How to check whether an App Store name is available
A name can look free in public App Store search and still be unavailable in App Store Connect. Here's how to check before you upload.
Apple's rules
An app name is 2 to 30 characters. Apple allows a name for one app per localization, and suggests a distinctive name: avoid generic terms and names too similar to existing apps.
If an app in your own account already uses the name, rename that app in an update or remove it. If another developer uses it and you hold the trademark, Apple has a claim process.
Why a free-looking name can be unavailable
A public App Store search shows apps available in that storefront. App Store Connect determines name availability, and a name may already belong to another app or localization even when no matching live app appears in your search.
In our own test, “Tennis Swing Analyzer” produced no matching app in a U.S. store search, but App Store Connect reported that another account already used it.
And if you remove an app yourself, you lose its name: a removed app can come back only if no one else has taken it.
How to check a name
- Search the relevant App Store storefronts first. This can reveal a live app using the exact name, but a clear search is only a preliminary check.
- Save the candidate name to the editable localization in App Store Connect. If App Store Connect rejects it as already used, choose another name. If it accepts the name, it passed that availability check at that time.
- Repeat the check for every localization whose name you are changing.
Acceptance by App Store Connect does not guarantee App Review approval, trademark clearance, or permanent availability. The saved edit does not change the public App Store page until the version is submitted, approved, and released.