How can SoftwareApplication markup specify operating system requirements?

Definition: In SoftwareApplication structured data, operatingSystem names the operating system or systems required to use an app. Google lists it as a recommended property and gives values such as ANDROID, while Schema.org describes the value as supported operating systems.

Key facts

• Google's SoftwareApplication documentation places operatingSystem among the recommended properties and describes it as the operating system or systems required to use the app.
• The same documentation's JSON-LD example sets operatingSystem to ANDROID for an app named Angry Birds.
• Schema.org defines the operatingSystem property for SoftwareApplication and gives OperatingSystem or Text as its expected types.
• Schema.org's examples include Windows 7, OS X 10.6, and Android 1.6 as supported operating systems.

What value should the property contain?

Use operatingSystem for the platform requirement expressed by the app page. Google's documented examples use a text value, including ANDROID. Schema.org describes the property as “Operating systems supported” and gives versioned examples: Windows 7, OS X 10.6, and Android 1.6. The spelling in the examples is part of the value, so OSX 10.6 in Google's example and OS X 10.6 in Schema.org's example should be read as the values shown by each source.

Google presents the property as recommended for SoftwareApplication; its required properties are documented separately. The recommendation can sit beside fields such as name, applicationCategory, and offers in the same app item.

How does it look in JSON-LD?

Google's JSON-LD example uses the following relevant structure:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
  "name": "Angry Birds",
  "operatingSystem": "ANDROID"
}

The page also provides RDFa and Microdata examples. In RDFa, the value appears inside an element with property="operatingSystem"; in Microdata, it appears inside an element with itemprop="operatingSystem". Each example keeps the property attached to the SoftwareApplication item.

What does Schema.org add to Google's example?

Schema.org's operatingSystem property says the property is used on SoftwareApplication and expects either the OperatingSystem type or Text. The SoftwareApplication type page repeats the same supported-system description. This gives a vocabulary-level description for the field while Google's page explains its use in a Google Search feature.

Keep execution environments in the field that describes them. Schema.org defines runtimePlatform as runtime platform or script interpreter dependencies, with examples including Java v1, Python 2.3, and .NET Framework 3.0. That property describes a runtime dependency; operatingSystem describes the supported operating system.

How can you check the markup?

Google instructs you to validate the code with the Rich Results Test and fix critical errors. After deploying pages with the structured data, its documentation says to use the URL Inspection tool to test how Google sees the page. The page should be accessible to Google and not blocked by a robots.txt file, a noindex tag, or login requirements.

Related terms

• What review or rating data does Google's software app markup require?
• What price should a free app declare in SoftwareApplication markup?
• Which applicationCategory values does Google support for software apps?

FAQ

Is operatingSystem required for a Google software app result?

Google places operatingSystem in the recommended properties for SoftwareApplication. The page's required properties are listed separately from its recommended properties.

Can the value include an operating system version?

Yes. Google's documentation gives Windows 7, OSX 10.6, and Android 1.6 as examples, and Schema.org gives Windows 7, OS X 10.6, and Android 1.6.

Should runtime dependencies go in operatingSystem?

Schema.org documents runtimePlatform for runtime platform or script interpreter dependencies such as Java v1, Python 2.3, and .NET Framework 3.0. operatingSystem is the property for supported operating systems.

Sources

1. Google Search Central, "Software app (SoftwareApplication) structured data", 2026-09-08
2. Schema.org, "operatingSystem", 2026-09-16
3. Schema.org, "SoftwareApplication", 2026-09-16

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