App Store categories: all 27, and how to pick yours (2026)
All 27 App Store categories Apple lists, what each is for, how the primary and secondary choice changes where your app shows, and the Kids rules.
By Sigsten Gustavii· · Updated · 10 min read
Every app on the App Store sits in a category. It is one of the smallest fields in App Store Connect, a single menu, and one of the few that changes where your app can be found. Get it right and the app sits beside the apps people compare it with. Get it badly wrong and, under guideline 2.3.5, Apple may change it for you.
This guide lists all 27 categories Apple describes on its own category page, explains what the primary and secondary category each do, walks through how to choose, and covers the special cases: games, kids, stickers and medical apps.
All 27 App Store categories
These are the categories in Apple's comparison list, in Apple's order, with what Apple says each is for and an example of an app that fits.
| Category | What Apple says it is for | An app that fits |
|---|---|---|
| Books | Interactive takes on content usually offered in print | An illustrated story with things to tap |
| Business | Running a business, or working on content together | A shift planner for a café |
| Developer Tools | Building, managing and distributing apps | A tool that checks app icons |
| Education | Interactive learning about a skill or subject | Flashcards for a language course |
| Entertainment | Entertaining or informing with audio, visual or other content | A film watchlist |
| Finance | Financial transactions, or business and personal money | A monthly budget tracker |
| Food & Drink | Preparing, eating, drinking or reviewing food and drink | A family recipe box |
| Games | Interactive play, alone or with others | A daily word puzzle |
| Graphics & Design | Tools for art, design and graphics | A colour palette maker |
| Health & Fitness | Healthy living, stress, fitness and recreation | A workout log |
| Lifestyle | A general-interest subject or service | A plant care diary |
| Kids | Apps for children 11 and under, in three age bands | A counting game for five-year-olds |
| Magazines & Newspapers | Subscriptions to magazine or newspaper content | A local paper's weekly edition |
| Medical | Medical education, information or health reference for patients or professionals | An anatomy reference |
| Music | Discovering, listening to, recording, performing or composing music | A metronome and tuner |
| Navigation | Getting to a physical place | A trail map for a nature park |
| News | Current events, as a reader, digest or outlet | A neighbourhood news digest |
| Photo & Video | Capturing, editing, storing or sharing photos and video | A collage maker |
| Productivity | Making a process or task more organised | A to-do list with projects |
| Reference | Looking up or retrieving information | A bird identification guide |
| Safari Extensions | Extensions that change how Safari browses the web | A reader-mode extension |
| Shopping | Buying consumer goods, or a better shopping experience | A price-drop wish list |
| Social Networking | Connecting people through text, voice, photos or video | A club's members' feed |
| Sports | Professional, amateur, school or recreational sport | A five-a-side league table |
| Travel | Planning, buying or tracking any part of travel | A trip itinerary planner |
| Utilities | Solving a problem or finishing a specific task | A unit converter |
| Weather | Forecasts, alerts and weather information | A rain alert for one city |
Two names on that list are not picked like the rest. Kids is reached through the Made for Kids setting rather than the category menu, and Safari Extensions is for apps that offer Safari extensions. Apple also describes a separate Stickers category, used only for iMessage sticker packs.
Primary and secondary category: what each one does
In App Store Connect you choose two categories: a primary, which every app needs, and a secondary, which is optional. Apple is clear that the primary one carries the weight.
- The primary category is where your app appears when people browse the App Store or filter search results, and it decides whether the app sits on the Apps tab or the Games tab.
- The secondary category is a second place to be found. It does not move your app between the Apps and Games tabs.
- Time Allowance reads your categories too: Apple says apps with Entertainment or Games as their primary or secondary category appear in the matching Time Allowance category.
Category is a filter, not a keyword. The words people type in search are matched against your listing itself, so a category does not replace a good name, subtitle and keywords. Our App Store optimization guide for beginners covers those fields.
| Primary category | Secondary category | |
|---|---|---|
| Required? | Yes | No |
| Where people browse for the app | Yes, and in filtered search | Yes, as a second place |
| Apps tab or Games tab | Decides it | No |
| Time Allowance (Entertainment, Games) | Counts | Counts |
How to pick your primary category, step by step
Apple names three things to weigh. Turned into steps, it takes about ten minutes:
- Write your app's main job in one sentence. Not the list of features, the one thing people open it for. A habit tracker with charts is still about habits.
- Ask where your audience would look. Someone after a workout log browses Health & Fitness, not Productivity, even if the app also keeps lists.
- Look at three or four apps like yours on the App Store and note their category, shown in the information section of each product page.
- Pick the category that matches the sentence, and check it against Apple's description in the table above.
- Use the secondary category for the next most natural place to look, for example Education for a language game filed under Games.
- Leave out anything that is a stretch. Apple says choosing categories that do not fit your app is against the guidelines.
Games and their subcategories
If the primary or secondary category is Games, App Store Connect lets you add up to two Games subcategories, such as action, adventure, board, card, family, music, puzzle, racing, role playing, simulation, sports or strategy. People can browse by subcategory, and the subcategories have their own Games subcategory charts. Apple's advice is to look at the games already in each subcategory before you choose.
A quiz or trivia app is a good test of the rule above. If people play it for points and fun, it is a game; if they use it to learn a subject, Education is the honest primary, with Games as the secondary.
The Kids category and its rules
Kids is the one category with its own rulebook. You do not pick it from the menu. Instead, in the age rating section you choose Made for Kids and an age band: 5 and under, 6 to 8, or 9 to 11. Apple only offers this when the app's calculated age rating is 4+ or 9+, and a Kids app can still be listed in another primary and secondary category, such as Education or Games.
The rules, from guidelines 1.3 and 5.1.4 and Apple's page on apps for kids:
- No links out, purchases or other distractions unless they sit behind a parental gate, an adult-level task such as a sum or a question a young child cannot answer.
- No personal or device information sent to third parties. Third-party analytics and third-party advertising are out, with narrow exceptions Apple spells out.
- Ads, where allowed, must be human-reviewed for age suitability before they are shown.
- A privacy policy and compliance with children's privacy laws such as COPPA and GDPR.
- It is permanent. Once App Review approves an app marked Made for Kids, the selection cannot be changed, and every later update must keep following the Kids rules.
Guideline 2.3.8 adds a rule for everyone else: phrases like "For Kids" and "For Children" in an app's name, subtitle, icon, screenshots or description are reserved for the Kids category. A family chore chart that parents use with their children belongs in Lifestyle or Productivity, written for the parents.
Special cases: Stickers, Safari Extensions and Medical
- Stickers is for sticker pack apps on the App Store for iMessage. Standalone sticker packs are not shown in categories on the iPhone and iPad App Store; people find them through search.
- Safari Extensions fits apps whose purpose is an extension that changes how Safari browses.
- Medical means medical education, information management or health reference. Apple adds paperwork here: apps offered in the EU and EEA, the UK or the US whose category is Health & Fitness or Medical must complete a Regulated Medical Devices declaration in App Store Connect.
A wellbeing journal or step goal is usually Health & Fitness. Keep Medical for apps that really deal in medical information.
Common category mistakes
| Mistake | Why it hurts | Do this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Picking the biggest category for exposure | Your app is browsed beside apps it does not compete with | Pick where your audience looks |
| Games as primary for a learning app | It moves the app to the Games tab | Education primary, Games secondary |
| "For Kids" in the name of a family app | Guideline 2.3.8 reserves it for the Kids category | Write the listing for parents |
| Ticking Made for Kids to be safe | It cannot be undone after approval | Only tick it for apps built for children |
| Medical for a fitness app | Extra declarations, and a claim about the app | Health & Fitness |
| Leaving the secondary empty | One fewer place to be found | Add the next natural fit |
Changing your category later
Your category lives in App Information in App Store Connect, alongside the name and age rating. Apple says those fields can be edited as needed depending on the app's status, so the natural moment to revisit the category is when you prepare a new version. If you are unsure whether a change helped, give it a few weeks before you judge, and compare where your downloads come from in App Store Connect's analytics.
The one category choice you cannot revisit is Made for Kids, as above.
How Borel picks a category for your app
When you publish an app made with Borel, the category is already drafted. In Publish, the Your app step reads what your app does and fills in the category, with a short note beside it, such as "Borel picked this from what your app does". Press Change to see every category Apple offers for an iPhone app, and Also list under to add a secondary one. Publishing is part of Borel Pro, from $20 a month.
- 25 categories in the picker: Apple's list without Kids and Stickers. Kids is the Made for Kids declaration you set in App Store Connect, because Apple never lets an app take it back, and Stickers is for sticker packs.
- Medical is never guessed. Apple reads that category as a claim about your app, so Borel only uses it when you or Borel's AI choose it deliberately, never from a keyword.
- Saved to Apple for you. Borel writes the primary and secondary category to your app's record in App Store Connect when it sends the listing.
- Games subcategories are optional at Apple, and you add them in App Store Connect if you want them.
The rest of the listing comes the same way, one question per screen: name, icon, screenshots and description. The Publishing page in Borel's docs shows each step, and publishing to the App Store without a Mac covers the whole route.
In one sentence, what is the main job of this app? Then tell me which App Store category fits it as the primary, which one as the secondary, and why.The bottom line
Apple lists 27 categories. Choose the primary for what your app mainly does and where people would look for it, add a secondary for the next natural fit, and only tick Made for Kids for an app built for children, because that choice is permanent. If you build with Borel, the category is drafted for you in Publish, and you can change it with one tap.
Questions people ask
How many App Store categories are there?
Apple's category page lists 27, from Books to Weather, including Kids and Safari Extensions. There is also a Stickers category for iMessage sticker packs.
What is the difference between the primary and secondary category?
The primary category decides where your app appears when people browse or filter search results, and whether it sits on the Apps or Games tab. The secondary is an optional second place to be found.
Can I change my app's category later?
Yes, in App Information in App Store Connect, depending on the app's status; the simplest time is when you prepare a new version. Made for Kids is the exception: it cannot be changed once approved.
How do I get my app into the Kids category?
Choose Made for Kids and an age band (5 and under, 6 to 8, or 9 to 11) in App Store Connect. The app must follow guidelines 1.3 and 5.1.4, and Apple only offers it with a 4+ or 9+ rating.
Does the category affect App Store search?
It decides which results your app appears in when people filter search by category. The words people type are matched against your listing, so the name, subtitle and keywords still matter most for search.
Does Borel choose my app's category?
Borel drafts it from what your app does and shows why; you can change it, and add a secondary category, before anything goes to Apple.
I think the category is the easiest box on the whole listing to get right, as long as you pick it for the person searching and not for the chart you hope to climb.
– Sigsten
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