How to Create an App Store Preview Video on Mac (2026 Guide)

What Apple Actually Wants in a Preview Video

Before you open a screen recorder, it pays to understand what Apple is looking for — and what it will reject. Apple reviews every preview video before it goes live. The goal of a preview is to show real in-app footage, not a cinematic brand film. That means gameplay or app UI takes center stage, and marketing text is kept to a minimum.

Think of it as a live demo, not a trailer. Users browsing the App Store want to see what tapping around in your app actually feels like. Deliver that, and your preview will do its job.

One practical note: previews autoplay silently on the App Store, so the visuals carry all the weight. Motion, clear UI transitions, and well-timed interaction highlights matter far more than narration or background music.

Apple's Technical Specs for App Store Preview Videos

Get these wrong and your submission will be rejected outright. Here are the current requirements as of 2026:

You can upload up to three preview videos per device type per localization. Most developers start with one and add more after seeing how it performs.

Step 1 — Plan Your 30 Seconds

Thirty seconds sounds like a lot. It isn't. Apps typically have more features than can fit in a half-minute, so planning before you start your screen recording saves a lot of re-recording.

Pick three to four moments that matter

Identify the moments in your app that are visually interesting and functionally important. For a productivity app this might be: creating a task, setting a reminder, and seeing a completed list. For a game it might be the first level, a power-up sequence, and a score screen. Keep each moment to roughly 7–10 seconds.

Write a simple shot list

Even a five-line note is enough. "Open app → show dashboard → create new item → use search → close with completion animation." Having this in front of you while screen recording keeps the footage tight and reduces the number of takes.

Reset your app to a clean state

Hide real data, use sample content, and make sure notifications are off. The last thing you want mid-recording is an iMessage notification sliding in over your UI.

Step 2 — Record Your Screen

For Mac apps, you'll do your screen recording directly on macOS. The built-in screen recorder (QuickTime or the Screenshot toolbar) can capture footage, but it gives you raw video with no way to add cinematic effects, zoom into interactions, or export directly to Apple's required specs.

A dedicated mac screen recorder built for App Store previews changes this significantly. Instead of raw footage you'll work with, you get a recording that's already set up for the next step — adding motion and polish.

Tips for a clean recording

• Move your cursor deliberately. Erratic mouse movement reads as uncertainty and looks unprofessional.
• Pause briefly after each action before moving to the next. It gives the viewer time to register what just happened.
• Record at 1920 × 1080 from the start. Upscaling a lower-resolution recording will look soft and may trigger rejection.
• Do two or three takes and keep the best. You'll know quickly which one had the smoothest flow.

Step 3 — Add Polish: Zoom, Motion, and Highlights

Raw screen recording footage is flat. What makes an App Store preview video look professional is the layer of intentional motion added on top — and you don't need to touch a video editor to get there.

This is the step where you work through your footage and mark moments that deserve emphasis. Think of it as annotating your recording rather than editing it.

Cinematic zoom

Zooming into a specific UI element at the right moment draws the viewer's eye and makes the interface feel responsive and alive. Good zoom points are: button taps, form submissions, transitions between screens, and any moment where something important changes in the UI.

3D window motion

A subtle 3D tilt or perspective shift as the camera moves between moments adds depth that flat screen recording simply can't replicate. It signals quality without screaming "we hired a motion designer."

Interaction highlights

Since previews autoplay silently, the viewer can't hear clicks or taps. Visual interaction highlights — a ring or pulse around the cursor at the moment of a click — make interactions legible without audio. This is especially important for power users browsing on mute.

Step 4 — Export to Apple's Specs and Upload

Once you're happy with your recording and effects, exporting to the correct format is the final technical hurdle. Apple requires H.264, a resolution of 1920 × 1080 for Mac, and a file under 500 MB in .mov, .m4v, or .mp4 format.

If you're exporting from a generic video tool, you'll need to configure these settings manually. Get them wrong — wrong codec, wrong resolution, wrong duration — and App Store Connect will reject the file immediately.

Once exported, log into App Store Connect, navigate to your app's page, select the right device type under "App Previews and Screenshots," and upload the file. After Apple's review (typically 24–48 hours), it will go live.

One more thing: upload order matters. The preview you upload first is the one that autoplays by default. Put your strongest footage first.