The recurring mistakes that quietly tank App Store preview performance (slow openings, baked-in device frames, the recording dot) and exactly how to fix each one.
After reviewing hundreds of App Store previews, the same mistakes show up again and again, and almost all of them are easy to fix once you know to look. Here are the seven that cost the most downloads.
1. A slow or branded opening
Opening on a splash screen, a logo animation, or a login form wastes the only seconds you are guaranteed to have. Cut straight to your app doing its most impressive thing. The brand moment belongs at the end, not the start.
2. Leaving the recording dot in
The red iOS recording indicator screams “unedited screen capture.” It is small, but it undermines trust. Remove it before export, and do not crop around it and lose composition in the process.
3. Baking a device frame into the video
The App Store renders previews inside its own device UI. If you also embed a phone frame in the video file, viewers see a phone inside a phone, and Apple may reject it. Use frames while editing to judge the look, but export full-bleed.
4. Invisible interactions
Screens change but the viewer cannot see your thumb, so the cause is missing. Add tap indicators and gesture trails so every action is legible. Without them, a preview reads as an automated slideshow rather than a real app.
5. Pacing that drags
Loading spinners, scroll hesitation, and dead air all belong on the cutting-room floor. If you are not slightly worried the preview is too fast, it is probably too slow.
6. No text, or too much text
Because previews autoplay muted, a little on-screen text carries the message. But a wall of captions competes with the app itself. One short, benefit-led line per scene is the sweet spot.
7. Ending on a logo instead of a reason
The final frame is prime real estate. A bare logo says nothing. Close with the benefit (the same promise you opened with) and a gentle nudge to download.
Almost no one loses on the App Store because their app is bad. They lose because their preview made a good app look ordinary.
– Gregory Lister
Run your current preview against this list. If it trips three or more, a re-cut is the cheapest conversion win available to you, and every one of these is fixable in prevy in an afternoon.
Written by
Gregory Lister
Co-founder & Head of Growth
Gregory has shipped App Store campaigns for indie apps and venture-backed studios alike. He writes about conversion, ASO, and the unglamorous mechanics of getting people to tap “Get”.