App Store Categories: Full List and How to Choose (2026)

TL;DR: Apple's category page currently lists 27 App Store categories, plus a separate Stickers category for iMessage sticker packs. Every app gets a primary category and can add a secondary one. The primary matters most: it decides where your app appears when people browse and filter, and Apple indexes your categories for search. Choose the category that matches your app's core experience first, then weigh competition.

Here is the list from Apple's "Choosing a Category" page, with the kind of apps you'll typically find in each. Apple updates this list from time to time, so confirm it in App Store Connect when you set up your app.

Game subcategories

If your primary category is Games, Apple lets you choose up to two Games subcategories. These drive where your game appears when people browse genres and in the Games subcategory charts. Apple's category page mentions genres such as action, adventure, board, card, family, music, puzzle, racing, role playing, simulation, sports and strategy; App Store Connect shows the full current list when you edit your app. Apple's own advice: if you're unsure which fits, look at the games already in each subcategory first.

The Kids category

To appear in the Kids category, you select "Made for Kids" in App Store Connect and choose an age band: 5 and under, 6–8, or 9–11. The app must follow the Kids rules in the App Review Guidelines, and it can still have a regular primary and secondary category such as Education or Games.

Apple's App Store search page states that "your primary category and optional secondary category are indexed by our search algorithm." That has a practical consequence for your metadata: Apple also says not to repeat words from your category in the keywords field. If your app is in Photo & Video, words like "photo" and "video" are already covered, so spend your keywords field on other terms.

One more effect worth knowing: Apple notes that choosing Entertainment or Games also places your app in the matching Screen Time "Time Allowance" category. If parents limit games on a child's device, a game-like education app filed under Games falls under that limit.

Apple suggests three questions: what is your app's main purpose, where would your audience naturally look for it, and how are similar apps categorized? Turn that into a short process:

1. Write one sentence about the core job. "Helps people stick to a monthly budget" points straight to Finance.
2. List two or three candidate categories. Many apps fit more than one: a habit tracker could be Health & Fitness or Productivity.
3. Check where similar apps sit. Look at the apps people already compare yours to. If they're all in one category, that's where your audience browses.
4. Look at the charts. Open the top charts for each candidate. If the apps there are much larger than yours, a chart spot is unlikely for now either way, so choose on fit, not hope.
5. Stay accurate. Apple says choosing an inappropriate category violates the App Review Guidelines (section 2.3), so don't pick a category just because it looks less crowded.
6. Use the secondary for the next-best fit. It's optional, but it costs nothing and is indexed for search.

These are hypothetical apps. The right answer depends on the core experience, so the "why" column matters more than the pick.

You set categories in the App Information section of App Store Connect. For macOS apps, Apple also asks you to set the category in Xcode, and the primary category there should match App Store Connect.

If you switch categories, measure before and after:

• Compare impressions from browsing and search in App Store Connect Analytics over similar periods. Our App Store Connect Analytics guide explains the source types.
• Change one thing at a time. If you also change your name or screenshots, you won't know what moved the numbers.
• Re-check your keywords field, since words now covered by the new category can be freed up.

For how categories fit alongside the other ranking signals Apple names, see how App Store search ranking works and our App Store Optimization guide.

Google Play uses its own list: 32 app categories and 17 game categories. You choose one category and can add up to five tags that describe your app's content.

Google recommends picking the five tags most strongly associated with your app and revisiting them only after significant changes to your content. Category and tag changes can take up to 24 hours to show on your store page. The Google Play store listing guide covers the other listing fields.