Guide · 8 min read
App Store Subtitle vs Promotional Text: Which Field Ranks, Which Field Converts (2026)
Apple gives you two metadata fields below your app name — a 30-character subtitle and a 170-character promotional text block — that do completely different jobs. The subtitle is indexed for App Store search and ships with every version submission. Promotional text is never indexed, can be changed within hours without triggering an App Review queue, and is the only real-time marketing lever in the entire App Store. Treating them as interchangeable copy fields wastes both.
The fundamental split — one field ranks you, the other converts you
The subtitle is a ranking field. Every keyword it contains is indexed by Apple's search algorithm alongside your title and keyword field — the confirmed indexed fields on iOS in 2026. If you want to rank for 'task manager for teams,' that phrase must appear in one of your indexed fields. If it's in your subtitle, it works every day without further action. If it exists only in your description or in screenshot alt text, it contributes nothing to your App Store search position. The subtitle is not optional decoration — it is real search real estate sitting under your app name in every search result.
Promotional text does not rank you for anything. Apple has been unambiguous: the field is not indexed for App Store search, and keywords placed in it for SEO purposes have zero effect on your position in search results. Its job is conversion — persuading the subset of visitors who have already tapped into your product page and are now reading text. These are different audiences at different decision stages: a search crawler reads your subtitle before any human does, while promotional text is read only by humans who have already decided to look more closely at your app.
The practical consequence is that each field requires a different writing approach. Your subtitle should contain specific keyword phrases in the 30-character limit, targeting secondary search terms your title does not already cover. Your promotional text should be a current, specific, human-facing sentence that gives evaluators a new piece of information — something your screenshots, title, and subtitle do not already communicate. Conflating these two jobs is the most common error developers make with these fields: writing a tagline in the subtitle that ranks for nothing, and stuffing keywords in promotional text that indexes nothing.
The subtitle is your third indexed keyword field — never repeat what's in your title
Apple's App Store search algorithm weights indexed fields in a documented hierarchy: app name (title) carries the highest weight, subtitle and the 100-character keyword field carry secondary weight, and screenshot caption text — indexed via OCR since mid-2025 — contributes additional coverage beyond those three fields. A keyword in your title outranks the same keyword in your subtitle, but a unique keyword in your subtitle does get real search coverage. The subtitle is not a weaker title slot; it is a separate indexing surface for terms your title could not fit, and it displays publicly in search results where users can evaluate it.
Repeating a keyword from your title in your subtitle produces no ranking benefit. Apple's index credits each keyword once regardless of field repetition — 'task manager' in both your title and subtitle ranks you exactly the same as 'task manager' in your title alone. Every subtitle character spent repeating a title keyword is a character that could instead cover a new secondary term — a modifier phrase, a feature name, a use-case qualifier — that opens an entirely new keyword ranking. See the free ASO keyword research guide for building the secondary term list your subtitle should draw from.
The high-value subtitle pattern: primary category noun + key differentiator, under 30 characters. 'Task manager with offline sync' (30 chars) indexes for 'task manager,' 'offline,' 'sync,' and related compound terms. 'Get organized today' (19 chars) indexes for nothing a user in the category is actively searching. The quick audit: open your title and subtitle side by side and highlight every word that appears in both. Each overlapping content word is a wasted coverage opportunity. Replace it with a secondary keyword from your target list — a phrase in the Apple Search Ads 20–55 popularity range where a new app can realistically earn a first-page ranking.
What Apple rejects in subtitles — four triggers that send your build back
App Review applies four specific restrictions to subtitle copy, all reliably enforced. First: price claims. Any pricing reference — 'free,' '$0,' 'no cost,' 'save money' — is rejected because App Store pricing belongs in the pricing configuration, not in metadata fields. Second: superlatives and ranking claims. 'Best,' '#1,' 'top-rated,' 'award-winning' all require independent substantiation Apple verifies before allowing them. An uncited superlative in a subtitle is a routine rejection. Third: time-dependent language. 'New,' 'updated,' '2026 edition,' 'just launched' are rejected because subtitles are expected to remain accurate indefinitely — this is precisely why promotional text exists as a separate field.
Fourth: competitor names. Your subtitle cannot contain a competitor's brand, even if that brand is a high-volume search term in your category. Competitor targeting belongs in your keyword field, which is not publicly displayed and avoids the trademark and policy conflicts that a public subtitle creates. One practical consequence: if the dominant app in your category has become a category-search-term in users' minds — 'something like [competitor]' is how users describe the search intent — you can still target competitor-adjacent terms in the keyword field. You cannot surface that association through the subtitle, which every visitor reads in their search results.
Promotional text: the only App Store field that skips the review queue
Every metadata field in the App Store — title, subtitle, description, keyword field, screenshots, and app previews — can only be changed by submitting a new app version and waiting for App Review, which takes 24 hours minimum on a fast cycle and typically one to three days. Promotional text is the sole exception. You can update it directly in App Store Connect at any time, with no build submission, no review wait, and no involvement from your development team if marketing handles it separately. Changes are live within hours. This is the field's defining property and the reason it exists as a separate surface at all.
Because promotional text can't index keywords, writing static evergreen content and leaving it unchanged for months ignores its defining advantage — real-time updateability — in exchange for occupying a non-indexed field with text that does no ranking work. The developers who extract the most from promotional text treat it as a live marketing channel. They have a process for updating it at specific trigger events: major feature launches, pricing changes, press coverage, social proof milestones. That process requires no developer involvement, no code deployment, and no review cycle. The barrier to execution is fifteen minutes in App Store Connect.
The update cadence that extracts maximum value: refresh at every meaningful inflection point. A new feature shipping — promotional text can announce it before your 'What's New' note is even visible in the new build. A limited-time pricing change — run the copy for the window and remove it when the window closes, without touching your build. A press feature or award — get it onto your product page within hours of the announcement, not after the next release cycle. A social proof milestone — 50,000 downloads, a new 4.9-star aggregate, a specific press quote. Use the screenshot editor for any accompanying visual assets when a major update also warrants new screenshots alongside updated promotional copy.
The conversion window: who reads promotional text and what they need from it
Promotional text appears at the top of the description area on your product page, above the main description block and visible without tapping 'more.' This means it is read by the most engaged segment of your visitors — users who have already tapped into your listing from search results, scanned your screenshots, and are now reading text to confirm or refute a hypothesis about whether your app solves their problem. These are not browsing users; they are evaluating users. They know your app's category. What they need is a specific, current fact that resolves a hesitation the screenshots left open.
Four use cases where promotional text does its best conversion work: announcing a specific new feature before the 'What's New' note is visible; communicating a time-bound offer or discount so the window is clear; surfacing a social proof number that has crossed a milestone ('Used by 100,000 developers'); and flagging a press mention or award while the coverage is fresh. Each gives an evaluating user information unavailable elsewhere on the page — information that shifts the decision from 'maybe later' to 'now.' Generic benefit statements that rephrase your screenshots achieve none of this. See the description framework guide for how the full description continues the job the promotional text line begins.
How subtitle and promotional text work together across the full product page read
In the App Store search results grid, a user sees your icon, app name, subtitle, and rating — before they tap into your listing. The subtitle is speaking to this pre-tap audience. It supplements the title's primary keyword with the secondary term that signals relevance to this specific search query, and in 30 characters it either earns the tap or it doesn't. A vague tagline signals nothing and competes against apps whose subtitles name a concrete feature or use case directly. Once the user taps through to the product page, the subtitle's search-ranking job is done — promotional text takes over.
On the product page, after a user has scanned screenshots and is now reading, promotional text is the transition from visual sell to text evaluation. It should introduce something the screenshots haven't already established — a timely claim, a specific compatibility fact, a social proof signal — rather than restating the value proposition already communicated by the icon, title, subtitle, and first screenshot. The combined discipline: subtitle for keyword coverage and category signal aimed at pre-tap search intent, promotional text for real-time conversion at the moment of decision. Two fields, two jobs, neither tolerating filler. The screenshot sizes reference and screenshot tool comparison cover the visual asset layer that sits between the two.
Audit both fields before your next version submission
The subtitle audit takes five minutes: open your current title and subtitle side by side, highlight every word that appears in both, and replace each duplicated content word with a secondary keyword your title doesn't already cover. Then check whether your subtitle contains any prohibited language — pricing, superlatives, time references, competitor names. Those two checks improve most subtitles without any copy overhaul.
The promotional text audit is simpler: does your current promotional text contain information that no other field on your product page already communicates? If not, update it. If you have no promotional text set at all, write one specific, current sentence about your app and publish it today. No review queue. No build. It will be live within hours.
Build screenshots that complete the product page pitch →
Frequently asked questions
Is the App Store subtitle indexed for search?
Yes. The subtitle is one of the four indexed fields on the iOS App Store: app name (title), subtitle, keyword field, and — confirmed since mid-2025 — text extracted via OCR from screenshot captions. The subtitle carries secondary keyword weight, meaning the same keyword in your title outranks the same keyword in your subtitle, but a unique secondary keyword in your subtitle does contribute to your search ranking. Treat it as a 30-character keyword field that also displays publicly in search results.
Is App Store promotional text indexed for search?
No. Apple explicitly does not index promotional text for App Store search ranking. Keywords placed in it for SEO purposes have zero effect on your search position. Promotional text is a conversion field — it is read by human visitors evaluating your product page, not by Apple's search algorithm. Write it for the evaluating user: specific, current, benefit-forward language that gives an already-interested visitor new information, not keyword-stuffed copy that ranks nothing.
Can I change promotional text without submitting a new app version?
Yes — this is its defining property. Promotional text is the only App Store metadata field that can be updated directly in App Store Connect without submitting a new build for App Review. Changes take effect within hours. Every other field (title, subtitle, keyword field, description, screenshots) requires a new version submission and App Review approval before changes are visible to users. Use promotional text for any time-sensitive messaging: limited-time offers, new feature announcements, social proof milestones, and press coverage while it is fresh.
Should I put the same keyword in both my title and subtitle?
No. Repeating a keyword in both your title and subtitle does not increase its ranking weight — Apple indexes each field independently and credits the keyword once regardless of repetition. Every subtitle character spent on a title keyword is a wasted character that could instead cover a new secondary search term. Audit your title and subtitle side by side: highlight every repeated content word and replace each with a unique keyword your title does not already contain. Expansion, not reinforcement, is the correct subtitle strategy.
What can I not put in my App Store subtitle?
Apple's App Review guidelines prohibit four categories of subtitle content: (1) price claims — 'free,' '$0,' any pricing reference; (2) superlatives and ranking claims — 'best,' '#1,' 'top-rated' without verified substantiation; (3) time-dependent language — 'new,' 'updated,' 'launching this month,' any time-bound phrasing; (4) competitor names or brand references. Time-sensitive language belongs in promotional text, which can be changed without a build submission. Competitor keywords belong in your hidden keyword field, where they can target search intent without appearing publicly.