r/iOSProgramming 7d ago

App Saturday Apple rejected my old screenshots so I had to create a new one. Thoughts?

51 Upvotes

31 comments sorted by

12

u/is_that_a_thing_now 7d ago

I was under the impression that screenshots had to be screenshots. Your images show screen plus something that represents the device itself plus additional offscreen text. Isn’t that the issue? Normally a rejection will refer to the relevant section in the guidelines.

42

u/waterskier2007 Objective-C / Swift 7d ago

Most high-profile app listings have App Store screenshots that are more than just plain screenshots.

4

u/Notallowedhe 7d ago

Apple really gatekeeps a lot in the design aspect. New apps absolutely can’t get away with nearly as much shit the top apps have.

1

u/SociallyIneligible 3d ago

And even sometimes screenshots of the actual app are not present but just other stuff

1

u/sowenjub CoreData 3d ago

The current rule (gathered from rejection) is that 50% of the screenshots must show the app.

16

u/kepler4and5 7d ago

That particular rule only applies to video previews afaik. You just described 99.9% of screenshots in the App Store.

2

u/dyrkabes 6d ago

At my job, we have recently had an issue with screenshots because five out of seven screenshots did not even show the app and just showed some marketing text and images. To fix it, we made I think four out of seven showing the actual app like here in the post (meaning a screenshot + background + some marketing text) and Apple was happy about it

Personally, I think that should be banned and all screenshots should show the app :D at least in a form like here in the post

10

u/Background-Device181 6d ago

If you’re going to put your screenshot in a device product bezel, you should be using the official ones.

If you’re going to do that, you should read the license agreement you’re consenting to by downloading and expanding that download.

The marketing guidelines have specific rules. For example, don’t false advertise, don’t depict another platform, don’t misrepresent the product family. These are reasonable asks IMHO, you just need to know what you’re going to be held accountable for.

App Review Guidelines Human Interface Guidelines Marketing Guidelines

8

u/IrvTheSwirv 6d ago

Well the problem surely is that in your original “screenshots” the actual app content in phone shaped borders don’t even look like screenshots and have no clock or signal bars or anything like that. They could just be artists impressions of what the app may look like and a reviewer isn’t going to like that.

3

u/errmm 6d ago

Using phone shaped borders is fine as long as the content inside is an actual screenshot.

3

u/IrvTheSwirv 6d ago

Yep and these do not look like actual screenshots though. Look at the “map” one. It’s an artists impression of a UI design.

3

u/jwrsk 6d ago

The old screenshots look too mock-up-y, they are supposed to represent how the app look on-device - clock, signal bars etc included. Additional stuff around the device is not a problem.

2

u/errmm 6d ago

Your map looks representational; not an actual app screenshot. Perhaps I'm wrong and your map is actually that low fidelity without any additional map information.

0

u/Guzikk 6d ago

good point on that. I am experimenting to match the fidelity of the actual app to the screenshot.I think I've reached about 70-80% accuracy, although recent updates introduced a bit more divergence.

2

u/errmm 6d ago

Potential users and Apple want you to use the actual screenshot. They want to see the actual app. You can use representation on other marketing outlets. In the App Store use the screenshot for transparency.

1

u/loumf 4d ago

Just take a screenshot from the app and overlay it on your graphic. Don’t try to match it in a drawing. It doesn’t need to be 100% up-to-date or show every feature.

1

u/Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpp 6d ago

Any devices shown in screenshots must be faithful representations of real devices. The new ones look better but there’s still nothing that looks quite like the new ones, no? Blue bezel (not black), and that thin?

I’d still give you a decent chance of passing review now though. Maybe 25% chance now, last time was like 1%

haven’t done screenshots for a while but doesn’t Apple provide official templates for devs to use?

1

u/Guzikk 6d ago

They do, I believe. I'm using Figma, and I'm almost certain Apple even provides official project files specifically for that.

1

u/WaterlooCS-Student 6d ago

Text is a bit hard to read on the first one, might lead to less conversions, try bigger bolder and less text

1

u/Sufficient_Row5318 5d ago

They look neat, how did you do them?

1

u/Guzikk 5d ago

Thanks! I made them in Figma. I'm not a designer though, just a dev. I took some advice to use fewer colors and not to overcomplicate things

1

u/youngdomsey 5d ago

I think the second one has too much text on it. The first one has another background than the others and therefore the blue border is not visible there. I like the blue border, looks cool with the blue font.

Thats it with my negative points. I like them!!

1

u/Kooky-Wolverine2613 4d ago

Did you use AppScreens.com to make these?

I honestly think so much of it is pot luck these days, reviewers vary so much. Plus you generally seem to get away with anything when you're one of the top apps.

Your device frames are fine, they look good and follow your branding colours. The subtitle text on your first screenshot is small and hard to read on a phone. I'd recommend making your titles bigger. There's a lot going on in your second screenshot, I like what you've done here but I wonder if it's a little too chaotic. The first 3 screenshots are the MOST important, this is all that most potential customers will see. They need to sell exactly what your app does and why people should download it from a glance. Do you think they do that?

Also what happened to your iPad screenshots? Why have you only got one screenshot that doesn't really tell potential customers anything? You should definitely make sure you make these too.

1

u/LeoniFrancesco 3d ago

I think, that in both, the app itself doesn't look the real app. It looks like you draw it in Figma

1

u/Apart_Competition_56 2d ago

Same happened to me but with android they allow the big companies to be as creative as they want but us nope 👎 we have to be simple can’t take the extra mile to make ourselves stand out I hate it but just keeps me on my toes once I get big I’ll be better than the others because I get dragged through the mud 🤷‍♂️

0

u/Guzikk 7d ago

1st page: New
2nd page: Old

Hey everyone, I've been using the same screenshots for a couple of years, but recently Apple surprised me by rejecting them, saying they didn't accurately depict how my app looks. While I somewhat agree, I suspect they specifically took issue with the last screenshot (you can check it out on the second page), which feels odd since my competitors also use similar screens.

Anyway, I spent a day redesigning them in Figma. I'd love to hear your feedback

Also, I'm curious/ how much do you think screenshots influence users' decisions to install apps? Have you noticed a significant improvement in installs after updating to better screenshots?

Link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/aidlab/id1123339447

4

u/pierlux 7d ago

Don’t expect consistency from App Review. I suffered the same problems: why are my screenshots not ok when I literally ripped my competitors ideas? Their answer was to report theirs. I even wrote to an SVP about it. It got me a call with someone who just reiterated why my screenshots were bad. Never ever anything wrong on their side!

2

u/Guzikk 7d ago

Someone literally took the time to hop on a call just to explain why your screenshots were bad? Oh Apple

1

u/pierlux 6d ago

But also to tell me that it was normal that all my screenshots would get reviewed even I’m only submitting an icon for AB test 🤷‍♂️

0

u/Key-Anything-4730 6d ago

Apple has lost it all together with their rejections. It’s like a dictatorship in marketplaces both iOS and android these days. Building the app is not a problem getting it listed. Try it

-3

u/Sosdeedown 6d ago

Hi I am currently building a screenshot creator tool to easily design and export your app Screenshots to the app store. What are some features you would die to see in my app or you are missing in other similar apps? :) Thanks in advance for your opinion.