Primary category (App Store)

The primary category does two things. It places the app in a browsing list, and it is part of text relevance: Apple lists matches for the app title, subtitle, keywords and primary category as the first of the two factors behind search results, the second being user behavior. Apple also states that the primary and the optional secondary category are indexed by the search algorithm.

• Apple's category definitions list 27 categories.
• An app has a primary category and can have a secondary one.
• Games can have up to two Games subcategories.
• Guideline 2.3.5 requires the most appropriate category. Apple may change a category that is way off base.
• For macOS apps the category is also set in Xcode, and the primary category in App Store Connect should match it.

A hypothetical habit tracker could choose Health & Fitness as primary and Productivity as secondary. The words "health" and "fitness" are then covered by the category, and Apple advises not to repeat words from the name, subtitle or category in the keyword field. That frees bytes for terms like "routine" or "planner".

• Picking a crowded category because it looks popular. Check how strong the top apps are with keyword difficulty.
• Choosing the category by guesswork rather than by where your audience looks.

See how the category fits with the name in the title and subtitle guide.

The optional second placement is the secondary category. Mac apps have a matching rule; see Mac App Store.