App Preview Video Specs

The defining constraint of App Previews is that they must consist of footage captured on-device from the app itself. Live-action scenes, actors, hands interacting with hardware, and aspirational lifestyle footage are all grounds for rejection. Light overlays are allowed — caption text, a device bezel, brief transition graphics — but the core content has to be genuine screen capture of shipping functionality. Showing features that are unreleased, behind a paywall without indication, or staged with fake data that misrepresents the app also violates review guidelines.

You get up to three previews per device size per localization, each 15–30 seconds, and they appear before your screenshots in the gallery. The first preview’s poster frame is what shows before autoplay kicks in, and you choose that frame in App Store Connect — pick one that reads as a strong screenshot in its own right, because on slow connections it is all some users see.

On Google Play you never upload a video file. You paste the URL of a public or unlisted YouTube video into the promo video field, and Play embeds it on your listing with your feature graphic as the cover image. Because it is just YouTube, the constraints are YouTube’s: monetized-ads-enabled videos are disallowed (viewers would see pre-roll ads), age-restricted videos won’t embed, and the video must remain public for the listing to keep working — deleting or privating it silently breaks your listing.

The creative freedom is much wider than Apple allows: live action, voiceover, hands-on footage, and brand storytelling are all fine. The practical convention is 30 seconds to 2 minutes with the hook in the first 10 seconds. One warning for kids and family apps: videos in listings targeting children face additional ad and content restrictions, so check the Families policy before linking anything.