2.3.7 — Unique app name and keywords

App names and keyword fields have to be unique and genuinely descriptive of your app — appending competitor brand names, popular unrelated terms, or another app's exact name is a violation, not a growth hack.

Usually caught when a name or subtitle borrows a well-known app or brand's name to ride their search traffic, or a keyword list is padded with terms that have nothing to do with the app's actual function.

The short version, in more detail

Guideline 2.3.7 asks that an app's name, subtitle and keywords are unique and describe the app. Using another app's name, adding competitor brands or padding the keyword field with unrelated terms to capture search traffic is a violation, not a growth technique. It is one of the metadata rules reviewers apply most readily.

Why this rule exists

Search is how most people find apps, so the app name and keywords carry a lot of commercial weight. If developers could borrow other brands or fill their listings with unrelated popular terms, search results would stop being reliable for users and unfair to honest developers. Apple treats metadata accuracy as part of search quality: a name and keyword list should describe the app, so that what a user finds matches what they were looking for.

What this guideline covers

• The app name, subtitle and keyword field.
• Use of competitor or brand names in metadata.
• Keyword stuffing with terms unrelated to the app.
• Names that are too similar to existing apps.

What usually triggers this rejection

• A name or subtitle that borrows a well-known brand.
• Keywords that mention competing apps.
• A list padded with popular but irrelevant terms.
• A near-identical copy of another app's name.
• Excessive repetition of terms to influence search.

How reviewers evaluate it

• Reviewers read the metadata and compare it with the app's function.
• They check whether brand terms belong to someone else.
• They look for patterns that suggest search manipulation.
• Intellectual property complaints can also raise the issue.

Common misunderstandings

• A brand name in the keyword field is not allowed just because users search for it.
• More keywords are not better. Relevance counts.
• Metadata is reviewed along with the binary, not separately.

Common questions