After auditing every occurrence of the name across Android, iOS, images, and docs, the chosen approach is a deliberate **two-tier branding** outcome:
- **Store & marketing name** = "Closer Couples"
- **Installed-app name** (home-screen launcher label + every in-app string) **stays "Closer"** — it fits under the icon ("Closer Couples" at 14 chars truncates to "Closer Coupl…") and avoids a full in-app rewrite.
**Most important consequence:** no code changes, no rebuild, no app re-release. And critically — **the only thing users actually see change (the store listing title + the feature graphic) is set in the Google Play / App Store console, which is an EXTERNAL step performed by the owner.** Editing this repo does not rename anything that is live; the repo work is (a) the source-of-truth feature-graphic asset, (b) doc/record housekeeping. The wordless C-heart-keyhole icon/logo is unaffected (icon SVG sources contain zero `<text>`).
## Technical identifiers that must NOT change
Renaming any of these breaks builds / Firebase / the Play listing:
- **Wordmark logos** (onboarding `OnboardingScreen`/iOS `OnboardingViews`, auth alt-text `AuthVisuals`, `TodayWidget` header, `WeeklyRecapShareCard` drawText) stay "Closer" → the logo is a brand mark; their asserting tests (`FirstRunRenderSmokeTest` contentDescription, recap/widget tests) stay green.
- **Deliberate copy exceptions that stay "Closer":** the **"Grow Closer"** onboarding headline (intimacy pun, not the app name); the privacy-rotator slogan *"…so Closer cannot read them"* and iOS *"not even Closer's servers"* (entity references; the rotator line also has a hard 64-char display cap that "Closer Couples" would exceed — `CloserBrandCopyTest`); the iOS **"Settings > Closer"** help path (must match the kept `CFBundleDisplayName`); and the **"Closer Premium"** tier label (matches the RevenueCat entitlement display name).
- **Internal engineering/brand-system docs** using "Closer" as codename/design-system name (`DEVELOPMENT_LOG.md`, `SECURITY.md`, `Future.md`, `Engineering_Reference_Manual`, `Claude*.md`, brand-system docs).
## In-app prose renamed to "Closer Couples" (2026-07-09)
The ~26 user-facing strings where "Closer" names the app in a sentence now read "Closer Couples":
- Completed: `docs/store/sources/feature-graphic.svg` now uses `Closer Couples` at `font-size="58"`, with centered card icons/headlines/sublabels and privacy-forward copy: private questions, encrypted answers, mutual reveals, no public feed.
- Completed: title, app-name checklist, full-description prose, and §9 inventory now use **"Closer Couples"** while documenting that the launcher label remains **"Closer"**.
### 3. `README.md` — product-name references only
Completed: `<h1>`, feature-graphic alt text, and product-facing prose use "Closer Couples". Codename/dir/scheme mentions (`iphone/Closer`, `Closer.xcodeproj`, `-scheme Closer`) remain unchanged.
## Feature-graphic re-export procedure (the installed tooling can't do it naively)
`rsvg-convert` / `inkscape` / `resvg` are **not installed**, and ImageMagick's SVG delegate is wired to the missing `rsvg-convert`, so a bare `convert file.svg file.png` falls back to ImageMagick's native renderer and **will mangle** this SVG's `feDropShadow` filters, gradients, and embedded `<image>`. Use the rasterizer that IS present:
- **Headless Chrome** (`google-chrome` is installed) — pixel-accurate; **DejaVu Sans Bold is installed**, so text renders correctly.
- The SVG's `<image href="../../brand/sources/…png">` is **relative to `docs/store/sources/`**, so serving the repo root and loading the SVG over `http://` resolves the embedded icon correctly:
- **Flatten alpha** (Play requires no alpha; Chrome screenshots carry an alpha channel — the opaque `#24122F` rect covers it visually but the channel persists):
```sh
convert /tmp/fg.png -background '#24122F' -flatten -alpha off docs/store/feature-graphic-1024x500.png
```
- **Fallback** if headless Chrome misbehaves (sandbox/sizing): the corrected `.svg` is the source of truth — commit it and re-export the PNG with proper design tooling before uploading to Play Console. Per `store-assets.md:200`, never hand-edit the raster; always regenerate from the SVG.
## External steps (owner performs — outside the repo; this is what actually renames the app)
- **Google Play Console** → store listing → **App name = "Closer Couples"**, paste the updated description, upload the re-exported feature graphic.
- **App Store Connect** (when iOS ships) → app name "Closer Couples".
- Heads-up: (a) Play title policy allows a descriptor addition — "Closer" → "Closer Couples" is a clear same-brand superset, low risk, but a launcher label that differs from the store title is worth a sanity check at review; (b) `store-assets.md:14`'s trademark check should be re-run against the **new** name.
## Verification
- Re-exported `feature-graphic-1024x500.png`: visibly reads "Closer Couples", legible, no clipping/overlap with the icon or the three cards; confirm **1024×500 and no alpha** (`identify -verbose … | grep -iE 'Geometry|Alpha|Type'`).
- Grep the touched docs for leftover standalone "Closer" that should be "Closer Couples" (excluding codename/dir/scheme + technical URLs).
- **Launcher untouched:** `app_name` in `strings.xml` and `CFBundleDisplayName` in `Info.plist` both still "Closer".
- No build required (no source touched); optional `./gradlew :app:assembleDebug` still succeeds unchanged.
## Pre-existing issue noted (NOT fixed here)
`store-assets.md:106` — support URL `couplesconnect.app` vs the `closer.app` domain used elsewhere; unrelated to this rename, leave for separate cleanup.
