The App Store shows a French page as the main one in France, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon and also reads it in 28 more storefronts, from Belgium and Switzerland to the US (Apple help, Oct 16, 2026). Canada has its own language, French (Canada). In France 31 of the 100 top-grossing apps are games, and gratuit (free) is in 19 of 90 search suggestions.
Where a French page shows
According to Apple's App Store localizations page (Oct 16, 2026), French is the default language of 4 App Store storefronts out of 175 (Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, France, and Gabon), and an additional language in 28 more (Algeria, Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Chad, DR Congo, Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Laos, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, United States, and Vanuatu).
In France the App Store also reads English (U.K.). AppTweak and Phiture's tests showed that French search finds words from both localizations, though a query whose words sit in different localizations does not match (AppTweak, Nov 21, 2025).
The 28 storefronts where French is additional include Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the US, Morocco and Senegal. In Belgium the default is English (U.K.), with French and Dutch beside it. Canada has its own French (Canada), and Apple's table does not list the fr-FR page there.
Who earns most on the App Store in France
In France the top three of the Top Grossing chart on Oct 16, 2026 are ChatGPT, “Snapchat : chats entre ami·e·s” and “TikTok : Ça commence avec toi”. 31 of 100 are games, and only one is in the top ten, Gossip Harbor. 98 list French, and only Discord and Tipsy Chat do not.
French names are longer than in Spain, Mexico and Germany, with a median of 26 characters against 25, 24.5 and 24, and 36 of 100 use 28 to 30. 58 separate the brand and a description, and 18 of them put a space before the colon, as in “TikTok : Ça commence avec toi” and “Duolingo : Langues et échecs”.
| Rank | App | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ChatGPT | Productivity |
| 2 | Snapchat : chats entre ami·e·s | Photo & Video |
| 3 | TikTok : Ça commence avec toi | Entertainment |
| 4 | Deezer: Musique & Podcast | Music |
| 5 | YouTube | Photo & Video |
| 6 | Claude by Anthropic | Productivity |
| 7 | Tinder: appli de rencontre | Lifestyle |
| 8 | Photo & Video | |
| 9 | LinkedIn: Emplois & Connexions | Business |
| 10 | Gossip Harbor : jeu de fusion | Games |
Source: chart Top Grossing, France, Oct 16, 2026; languages iTunes Lookup.
What people search for on the App Store in France
We typed 9 common small-app topics into App Store search in France and saved 10 suggestions for each (Oct 16, 2026). The median query is 16 characters long. Gratuit (free) appears in 19 of 90, in 7 of 9 topics. App, appli and application do not appear in any query.
| Typed | Top App Store suggestions |
|---|---|
| photo photo | photo roulette, photoshop, photoroom, photo, photobox |
| vidéo video | vidéo 2mp3, vidéo lit, vidéo dowload, vidéo de mp3, vidéo mp3 |
| traduction translation | traduction, traduction instantanée gratuit, traduction vocale instant, traduction gratuit, traduction photo gratuit |
| sommeil sleep | sommeil, sommeil petit bambou, sommeil enregistre, sommeil enregistre gratuit, sommeil apple watch |
| calories calories | calories tracker, calories gratuit, calories, calories calculator, calories counter |
| budget budget | budget et suivi de dépenses, budget, budget planner, budget et suivi de dépenses gratuit, budget location de voiture |
| scanner scanner | scanner gratuit, scanner pdf, scanner gratuit iphone, scanner qrcode gratuit, scanner qr |
| anglais English | anglais: apprendre la langue, anglais gratuit, anglais enfant gratuit, anglais: apprendre la langue gratuit, anglais |
| musculation strength training | musculation gratuit, musculation salle, musculation maison gratuit, musculation femme, musculation |
Source: App Store search suggestions, France, Oct 16, 2026.
People in France often mix French and English in one query. For calories the App Store suggested “calories tracker gratuit” and “calories counter”, for budget “budget planner gratuit”, and for photo “photo retouch” (App Store suggestions, Oct 16, 2026). Words from two localizations are not combined into a phrase (AppTweak), so keep the English part of such a query in the French localization.
App Store prices in euros and in francophone Africa
In France $0.99 costs €0.99, $4.99 costs €5.99 and $9.99 costs €9.99 (App Store Connect, Oct 16, 2026), and €5.99 brings you €4.24, 71% of the price. Francophone Africa prices in dollars, but not the same dollars. In Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire $4.99 costs $5.99 and $9.99 costs $11.99, while Gabon has US prices.
| Countries | $0.99 | $4.99 | $9.99 |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | €0.99 you get €0.70 | €5.99 you get €4.24 | €9.99 you get €7.08 |
| Belgium | €0.99 you get €0.70 | €5.99 you get €4.21 | €9.99 you get €7.02 |
| Switzerland | CHF 1.00 you get CHF 0.79 | CHF 4.00 you get CHF 3.15 | CHF 9.00 you get CHF 7.08 |
| Luxembourg | €0.99 you get €0.72 | €5.99 you get €4.35 | €9.99 you get €7.26 |
| Cameroon | $0.99 you get $0.71 | $5.99 you get $4.27 | $11.99 you get $8.55 |
| Côte d’Ivoire | $0.99 you get $0.71 | $5.99 you get $4.31 | $11.99 you get $8.64 |
| Gabon and United States | $0.99 you get $0.84 | $4.99 you get $4.24 | $9.99 you get $8.49 |
Source: App Store Connect, price points equal to $0.99, $4.99 and $9.99 in the US, Oct 16, 2026. Proceeds are for the Apple Small Business Program, 15% commission.
Proceeds are the price minus taxes and Apple's commission (App Store Connect Help). They are shown here for the Apple Small Business Program at 15%, and are lower at the standard 30%.
How to write the page in French
- Name up to 30 characters, subtitle the same (App Store Connect Help). 36 of the 100 leaders in France use 28 to 30 characters, nearly the whole limit.
- Keywords, per Apple's help, up to 100 bytes, no names of other apps (Apple). No space is needed after a comma. AppTweak advises separating keywords with commas (AppTweak).
- Keep “gratuit” out of the name and subtitle, since guideline 2.3.7 of the App Review Guidelines rules out pricing information in metadata.
- For Canada, make a separate French (Canada) localization. The French one for France does not reach it.
Where to start with a French page
- Decide whether you need Canada. If you do, French (Canada) is a separate localization.
- Start the name with the brand and describe the task after a colon, as 58 of the leaders do.
- Collect mixed queries, a French word plus an English one, and put both parts into the French localization.
- Check African prices. In Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire $4.99 costs $5.99 and $9.99 costs $11.99.
Appto builds a language plan by country, and for French it holds two languages, French for France and French (Canada) for Canada. Appto writes both pages against Apple's limits and shows them side by side, and asks for your yes before writing to App Store Connect.
Questions
Does a French page show in Canada?
Not according to Apple's table. Canada's default is English (Canada) and its additional language is French (Canada), and the French for France is not on that list (Oct 16, 2026).
Which countries does a French page work in?
It is the default in France, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon and additional in 28 more storefronts, including Belgium, Switzerland and the US (Apple help, Oct 16, 2026).
How much is a $4.99 purchase in France?
€5.99 on Oct 16, 2026, the same in Belgium and Luxembourg, and CHF 4.00 in Switzerland (App Store Connect). In France €5.99 brings you €4.24.
Build your own app in Appto
Appto checks the niche on fresh App Store data, designs the screens, writes the code, builds the App Store page and submits to Apple from your account or shows you what to press in App Store Connect. Runs on your own Claude Code or Codex.
Download for Mac