App subtitle vs promotional text: which App Store field does what
These two fields sit right next to each other on your App Store product page, and Apple never makes the difference obvious inside App Store Connect. So people write keyword-stuffed promotional text expecting it to rank, or they burn a review cycle just to change a sentence that could have been edited in ten seconds. The fields do different jobs. Once you know which is which, the decision is easy.
The one difference that matters
Two properties separate these fields, and everything else follows from them:
- Indexed vs not indexed. The subtitle contributes to your keyword ranking. Promotional text does not.
- Version-locked vs always editable. The subtitle ships with your app version, so changing it requires a new build and a review. Promotional text updates live, any time, on its own.
Hold those two axes in your head and you will never confuse the fields again.
The subtitle: 30 characters, indexed, locked to your version
The subtitle is the short line under your app name, up to 30 characters. Apple treats it as part of your searchable metadata, so the words in it feed your keyword ranking — not as heavily as the app name, but it counts. That makes the subtitle prime real estate for the search terms you want to rank for.
The catch: the subtitle is tied to your app version. It is metadata that ships with a build. To change it you have to create a new version in App Store Connect and upload a build with a higher build number, even if the binary itself is unchanged. That means it goes through App Review. So the subtitle is not a place for anything that changes often — it is a place for stable, evergreen ranking keywords and your core value.
Promotional text: 170 characters, not indexed, editable anytime
Promotional text is the block at the very top of your description, up to 170 characters. Unlike the subtitle, it is the one metadata field you can update at any time without submitting a new version and without App Review. Edit it in App Store Connect and it goes live on its own.
The trade-off is that promotional text is not indexed. Keywords you put here do nothing for your ranking. Its job is conversion, not discovery: it sits above the fold, it is one of the first things a visitor reads, and it is where you say what is new or urgent right now. A limited sale, a just-shipped feature, a seasonal campaign, an award — anything time-sensitive belongs here precisely because you can change it the moment the moment passes.
| Subtitle | Promotional text | |
|---|---|---|
| Character limit | 30 | 170 |
| Indexed for keywords | Yes — contributes to ranking | No |
| How to change it | New version + build + App Review | Edit anytime, goes live, no review |
| Where it shows | Under the app name, across the store | Top of the description, above the fold |
| Use it for | Evergreen ranking keywords + value | Timely news, sales, announcements |
The practical rule
Keywords you want to rank for go in the subtitle, because that is the field Apple indexes. Anything timely goes in promotional text, because that is the field you can change on demand.
A useful test: if you would be annoyed to wait for a review to publish it, it belongs in promotional text. If it is a search term you plan to keep for months, it belongs in the subtitle. Do not waste subtitle characters on a sale, and do not expect promotional text to earn you a single ranking position.
What about Google Play?
Google Play has no direct equivalent to promotional text. The closest field is the short description, capped at 80 characters — but it works the opposite way on the axis that matters: Google indexes the short description, so its keywords do feed ranking. There is no separate always-editable, non-indexed field on Play. If you are shipping to both stores, you cannot just copy your Apple promotional text into the Play short description and expect it to behave the same way. On Play, that text is doing keyword work.
Where Mokbi fits
Mokbi drafts these fields as part of the full listing — a subtitle built around the keywords you want to rank for, and promotional text sized for the 170-character window and pointed at conversion. Then it localizes them into 50 languages, so the same split holds in every market instead of one hand-translated locale getting it right and the rest going stale.
Mokbi drafts and localizes the subtitle and promotional text — and the rest of the listing — into 50 languages, then publishes it: pushing to Google Play directly and staging the App Store version in App Store Connect, ready for you to submit. Apple requires that final Submit and review — an Apple rule, not a limitation on our end.