When submitting an app to the app store, it is highly recommended to include an App Preview Video. In addition to screenshots (at least 1 is required to submit your app to the store) this is an “optional” feature that allows customers to see past your app icon and get a small taste of your app in action.
Why is optional in quotes? There is currently over 2 million apps in the app store. In order to stand out from the crowd, you should be taking advantage of every to show off what your app has to offer. Think of the video as a quick pitch to your audience that describes why they should download your app. This quick video should emphasize the main features of your app by showcasing its main features.
The video below is my preview video for my app “Get Sum!!”
This post is not to go into detail about what to include in your video, but to give instruction and guidance for ensuring your preview video adheres to Apple’s strict guidelines. If your video does not meet the requirements, you will not be able to submit to the store.
As you may already know, the App Store requires your video to be in different resolutions for different Apple devices (see the requirements summary below). You might be wondering,
"Does this mean I need to shoot my video multiple times for each resolution?"
"Do I need to film my video using multiple iOS devices?"
The answer to both questions is NO!
When I was going through the app submission process, this part in particular stumped me for a while. Even though I knew the requirements, I just could not seem to develop a video that was smooth. I learned the hard way as I found myself “re-shooting” my video multiple times before finally getting it right.
After a lot of trial and error work, I was able to create my app preview video and submit to the store. Although there are many paid programs out there that you can use to help with the video creation, I did not have much of a budget to devote to “App Store Preparation”. With a bit of research, I was able to put together my app preview video together 100% cost free.
Following the tips and tricks below help to make sure you don’t make the same mistakes I did the first time through, and get you into the app store as soon as possible!
Step 1: Use QuickTime Player to easily record everything that you would like to include in your video.
You should already have QuickTime Player on your Mac. Connect your iPhone (doesn’t matter what type you have) to your computer.
Use QuickTime Player to perform “New Movie Recording”
Select your iPhone as the target
Hit record
You will now be recording everything you do in your app on your mobile device. Navigate through all your app screens, content, animations, and anything else you want to highlight in your video (don’t worry about it looking pretty, we will edit later).
Once your captured everything you want in your video, save the file onto your computer.
Step 2: Import your recorded video to iMovie.
Again, you should already have this on your computer. iMovie is nice in that it offers a project type specifically for app store preview videos.
Go to: File → "New App Preview”
This next step is important. Refer down to the Preview Video Requirements Summary. If you would like to have your preview video be visible to users of all different phone types, as mentioned earlier, you need to submit your video with multiple resolutions. If your app is to be available for iPad users, there are specific resolution requirements for that as well.
Let’s take the iPhone 6, 7, and 8 Plus as an example, and assume your video is being taken in portrait mode. We will want our resolution to be 1080 x 1920 pixels.
"How do I set my video in iMovie to a specific resolution?"
Easy! What’s nice about iMovie is that it automatically sets the resolution of the video based on the resolution of the first piece of content added. Anything added after that will default to that resolution.
3) Use Online Image Resizer to create an image of the desired resolution.
There are a ton of image resizing programs out there; however, this is the one I used during my project.
Start by selecting any image you have saved on your computer to re-size (it can be a picture of your cat, dog, whatever you want, doesn’t matter!).
Now resize that image to 1080 x 1920 pixels. Save this image, and drag it into your iMovie.
Because the resolution of this first piece of material is 1080 x 1920, your iMovie resolution automatically defaults to 1080 x 1920.
To verify, click on “Settings”.
Magic!
Now drag and drop your video recorded with QuickTime Player into your iMovie project.
Delete the image that you dropped into your project so only your video remains. Now you can use iMovie to edit, crop, slow down, add effects, music, transitions, etc. to your video.
Save the video and repeat this process for the remaining resolutions that are needed to support your app!
Following the steps above will allow you to quickly and easily create multiple versions of your video in as many different resolutions as you need. This also eliminates the need to pay for any fancy video resolution converters!
Requirements Summary
-Minimum Length: 15 Seconds
-Maximum Length: 30 Seconds
5.5-Inch Super Retina Display – iPhone 6 Plus, 7 Plus, & 8 Plus
Resolution Requirements:
1080 x 1920 pixels for portrait
1920 x 1080 pixels for landscape
5.8-Inch Retina Display – iPhone X
Resolution Requirements:
886 x 1920 pixels for portrait
1920 x 886 pixels for landscape
12.9-Inch Retina Display – iPad
Resolution Requirements:
1200 x 1600 pixels for portrait
1600 x 1200 pixels for landscape
900 x 1200 pixels for portrait
1200 x 900 pixels for landscape
TL;DR
#1 – App Preview Videos Help Drive App Traffic!
App Preview Videos are essential for showcasing the highlights of your app. Use this app store feature to convince your audience into downloading your app.
#2 – App Preview Videos Can be Made 100% Cost Free
Of course, you always have the option of paying professionals to create your app preview video or buying expensive editing software. If your app is on a budget (like mine was) there are tools available to do it completely free. See #3 :)
#3 – Free Resources to use for Assistance
QuickTime Player – Free program used to record the content of your app for your video.
iMovie – Free program provided by Apple for video creating and editing. Offers a feature specific to App Preview Videos.
Online Image Resizer – Website used to resize any image to the resolution you desire. The image size created is used to set the correct resolution for your App Preview Video as required by Apple’s standards.
If you enjoyed this post, I’d be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook. Thank you!
Check out my “Get Sum!!” app for free here.
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/get_sum_gaming
Email: GetSumGaming@outlook.com
Patrick Horton
GetSumGaming
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