App Store Keywords
Each locale gets its own 100-character keyword field. Apple does not copy it from your primary language. A translation of the English list is the wrong way to fill the blank.
Quick answer
Do App Store keywords localize separately?
Yes. Each App Store localization has its own keywords field, still 100 characters, commas, no spaces after commas. When you add a language, Apple copies screenshots and most properties from the primary language, but not the description and not the keywords. Those two start blank. People can search with the localized keywords in every country or region where the App Store supports that language. Translating the English comma list is not the same as researching what that locale types.
- One 100-character field per localization, including en-US and en-GB
- New locales do not inherit description or keywords
- Screenshots do inherit, until you replace them
- Search uses the localized terms where that language is supported
- Do not repeat words already in that locale’s name or subtitle
On this page
- Key takeaways
- What copies, and what stays blank
- Search follows the language, not the country you had in mind
- Translate the search, not the comma list
- Screenshots are the field that copies when it should not
- Add a few locales, not the whole menu
- Fill a new locale’s keyword field
- Keyword localization questions
The App Store keyword field is 100 characters. That budget is not global. It is per localization. English (U.S.) and English (U.K.) are different fields. German is a different field. If you add Japanese and leave keywords empty, you did not “fall back” to a clever English index for those searches. You left the field Apple refused to copy for you sitting blank.
The inheritance rule is in Localize app information . Formatting — commas, no spaces, skip words already in the name — is the same as the 100-character keyword field. The creative half is how to localize screenshots.
What copies, and what stays blank
Apple’s help article is specific: when you add a language, screenshots and the properties for the new language default to the primary language, except for the description and the keywords. You add the language from the locale menu, under Not Localized, then you type the description and the keywords yourself and save. Languages are metadata. They are not the same thing as localizing strings inside the Xcode binary.
| Field | On add | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Screenshots | Copied from the primary language | Replace them before you call the locale done |
| Name and subtitle | You enter the localized name; check the 30-character caps again | Do not assume the English line still fits |
| Keywords | Not copied. Blank. | Research the locale. 100 characters, commas, no spaces |
| Description | Not copied. Blank. | Write it. Do not machine-paste and ship |
| What’s New | Per version, localizable | Describe this version in that language |
Screenshots arrive prefilled and are the easy thing to forget. Keywords arrive empty and are the easy thing to “translate” badly. Both need a pass.
Search follows the language, not the country you had in mind
Apple’s example: if English is your only localization, English metadata shows in every storefront. If you add French, the French metadata shows to people whose language is French, and also in storefronts that support French but not English. People can search for the app using the French keywords in every country or region where the App Store supports French. If nothing matches the user’s language, Apple uses the next most relevant localization, and otherwise your primary language.
That is why a German keyword list is not “for Germany only,” and why English (U.K.) is not a duplicate of English (U.S.) you can ignore. India, for example, defaults to English (U.K.) and also supports a long list of Indian languages. A U.S. spelling list does not automatically become the list those storefronts search.
- en-US, en-GB, en-AU, and en-CA are separate localizations with separate 100-character fields.
- Spend the differences on real spelling and real nouns: “favourite” is not the prize. “Holiday,” “petrol,” or a local sport is.
- Do not paste the U.S. list into en-GB and call it localized. Recount. The comma rules do not relax because the language is still English.
Translate the search, not the comma list
Name, subtitle, and description are translations: same product, other language, still inside the character limit. Keywords are a second research pass. The German query for a habit tracker is whatever a German-speaking person types, which is often not the dictionary gloss of your English tokens. “Habit” becoming “Gewohnheit” is only useful if that is the word they search, and only if it is not already in the German name.
The skip list does not reset. In every locale, drop words already in that locale’s name and subtitle, plurals of words you kept, the category name, and the word for “app.” Spaces after commas still count. Count each field in the ASO Character Counter. A line that fit in English can blow the German field once the compounds get longer.
| Locale | Name (already indexed) | Keywords should add |
|---|---|---|
| en-US | Habit Tracker | Words the name does not contain: streak, journal, routine. Not “habit” again. |
| de-DE | Gewohnheiten | Local queries the German name does not already use. Not a word-for-word copy of the English tokens. |
| ja | 習慣トラッカー | Terms people type in Japanese search. A romaji paste of the English list wastes the field. |
Each row is a new 100-character budget. Repeat nothing that locale’s name or subtitle already contains. Do not machine-translate the English commas and ship them.
Screenshots are the field that copies when it should not
Keywords start empty, so you notice them. Screenshots start full of the primary language, so a French localization can go live with English frames and a French keyword field. The search query and the first screenshot then disagree. Replace the frames, or do not add the locale yet.
Changing the primary language is stricter than adding one. Apple requires the new language to have been on a previous version, approved by App Review, with screenshots uploaded for every supported platform at the same sizes as the current primary language. If those screenshots were only inherited, you upload real ones and get a version approved before you can switch the primary language on a later update. Custom product pages need screenshots in that language too.
Add a few locales, not the whole menu
App Store Connect lists dozens of languages. Adding all of them in one version gives you dozens of blank descriptions, dozens of inherited English screenshot sets, and a review surface you will not QA. Start with storefronts where the app UI and support can keep the promise, and where a local term is actually different from your primary list.
- First: the primary language, filled properly, including keywords that do not repeat the name.
- Next: one language you can support in the product, with its own keyword research and replaced screenshots.
- English variants (U.K., Australia, Canada) only when the nouns or spelling change the search, not as a copy-paste of en-US.
- Leave the rest on the primary language until you can do the blank fields for real. English metadata already shows everywhere you have not localized.
Fill a new locale’s keyword field
One locale at a time. A half-translated keyword field is worse than leaving the language off the version.
Add the language and save
Use the locale menu, Not Localized, then the add button. Save before you upload media. Confirm description and keywords came in blank, and that screenshots came in copied.
Write the localized name and subtitle first
Thirty characters each. The keyword field cannot repeat those words, so lock them before you spend the 100.
Collect queries in that language
Use storefront autocomplete and the way peer apps phrase the job. Discard a glossary translation that nobody would type.
Format and count
Commas, no spaces after commas, no plurals of words you kept, no category name, no “app.” Stay at or under 100 for that locale alone.
Replace the inherited screenshots
The first frame should use the same promise as the localized subtitle, in that language’s UI if the UI has words.
Keyword localization questions
Does each App Store language have its own keyword field?
Yes. Keywords are 100 characters per localization, comma-separated, with no spaces after commas. English (U.S.) and English (U.K.) do not share a field. When you add a language, Apple does not copy keywords or the description from the primary language.
Can I translate my English keywords and paste them?
That produces a glossary, not a search list. Research the words people type in that language, then remove anything already in the localized name or subtitle. The formatting rules are the same in every locale.
If I only fill in English, who sees it?
Apple says that if English is the only localization, English metadata appears in all storefronts. A French localization, once added, is what French-language users see, including in storefronts that support French but not English. Localized keywords are searchable wherever that language is supported.
Do localized keywords change my screenshots?
No. New localizations inherit the primary language’s screenshots. You replace those separately. A localized keyword field on English frames is an unfinished locale, not a launch.
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.
How to Localize App Store Screenshots Without Breaking Them
A practical localization workflow for App Store and Google Play screenshots—how to choose markets, adapt the promise, handle text expansion, and QA every frame before upload.
“Please Save New Locales” in App Store Connect
The error is literal: the language you just added is not on Apple’s server yet. Save the locale, then upload screenshots. Here is the order that stops the loop.
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.
App Store & Google Play Character Limits (2026)
Exact character limits for every App Store Connect and Google Play metadata field - name, subtitle, keywords, promo text, descriptions - plus how to use each one.
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.
Free tools that help here
Top App Store Apps
Track Apple App Store top charts across 30 countries. View top free and paid rankings for ASO research - updated from Apple's public RSS feed.
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.
Localized keywords need localized screenshots.
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