Can more than one app have the same name?

Short answer and the two main ways app names can overlap

Yes, more than one app can share the same visible name in some contexts. The catch is that store listing rules, trademark rules, and platform review can still block the name, or at least make the whole thing annoying enough to feel personal.

What “same name” can mean in practice

There are a few different kinds of overlap. Two apps can have identical marketing names in different stores, the same name can appear on different platforms, or two names can be legally similar enough to create trademark risk even if they are not byte-for-byte identical.

What Apple actually cares about in App Store review

Apple is not just checking whether your chosen name already exists somewhere on the internet. App Store review focuses on whether the app name is accurate, non-misleading, and compliant with App Store naming guidance, so the real question is whether the name fits Apple’s rules and does not create confusion.

When the same app name is allowed

The common case is pretty boring, which is good. Two unrelated apps may use the same or a similar name if there is no likely confusion, no trademark conflict, and the store listing stays honest about what the app does.

That is also where Apple gets practical. If your name is clean, descriptive enough, and not pretending to be something it is not, a collision by itself does not automatically kill it.

When the same app name becomes a problem

The trouble starts when the name brushes up against trademark rights, looks too much like another product, or tries to borrow trust it did not earn. Names that stuff keywords, imply features the app does not have, or suggest an affiliation with a brand, service, or organization can trigger rejection or a dispute.

So if the name is basically doing marketing cosplay, that is where review and legal risk start waving red flags.

Worked example: two indie apps with the same short name

Imagine two indie developers both want to use the short name “Pulse.” One is a habit tracker for students, the other is a music tool for DJs.

Could both exist? Potentially, yes, especially if they are in different categories, the branding is clearly distinct, and nobody is likely to think one is the other. But if one of them builds a brand, gets a trademark claim, or enters a market where “Pulse” is already strongly associated with another app, the risk climbs fast.

An indie developer deciding whether to keep the name would usually ask three simple questions: does the name create confusion, does it conflict with someone else’s mark, and does it still make sense in the App Store listing as written? If any of those answers is shaky, changing the name early is usually cheaper than discovering the problem after screenshots, icons, and launch copy are already baked in.

For the legal side of that decision, How to legally choose an app name is the better next read because it walks through trademark and store-name risk before you submit.

How this connects to first-time App Store prep

Naming is not a separate little puzzle you solve in a vacuum, then forget. For a first submission, choose the name early, check it against metadata, screenshots, and support pages, and keep all of that language consistent before you submit.

That matters because App Store review is looking at the whole package, not just the app title. If the name says one thing, the screenshots say another, and the support page says something wildly different, you have made the reviewer do extra detective work. That is rarely a fun hobby.

Useful next step before you submit

Before submission, run a naming-clearance workflow and a screenshot-copy review together. The goal is to make sure the app name does not fight the rest of the listing, because even a technically usable name can weaken the whole submission if the rest of the messaging drifts.

How to write App Store screenshot captions that read fast helps with that second pass, since the caption text needs to match the name and stay readable at a glance. If the name and the screenshots are telling different stories, the store listing starts sounding like three people arguing in a trench coat.