App Store Preview Video Specs: What to Check Before You Upload
Apple and Google set their own rules for store videos, and they change. This guide explains which specs matter (length, resolution per device, orientation, file format, content rules) and how to plan a preview that passes review. Always confirm the current numbers in Apple's and Google's documentation.
Why you should check the official docs every time
Store video requirements are set by Apple and Google, enforced at upload and in review, and updated whenever new devices appear. Any article listing exact pixel dimensions, including one written today, can be out of date by the time you read it. So rather than reproduce numbers that may change, this guide tells you what to check, where it usually trips people up, and how to plan your video so small spec changes do not force a re-edit.
Apple App Store: what to check
| Spec | What to confirm | Historically |
|---|---|---|
| Length | Minimum and maximum duration | Short previews, up to 30 seconds |
| Resolution | Exact pixel dimensions for each device size you support | Different sizes per iPhone and iPad display class |
| Orientation | Whether portrait, landscape or both are accepted | Should match how your app is used |
| File format | Accepted containers, codecs and frame rates | Common formats such as .mov and .mp4 |
| Number of previews | How many per localisation and device size | A small number per device size |
| Poster frame | Which frame is shown before playback | You can choose the poster frame |
| Audio | Accepted audio formats and whether sound is required | Previews often autoplay muted |
| Content | What footage is allowed | Footage captured from the app; limits on devices, hands and some overlays |
The resolution row is where most uploads fail. Each device class has its own exact dimensions, and a standard 1080×1920 vertical export may not match them. Plan to conform your final video to the listed resolution, either in your editor or a separate video tool, for each device size you upload.
Google Play: what to check
Google Play has historically handled promo videos differently: rather than uploading a file, you link to a YouTube video. That changes what you need to check:
- How the video is supplied: a YouTube URL or an uploaded file, and any requirements on the YouTube video (public or unlisted, embedding allowed, no ads).
- Orientation: which orientation is recommended for the listing.
- Length: the recommended range, which has historically been longer than Apple's.
- Content policy: Google's metadata and store listing policies apply to the video too.
Because the same video often serves both stores, check both sets of rules and make a separate cut where they differ.
Content rules that commonly cause rejections
Specs are mechanical; content rules need judgement. Apple's guidance has historically pushed previews towards showing the actual app experience. Things to check in the current guidelines:
- Footage source. Whether footage must be captured from the app itself, and how much non-app content (title cards, illustrations) is allowed.
- Devices and people. Whether showing device frames, hands or people using the device is allowed.
- Text overlays. How much explanatory text you can add.
- Pricing and rankings. Claims such as prices, "number one" or awards are commonly restricted.
- Other platforms. References to competing platforms or stores.
- Age rating. Content in the preview must fit your app's rating.
Plan the preview to survive spec changes
A few planning habits make your preview easy to adapt when the rules or your device list change:
- Capture high-resolution footage on the largest device you support. Scaling down is easier than scaling up.
- Keep important content in the centre. Different device sizes have slightly different aspect ratios; central content survives small reframes.
- Keep the edit short. Aim for comfortably under the maximum length so trims are never forced.
- Put the best shot first. Store pages may autoplay muted and show a poster frame, so the opening seconds and the poster do most of the work.
- Write captions, not narration. Treat audio as a bonus; many people will never hear it.
- Keep project files. When a new device size appears, you re-export rather than rebuild.
A structure that works for most apps
Store previews are short, so each shot should show one idea with one short caption:
- The main feature (first few seconds). The reason people download the app.
- A second core interaction. How it feels to use.
- Your differentiator. What similar apps do not do.
- A platform feature. Widgets, offline mode, sync, watch support.
- Reassurance. Privacy, no account needed, accessibility.
- Your app name.
Our App Store preview template lays this out scene by scene with a caption script, and the App Store preview video use case shows how it fits into a launch.
A pre-upload checklist
Run through this list with the official docs open in another tab:
- ☐ Duration is inside the current minimum and maximum, with a little margin.
- ☐ Pixel dimensions match the listed resolution for each device size exactly.
- ☐ Orientation matches your app and the screenshots on your listing.
- ☐ File format, codec and frame rate are on the accepted list.
- ☐ The poster frame is a strong, readable still.
- ☐ No prices, rankings, awards or time-limited offers appear on screen.
- ☐ Captions are proofread and localised where your listing is.
- ☐ The preview still makes sense with the sound off.
- ☐ Footage reflects the current version of the app, not a prototype.
Rejections usually come back with a reason. If you get one, fix only what was flagged and resubmit; there is no need to rebuild the whole preview.
Recording in-app footage
- Use the device's built-in screen recording, or a simulator if the current guidelines allow it.
- Turn on Do Not Disturb and tidy the status bar (full battery, strong signal, a neutral time).
- Fill the app with realistic, fictional content.
- Record each interaction as its own clip and move deliberately.
- Capture both orientations if your app supports both.
Keep the raw clips. When Apple or Google add a new device size, or you redesign a screen, you can re-cut the preview from the same footage rather than starting again.
Where Spotlight fits, and where it does not
Cadenzova Spotlight can help you plan, caption and edit an app preview from your in-app recordings, with captions, music and a vertical 9:16 export at 1080p. Be aware that it exports standard 1080p sizes, not every store-specific device resolution, so compare your export with the dimensions Apple or Google list and conform it in a video tool if they differ. Spotlight's device mockup scenes are better suited to social promos than store previews; see the app promo video maker and the mobile app template for those.