Lazy ASOIs my app name available, or taken by another developer?
Updated 14 November 2026
Two different things get called "available". App Store Connect refuses a name that another developer account already uses, and you only find out when you add it. A name can also be free in search: no app in the top 25 starts its name with what people type. The first decides if you can have the name, the second decides if it is worth having.
Meaning 1: can I register the name?
Apple's rule: "You can use an app name for one app per localization." Names are between 2 and 30 characters. If the name is in use, App Store Connect rejects it when you add it to your app record.
| Who has the name | What you can do |
|---|---|
| Your own other app | Submit an update to that app to change its name, or remove that app from App Store Connect to free the name |
| Another developer | Pick another name. With trademark rights, submit a claim through Apple's app name notices form |
There is no public lookup that tells you before you try. A search in the App Store shows live apps only, so it can miss a name held by an app that is not on sale. One of our apps was refused two names in two English storefronts with a "different account" error (24 October 2026), and the names did not show up as taken until App Store Connect said so.
Short head names like "Bible" or "Tarot" went to the first developers years ago, and new apps do not get them. What is left is a longer name with the search at the start and something that sets you apart: "Calorie Counter by Numify" is the pattern.
Meaning 2: is the name free to rank?
This is what Lazy ASO calls a free name: no app in the top 25 for that search starts its name with it. It says nothing about the store accepting the name. It says whether the search is open to you.
The number that matters is how many apps already start their name with the search. New apps with 0 ratings that start their name with the search, counted down to #200:
| Other apps starting with it | Top 10 chance |
|---|---|
| 0 | 20–40% |
| 1 or 2 | about 20% |
| 3 or 4 | about 10% |
| 5 or more | about 3% |
Where the search sits in the name matters as much. Starting with it reached the top 10 in 5–10% of cases, "Brand: search" after a colon in 1–3%, about the same as leaving it out. See the full research.
Check both before you build
- Find the search people type for your app, then run the free name check on the home page: check a name
- If it is free, pick a name that starts with the search and adds your own word.
- Add the name in App Store Connect. A refusal there means another account holds it: change the second half, keep the search first.
- Follow the steps in how to name an iOS app.
Lazy ASO gives each search a go, maybe or skip call with a measured top-10 chance, in 87 countries. The App Store Connect check stays yours, because only Apple knows who holds a name.
See also can I change my app name and how to rank higher as a new app.
Check a name free on the Lazy ASO home page.