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App Store screenshot best practices

Last checked against the stores' own documentation on .

Put your strongest reason to download in the first three screenshots, give each screenshot one idea with a short headline, show the real app in use, keep one look across the set, and export at the stores' exact sizes.

Then test: both stores let you compare screenshot sets on real visitors.

1. Win the first three

  • App Store search results show the first one to three screenshots when there is no app preview. For most people, those are your listing.
  • Lead with the outcome people want, not with a welcome screen or a login.
  • If the first three alone were all anyone saw, would they know what your app does? That's the test.

2. One idea, one headline

  • Give each screenshot a single message. Two ideas on one screenshot read as none.
  • Keep headlines short, a few words, and write the benefit: "Plan your week in a minute" rather than "Calendar with drag and drop".
  • Make the text large. Screenshots are seen small, on a phone, while scrolling.

3. Show the real app

  • Apple's App Review Guidelines ask that screenshots show the app in use, not just title art, a login page or a splash screen.
  • Fill the app with realistic sample data. Empty states and "Test User" make a finished app look unfinished.
  • A clean status bar (9:41, full battery) keeps the eye on your app.

4. One look for the whole set

  • Use the same fonts, colours and device style on every screenshot, so the gallery reads as one story.
  • A background that runs across screenshots turns the gallery into one wide picture and invites a swipe.
  • Contrast matters more than decoration: headline and device should stand out from the background at a glance.

5. Get the technical side right

  • Export at the exact sizes: iPhone at 1320 × 2868, iPad at 2064 × 2752, Android phones at 1080 × 1920. See App Store screenshot sizes.
  • No transparency: both stores reject screenshots with an alpha channel.
  • Leave out claims you can't back up, like "#1" or "Best", and prices that will change.

6. Localize for your biggest markets

Translated headlines on screenshots of the app in that language read as made for the people looking. See How to localize app screenshots.

7. Test, then keep the winner

  • App Store: Product Page Optimization tests up to three alternative sets of screenshots against your original, on real visitors.
  • Google Play: store listing experiments do the same for your graphics and text.
  • Change one thing at a time (the first screenshot, or the headlines) so you know what made the difference.

Make them in Screenlyy

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