The Short Answer

App Store screenshots should sell one benefit per frame, show the real app, and make the first two or three frames work on their own, because those are what people see in search results. Pair them with a 15 to 30 second preview video that shows the app working in the first seconds, without relying on sound. Most listings fail by showing screens without saying why they matter.

What the First Frames Must Do

The first screenshot is your headline. It should state the main outcome in a few words and show the screen that proves it. The second and third should cover the next most important reasons to download. Many people decide from these alone.

  • Lead with the outcome: "Track every expense in seconds" beats a picture of a settings screen.
  • One idea per frame: a caption and a screen, not three features squeezed together.
  • Readable at thumbnail size: short captions, large type, high contrast.

Layout and Copy Rules

Keep captions to around five words, use one consistent layout across the set, and crop or zoom the UI so the important part is readable. A panoramic set, where frames connect into one strip, can work well if each frame still makes sense alone.

Use your brand colours and type so the listing matches your website and ads. If the app has a visual refresh coming, as many do with Apple's newer design language, update the screenshots with it. See what Liquid Glass means for your app.

Sizes and Specs To Check

Apple currently allows up to ten screenshots and up to three preview videos per device size and language, and asks for images at the largest iPhone display size. Exact pixel dimensions change with new devices, so confirm them in App Store Connect before exporting a set.

Design at the required size from the start. Scaling up small artwork looks soft, and cropping a design made for another ratio usually cuts off captions.

Preview Videos

A preview video autoplays muted in the listing, so it needs to show the app doing its main job within the first few seconds, with on-screen text instead of voice. Keep it to real app footage, cleanly edited, and let the last frame work as a still.

For the wider launch video that runs on your website and in ads, see app launch and promo videos.

Common Mistakes

  • Screens with no captions, leaving people to guess the benefit.
  • Long captions that are unreadable in search results.
  • Showing onboarding or login screens instead of the product.
  • Mockups of features that are not in the app yet.
  • Never testing a new set. Apple offers product page optimisation to compare versions, which is worth using once you have steady traffic.

Where We Fit

Kalex designs and builds iPhone apps in SwiftUI and designs the App Store listing, launch film and website around them. See our iOS app service, read about designing an app landing page, or get in touch.