How to Prepare App Preview Videos and Screenshots for App Store Connect
How to Prepare App Preview Videos and Screenshots for App Store Connect
When distributing your app through App Store Connect, preparing screenshots and app preview videos is one of the final — and surprisingly tricky — steps.
This guide walks you through a simple, practical workflow that actually works.
📸 Screenshots (Easy Part)
Screenshots are straightforward:
Launch your app on your iPhone
Capture screenshots directly on the device
Transfer them to your Mac via AirDrop
Open them in Preview and resize to the required dimensions
That’s it. No special tools needed.
🎬 App Preview Videos (The Tricky Part)
App preview videos have strict requirements from Apple:
Key Requirements
⏱ Duration: ≤ 30 seconds
🎞 Frame rate: ≤ 30 fps (recommended: 30 fps)
📐 Resolution:
886 × 1920 (portrait)
1920 × 886 (landscape)
🔊 Must include audio
📱 Step 1: Record Your App on iPhone
Use the built-in screen recording feature:
Add Screen Recording to Control Center (if not already there)
Start recording
Use your app naturally (demo key features)
Stop recording
Tip: Try to keep your recording focused — you only have 30 seconds to impress users.
🔄 Step 2: Transfer to Mac
Use AirDrop to quickly move the video to your Mac.
🎧 Step 3: Add Audio (If Needed)
App previews require audio — silent videos may be rejected.
You can use iMovie to:
Add background music
Insert voiceover
Trim clips visually
Export the final video before processing with ffmpeg.
⚙️ Step 4: Fix Video with ffmpeg
This is where most issues happen — but also where ffmpeg saves you.
🎯 Goal
Make your video:
≤ 30 seconds
30 fps
886 × 1920 resolution
App Store compatible
✂️ Trim to 30 seconds
ffmpeg -ss 0 -t 30 -i input.mp4 -c copy trimmed.mp4
📐 Resize + fix FPS + optimize
ffmpeg -i trimmed.mp4 \
-vf "scale=886:1920:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=886:1920:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2,fps=30" \
-r 30 -vsync cfr \
-c:v libx264 -b:v 2000k -maxrate 2000k -bufsize 4000k \
-pix_fmt yuv420p \
-c:a aac -b:a 128k \
-movflags +faststart \
final.mp4
💡 Tips That Save You Time
Don’t record a long video — plan your 30 seconds first
Avoid high frame rates (like 60 fps)
Keep bitrate reasonable (around 2 Mbps works well)
Always include audio (music or narration)
Test upload early to avoid last-minute surprises
🚀 Final Workflow Summary
Record app on iPhone
Transfer via AirDrop
Add audio in iMovie (optional but recommended)
Use ffmpeg to:
Trim to 30s
Fix resolution
Normalize FPS
Upload to App Store Connect
Preparing App Store assets isn’t hard — but it is strict. Once you have this workflow in place, you can reuse it for every app release.
And honestly, after doing it once, ffmpeg becomes your best friend 😄
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