How to Localize for Chinese (Traditional) in the App Store

Apple's keyword reference allows 100 bytes, not 100 characters. Counted as UTF-8, the example below contains 24 three-byte characters (separators excluded). At three bytes a character the field holds at most 33 characters of keywords, commas included. The words below are a hypothetical keyword list for a habit tracker called Streakly; they are illustrations, not validated search terms, and each has at least three characters.

Joined with commas and no spaces after them, the field is:

習慣養成,打卡記錄,目標管理,每日提醒,自律計畫,待辦清單

That is 29 characters and 77 bytes: 72 bytes of keywords plus 5 commas, leaving 23 of the 100 bytes free. The byte counts assume UTF-8; confirm the final count in App Store Connect before you save.

Each of the three default storefronts lists English (U.K.) as the only additional language. Apple's list has one Traditional Chinese locale, so Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau share one keyword field. You cannot write a Hong Kong list and a Taiwan list separately. If you need different words for the markets, the field can only carry one set.

The country pages show the two largest of them: Taiwan and Hong Kong. Macau has no page of its own. Chinese (Simplified) covers the other Chinese script.

Apple's table reads these rows as follows: Chinese (Traditional) is the default in 3 and an additional language in 1. None of the default storefronts lists it alone.

Traditional and Simplified characters both occupy three bytes, so the budget is the same: at most 33 characters in the 100-byte field. The example uses six four-character keywords.

The forms differ for the same word, as 習慣 against 习惯 shows, so a Simplified list cannot be pasted into a Traditional field. Convert it and then check each term in the storefront. Apple does not document whether a search typed in one script matches a keyword in the other. Japanese also costs three bytes per character.

LocalASO checks keywords in 52 App Store storefronts, each in the storefront's local language, so you can compare your Chinese (Traditional) candidates with the English ones in one place. Keywords, ranks and listings stay in a database on your Mac. LocalASO is a one-time $29 purchase and the app needs a license key to run; the setup is in the localization docs and the price is on the pricing page. To test the field you just built, use the keyword field checker, or browse every language page. Neighboring languages: Chinese (Simplified), Japanese, Korean.