Do top App Store apps use the search phrase in their name?

For each of the top 10 results, the study checked whether the app name contains every word of the query, ignoring case and diacritics. Matching is by substring, so it is lenient, and singular and plural forms are not unified. For languages written without spaces the whole phrase counts as one word.

Apple states an app is searchable by app name, subtitle, keywords and company name. The API only shows the name, so a name without the phrase can still match through fields this study cannot see. A low share therefore does not mean apps ignore the phrase.

Each phrase was searched in 52 storefronts, so each row covers 520 top-10 slots.

Several single-word terms (vpn, chess, invoice) rank near the top, though not all do: recipes sits at 41%. Multi-word phrases such as "todo list" and "note taking" sit at the bottom. That is a pattern in 20 phrases, not a tested rule, and one possible reason is that apps name themselves with shorter words such as "tasks" or "notes"; the data does not test that.

In the category basket, exact-title prevalence was highest for Graphics & Design (58%), Reference (57%) and Lifestyle (56%), and lowest for Productivity (28%), Social Networking (23%) and Kids (20%). Entertainment and Utilities both sat at 55%.

Language matters more than category. English phrases matched 56% of top-10 names, but the local-language phrases in non-English storefronts matched 28%. The US sat at 72% for the English phrases and Spain at 26%; for local phrases, Austria (65%), South Korea (64%), Switzerland (62%) and Germany (61%) were highest, while Greece, Indonesia and Ukraine were at 1%. Part of that gap may be wording: the local phrases are unverified candidate translations, and a natural phrase in another language may not be how apps are named there.

The data supports one cautious observation: for many phrases, a majority of top-10 apps include the words in their names. It does not show that putting a phrase in your name causes a better rank, since ranking depends on more than the name and Apple documents little about its weighting. Where a phrase is rarely in top names (as with "note taking"), the opening may be real, or the phrase may simply be worded differently by users and developers. Read the guide on app name keyword strategy for how the 30-character name limit shapes the choice, and see app name for the definition. Volume and difficulty are LocalASO estimates from rating counts, not Apple search counts.

One search per phrase and storefront on 2026-11-01. Substring matching is lenient. The API returns no subtitles and no keyword field. Full limits are on the methodology page.

LocalASO checks a keyword's live top 10 results in 52 storefronts, each in the storefront's local language, so you can see who ranks for a phrase before you use it in a name. It is a Mac app at a one-time $29 and needs a license key to run. See pricing.