categories

The categories manifest member lets you specify one or more classifications for your web application. These categories help users discover your app in app stores.

Note: The categories member is optional, and app stores may use different values when presenting your app.

Syntax

json
/* Single category */
"categories": ["productivity"]

/* Multiple categories */
"categories": ["productivity", "utilities", "social"]

Values

categories

An array of comma-separated strings, where each string represents a category name. The strings should be in lowercase. W3C maintains a list of standardized categories, which includes common values such as business, education, entertainment, finance, games, and productivity.

Description

The categories member is supplementary metadata that does not affect the app's runtime behavior or how browsers present the app. Its values are used only in app stores and other distribution platforms and are not visible to users in the browser or installed app.

If your app serves multiple purposes, specifying multiple relevant categories can help users discover your app across different sections of the app store.

If categories is not specified or the specified values are not used, app stores will categorize your web app based on their own classification system.

The images below from the Apple App Store show how categories appear in different parts of an app store. The app overview shows the category in the "CHART" field (highlighted) along with the app's ranking in that category, and the Information section displays "Category" as a dedicated field (highlighted).

  • The BBC app is categorized as "News":

    BBC app overview in Apple App Store. CHART field is circled in red to show News category. BBC app Information section with the Category field circled in red showing News.

  • The Weather Channel app is categorized as "Weather":

    Weather app overview in Apple App Store. CHART field is circled in red to show Weather category Weather app Information section with the Category field circled in red showing Weather

Examples

Categorizing a meal planning web app

This example shows how to categorize a web app for planning meals based on available ingredients:

json
{
  "name": "Meal Planner",
  "categories": ["food", "health", "lifestyle"]
}

Specifications

Specification
Web App Manifest - Application Information
# categories-member

Browser compatibility

The categories manifest member is used by app stores when publishing and listing web apps, so browser compatibility is not applicable. While browsers may parse this member, it's optional and doesn't affect the app's functionality or presentation.