Recording
- Fresh account with realistic data, not "Test User 1". Fill the app with content the viewer would want.
- Do Not Disturb on; clear notifications; set the clock to 9:41 if your tooling allows, or crop the status bar out.
- Record the flow three times and keep the smoothest take. Slow deliberate taps; you can speed up in the edit, never slow down.
- Optional: a 10-second clip of a hand holding the phone with the app open, shot overhead in daylight, for the UGC version.
The 10-second structure
| Time | What is on screen | Caption |
|---|---|---|
| 0–2 s | The outcome screen (what the user gets) | The user's goal in their words |
| 2–7 s | Two or three taps that reach it, 1.5× speed | Two words per tap |
| 7–9 s | Outcome screen again, held | One benefit |
| 9–10 s | App icon + store badge | CTA naming the store |
For a 15-second cut, extend the middle section with one more feature; do not lengthen the opening. See the templates for the UGC and before/after variants.
Captions and safe zones
- Seven words maximum, two lines, high-contrast box or stroke. Viewers watch muted.
- Place captions in the middle band, never at the bottom. Check every export in the safe-zone checker with all placements selected; the dashed box is the area safe on every platform.
- Keep the product's own buttons away from the right rail (the lower right 180 px of 1080) or the viewer will see TikTok's like button over your CTA.
Phone framing
Three options, in order of effort: a device mockup on a flat gradient (the Tinder approach); a zoomed, blurred-edge recording that fills the frame (MyFitnessPal); a real hand-held phone shot overhead (Cash App). All three keep the UI large enough to read at feed size, which is the only rule that matters.
Export specs
- 1080×1920, H.264, 30 fps, AAC audio even if silent (some placements reject video without an audio track).
- Under 30 MB for TikTok and Meta uploads; under 4 GB is the ceiling but large files slow review.
- Also export 1080×1350 (4:5) for Meta feed if you run it; the 9:16 master crops safely only if you kept the middle band clean.
- Name files by structure and hook so results are readable later.
Ads vs store previews
App Store previews have their own rules: 15–30 seconds, device-specific sizes, mostly in-app footage, reviewed by Apple. Google Play previews are YouTube-hosted and 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Cut them from the same recording but as separate deliverables; a TikTok ad will usually be rejected as a preview and vice versa.
Questions
What resolution should I record at?
The device's native resolution; iPhones record the screen at full resolution through Control Centre, and Android's built-in recorder does the same. Export 1080×1920 for ads; scaling down is fine, scaling up is not.
Should the demo show the onboarding?
No. Show the outcome screen first, then the two or three taps that reach it. Onboarding is for the app, not the ad.
Do I need a phone frame?
A device frame or a hand-held clip helps the feed read it as an app; a raw screen capture on a flat background reads as a slideshow. Tinder's mockup-on-gradient and Cash App's hand-held shot are two options; see the examples.
How is an App Store preview different?
Store previews have fixed lengths (iOS 15–30 s) and device-specific sizes, no burned-in captions over the UI in most cases, and Apple reviews them. They are not ads; make them separately from the same recording.
Sources
- Apple: App previews specifications — lengths and sizes per device
- Google Play: preview video guidelines — YouTube-hosted, 30 s to 2 min
- TikTok, Meta and Google safe-zone sources — linked on the tool page
Checked 2026-10-28. Platform rules change; the link is the authority, this page is the summary.