Shipshot guide

When to use app previews and screenshots together

A video is not a stronger screenshot. It is a different instrument with a different cost, and for many apps it adds nothing the stills do not already carry. The useful question is not whether a preview would be nice, but whether there is something about your product that a still image genuinely cannot show.

Ask what motion actually proves

Video earns its place when the value is in the movement: a drawing tool responding to pressure, a game's feel, a camera effect applied live, a multi-step flow that is hard to believe is quick. If your app's value is a clear result on a screen, stills show it faster and a video mostly restates them more slowly.

  1. Name the one thing about your product that a still cannot demonstrate.
  2. If you cannot name it in a sentence, invest the effort in the stills instead.
  3. Check whether that one thing is what people hesitate over before installing.

Screenshots still carry the listing

A preview does not replace the screenshot set. Apple requires screenshots for the display sizes your app supports, and Google Play requires a minimum of two screenshots across device types to publish. Plan the stills as the complete argument first, then decide whether a video adds something. A strong video beside a weak set is a poor trade.

  1. Complete the screenshot argument before starting on video.
  2. Confirm the required screenshot sets exist for every platform you support.
  3. Treat the video as an addition, never as a substitute.

Design the opening seconds like a first frame

The same principle that governs the first screenshot governs the opening of a preview: most viewers decide immediately. Open on the product doing something recognisable, not on a logo animation or a title card. And because a viewer may see a still image of the video before it plays, that resting image needs to work on its own.

  1. Show the product working within the first moments, not a brand intro.
  2. Make sure the resting image of the video reads as a real product screen.
  3. Assume no sound and make the video comprehensible without it.

Count the maintenance cost honestly

A video is the hardest listing asset to update. A caption edit is minutes; a re-shoot is a project. If your interface changes every few releases, a preview will drift out of date and start showing an app that no longer exists. Some teams are better served by an excellent set of stills they can actually keep current.

  1. Estimate how often your interface changes visibly.
  2. Decide who re-records the video and how long that takes.
  3. If nobody can commit to that, keep the effort in the screenshot set.

Review checklist

✓ There is a named thing motion proves that a still cannot.✓ The screenshot set stands as a complete argument on its own.✓ Required screenshots exist for every supported platform and device type.✓ The video opens on the product and works without sound.✓ Someone is responsible for keeping the video current.

Questions to ask before handoff

Can a preview replace screenshots?

No. Screenshots are required in their own right, so plan the stills as the complete argument and treat any video as an addition.

Which apps benefit most from a preview?

Games and apps whose value lives in interaction, responsiveness, or a multi-step flow that is hard to believe from a still image.

Should the video be narrated?

Assume many viewers will not hear it. Whatever the narration says, the visuals need to carry the point on their own.

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