The short answer
Most strong screenshot sets are variations on a few layouts: caption over a centered phone, a big headline with the phone cut off, a continuous panorama, tilted phones, two phones side by side, objects beside the phone, photo backgrounds and a social-proof slide. Pick one as the backbone of your set and vary it, rather than using a different layout on every screenshot.
Each layout below is shown with a set from the template gallery that you can open in the editor and fill with your own screenshots.
The eight layouts
Caption on top, phone centered
- Works best for
- Almost any app. It's the safest layout for a first set and the easiest to read in search results.
- Watch out for
- It can look generic. Give it character with your type, colors and background.
Big headline, phone cut off
- Works best for
- Apps whose message sells better than their interface, such as finance, productivity and utilities.
- Watch out for
- The visible part of the screen still has to show something meaningful.
Continuous panorama
- Works best for
- Brands with a strong visual identity: shapes, a background or a phone that flows from one screenshot into the next.
- Watch out for
- Search results show screenshots one at a time, so each one must still make sense alone.
Tilted phones
- Works best for
- Games, fitness, lifestyle and other apps that want energy and movement.
- Watch out for
- Tilting makes the interface smaller. Keep the important part of the screen large.
Two phones side by side
- Works best for
- Before and after, light and dark mode, or a flow that runs across two screens.
- Watch out for
- Two small phones are harder to read than one large one. Use it for one or two screenshots, not the whole set.
Objects and callouts beside the phone
- Works best for
- Making a feature tangible (cards, products, rewards) or enlarging a small detail of a busy screen.
- Watch out for
- Callouts should enlarge your real interface, not invent features the app doesn't have.
Photo backgrounds
- Works best for
- Food, travel, fitness and wellness, where a photo sells the feeling before the interface.
- Watch out for
- Darken or blur the photo behind the text so captions stay readable.
Social proof slide
- Works best for
- Apps with real awards, press mentions or a strong rating.
- Watch out for
- Claims must be true and current. Keep it to one element or one slide.
How to choose
- Start from the content. If your best screen is visual (photos, maps, charts), give the phone room; if your message is the selling point, give the headline room.
- Look at your category's search results. Note what everyone does, then make sure your first three screenshots look different at thumbnail size.
- Keep one backbone. Use one layout for most screenshots and break the pattern once or twice for emphasis.
- Check every device. A layout that works on iPhone may need adjusting for the wider iPad and Android tablet canvases.
Start from a template
The Drino Shots template gallery has sets for each of these layouts, filterable by category (finance, health and fitness, education, food and more), mood and device. In the editor any layout works with any theme, so you can keep a layout and change the look, or the other way round.
Questions
- Where can I find good App Store screenshot examples?
- Search the App Store for the leading apps in your category and study their first three screenshots, since those are what shoppers see in results. Use them to understand patterns, not to copy: your screenshots must show your own app.
- Can I use the same layout on the App Store and Google Play?
- Yes. Both stores show portrait phone screenshots in a horizontal row. Export each store's sizes from the same design, and use Android screenshots of your app for Google Play.
Keep reading
- App Store screenshot design tips that make people tap GetFourteen rules for screenshots people read in a second: captions, order, consistency and honesty.
- How to create App Store screenshots, step by stepFrom picking the screens to uploading in App Store Connect: the whole process in six steps.
- App Store screenshot generator: store-ready screenshots in your browserWhat to expect from a screenshot generator, when a design tool is better, and how Drino Shots works.