You shipped in China first — or you built for a bilingual audience — and now you need a US storefront that reads like a native en-US app, not a translated brochure. Below is what we fix field by field when rewriting App Store listings for indie teams. This is operator guidance, not a ranking guarantee and not investment advice.
Apple limits the app name field (commonly 30 characters — verify in App Store Connect). US buyers scan titles in Search and on product pages. Lead with the outcome or audience, not internal codenames or pinyin they will not type. Replace slogan-only titles with a category noun plus a differentiator. Drop unverifiable superlatives (“best,” “#1”). Do not paste competitor names into your title. Keep brand names consistent across en-US and zh-Hans, but let the Chinese title be idiomatic, not a character-for-character copy of English marketing copy.
The subtitle is short (often 30 characters — check Connect). It should answer what the title leaves open: pricing hint, platform, key workflow, or audience — not repeat the title or stuff keywords that belong elsewhere. Align meaning between en-US and zh-Hans, but structure can differ when the underlying promise matches.
The first two or three lines should state the use case and primary benefit before you list features. US readers often decide from the preview snippet whether to tap “more.” When rewriting from a China-market description, cut feature dumps that mirror your settings menu — group capabilities under outcomes instead of module names. Remove claims you cannot substantiate: download counts, press quotes without permission, or “editors’ choice” unless Apple granted it. Match tone to a solo indie app; corporate-sounding English reads as template copy. Keep zh-Hans structurally parallel where helpful, but avoid English that mirrors Chinese sentence order word by word. We do not invent reviews, ratings, revenue figures, or media logos.
Connect exposes a keyword field for many locales (limits and indexing change — read Apple’s current docs). Seed English terms from how US users describe the problem: task manager, habit tracker, pomodoro timer — not every trending category word. Avoid repeating title or subtitle words; document why each term fits your app. For zh-Hans, include terms Chinese users actually type, including English loanwords when that is how people search. That notes column is operational clarity, not a promise any keyword ranks on page one. We do not claim access to Apple’s algorithm.
Overlay lines should reinforce the title in six words or fewer — not reprint the description. CN-first apps often ship beautiful UI with Chinese-only overlays; US visitors bounce before reading copy. Promotional text is a short news slot, not a second description.
Other frequent mistakes: pasting a domestic app-market description into en-US unchanged; English title sells “focus” while Chinese sells “community”; keyword stuffing in the subtitle; captions that are adjectives without nouns (“Smart · Efficient · Beautiful”); claiming full English support while in-app UI stays untranslated. Better listing language does not replace product localization, but it reduces refund pressure and support mail.
Paste-ready en-US and Simplified Chinese fields: title, subtitle, description, keyword suggestions with rationale, screenshot overlay lines, and a cut list of sentences to delete. Public before/after samples (not client work): Monday Mood, Focus To-Do, Tide, TickTick.
Fortune Insight’s AppLocale service rewrites one live App Store listing into English and Simplified Chinese fields you can paste into Connect. Delivered after Stripe checkout — send your App Store URL and current copy from the email on your receipt. No icon design, no fabricated reviews, no ranking promise.