Your words get you into the results; your images get the tap. Apple says search results can show your rating and up to three screenshots or previews,1 so for most people, your first three screenshots are your ad.
1. Know what each store shows
| App Store | Google Play | |
|---|---|---|
| Screenshots | Up to 10 per device size2 | 2 to 8 per device type3 |
| Shown in search | First 1–3 when there’s no preview4 | Can appear in search and on home3 |
| Video | Up to 3 previews, 15–30 s, before screenshots5 | One YouTube video, first 30 s autoplay muted3 |
| Extra eligibility | — | 4+ screenshots at 1080 px for recommendation formats3 |
2. Make the first three readable as one sentence
One benefit per screenshot, in a few large words, over the real screen. Read left to right, the first three should tell the whole story: what it does, how fast, why it’s better. Apple suggests adding a Dark Mode screenshot if your app supports it.4
3. Design for mute
App Store previews autoplay muted, so the opening seconds matter most.4 Google Play autoplays only the first 30 seconds, muted, and recommends showing the real experience in the first 10.3
4. A/B test on each store
App Store: Product Page Optimization. Test up to three treatments of your icon, screenshots and previews against your page, one test at a time, for up to 90 days. A test with a new icon needs that icon in your app binary.6
Google Play: store listing experiments. Test up to two variants against your listing. A default graphics experiment covers the icon, feature graphic and screenshots; localized experiments, up to five, can also test descriptions. Experiments stop on their own after six months.7
5. Then aim pages at searches
Apple’s custom product pages (up to 70) can be assigned keywords, so a search can land on the page with the most fitting screenshots.8 Google Play’s custom store listings can do the same for search keywords, up to 50 listings.9
6. 2026: assets are moving into search
Apple now shows rich creative assets, images and video, in search results and product page headers.10 Google advises keeping listings fresh and uploading high-resolution media that looks right on every screen size.11