You recorded the demo, you’re happy with the take, and now App Store Connect is rejecting the file with a message that tells you almost nothing. Or worse, the upload goes through, review comes back three days later, and your launch date slides. Most of the pain around app previews happens at this exact moment, after the recording exists, when you find out the footage doesn’t match what the store accepts.
Short answer: Before uploading, audit your recording against four things: length (App Store app previews must be 15 to 30 seconds), orientation and resolution matching the device family you’re submitting for, H.264 video with stereo audio, and no watermark or non-app overlays in frame. DemoScope on iPhone exports MP4 (H.264) at device-native resolution, and Pro ($19.99 one-time) removes the watermark.
Why the audit has to happen before you record, not after
The core problem with app store preview video requirements is that they constrain the shape of the file, and you can’t reshape a file on a phone. There’s no trimming tool in DemoScope, no cropping, no re-encoding. If your take runs 41 seconds, you don’t shorten it, you record it again. That makes the pre-flight list a recording decision, not a post-production one.
So treat the requirements as a shot list constraint. Write a script that reads in 22 to 26 seconds out loud, leaving headroom on both ends of the 15 to 30 second window. Decide the orientation before you open the app, because portrait footage does not become landscape footage later. And decide, up front, whether this particular recording is the store asset or the marketing asset, because those have different rules.
The store asset and the marketing asset are two different files
Here’s my opinion, and it’s the part most posts on this topic skip: your App Store preview and your Product Hunt / landing page / X demo should not be the same export.
Apple’s preview guidelines expect footage captured from the app itself. A face cam bubble sitting in the corner is additional content layered over the app, and that’s exactly the kind of thing that invites a reviewer’s judgment call. I would not gamble a submission on it. Meanwhile, the face cam is the single best thing you can add to a demo that lives on your own site, in a launch post, or in a DM to a prospective user, because it turns a product walkthrough into a person explaining their work.
The practical version of this: record a clean pass with the iOS built-in screen recorder for App Store Connect, then record a second pass in DemoScope with the face cam and touch indicators for everything outside the store. The trade-off is that you perform the demo twice, which costs you maybe six minutes. In exchange you stop trying to make one file satisfy two audiences with opposite constraints. If you want the longer argument for keeping the whole pipeline on the phone, the follow-up: can you hit app store preview video requirements recording only on your iphone? walks through where that breaks down.
| Capture approach | Clean app-only footage for the store | Face cam | Touch indicators | Watermark | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iOS built-in Screen Recording | Yes | No | No | None | Free |
| DemoScope in-app recording | No (face cam is in frame) | Yes | Yes | Free tier only; Pro removes it | $19.99 one-time |
| DemoScope External PiP mode | No (face cam is in frame) | Yes | No (iOS limitation) | Free tier only; Pro removes it | $19.99 one-time |
| Mac + Xcode Simulator capture | Yes | No | No | None | Free, but requires a Mac |
The nine-item pass before you hit upload
Run this in order. Each item is something I have personally re-recorded for.
- Duration. Open the clip in Photos and read the timestamp. 15 to 30 seconds. Anything outside that gets rejected at upload.
- Orientation. Portrait recording for a portrait app, landscape for landscape. Mixed-orientation footage in one preview is a problem.
- Resolution and device family. App Store Connect lists required dimensions per device size. Check the current list in App Store Connect rather than trusting a blog post, including this one, since Apple revises it as new hardware ships.
- Codec. H.264 or ProRes 422 HQ. DemoScope exports MP4 (H.264) to the camera roll, which is the format you want.
- Watermark. If you recorded on the DemoScope free tier, the export carries DemoScope branding. That will not pass as a store asset. Pro is a $19.99 one-time purchase and removes it.
- Audio. Confirm the narration actually landed. Check whether your mic routed to AirPods mid-take, because a Bluetooth handoff halfway through a 25-second clip is the most common way a good take dies.
- Status bar chaos. Personal notifications, a 4% battery icon, a call banner. Turn on Do Not Disturb before recording, not after.
- First two seconds. Autoplay means the opening frame is your thumbnail. No app launch splash, no blank white screen.
- Content parity. The preview has to show features that exist in the build you’re submitting. Demoing an unreleased feature is a rejection reason, not a nitpick.
What DemoScope actually does during the marketing pass
Concretely, for the non-store version of the demo, the workflow inside DemoScope is: paste your script into the teleprompter, set the auto-scroll speed, position the camera bubble (circle, square, vertical rectangle, or horizontal rectangle) in a corner where it won’t cover your UI, pinch to size it down, pick a touch indicator color that reads against your app’s background, and record. The teleprompter is only visible to you, so the exported video shows your app and your face, not your script.
Two DemoScope-specific details worth knowing before you plan the shoot:
- Touch indicators only work in in-app recording mode. DemoScope’s External PiP mode sends the app to the background so you can record any other app on your iPhone with a floating face cam, which is great for cross-app flows, but iOS doesn’t let it draw touch dots. If tap visibility matters to your demo, stay in in-app recording mode.
- The teleprompter is also in-app only. Same reason. In External PiP mode your tools are Camera, PiP Border, and Text on screen, so plan to work from memory or a printed script taped above the phone.
Because there’s no editing, your teleprompter script is doubling as your timer. I read mine out loud once with a stopwatch before recording anything. If it lands at 27 seconds, I cut a sentence. This is the whole difference between two takes and eleven.
When a fumbled take costs you more than time
Device-native resolution means files are big. A tight 25-second clip is nothing, but twelve failed attempts at a 90-second walkthrough will quietly eat a couple of gigabytes of camera roll, and when storage gets tight, recordings fail to save at the worst possible moment. Delete rejected takes as you go rather than at the end of the session. Same for the marketing pass: keep the one you’re shipping, drop the rest.
For the underlying requirements themselves, rather than the audit workflow, two companion pieces go deeper: app store preview video requirements: what apple actually wants in 2026 covers the guideline language directly, and understanding apple’s 2026 guidelines without the guesswork translates the App Store Connect spec sheet into plain terms. If you’re weighing how much of this genuinely affects conversion versus how much is submission paperwork, the app store preview video requirements that actually matter: a reality check for 2026 takes a harder line on prioritization.
The habit to build is small: a written pre-flight list taped somewhere near your desk, run before every upload. It replaces the three-day feedback loop of submit, wait, get kicked back, with a ninety-second check you control. DemoScope is worth picking up at $19.99 if the face cam version of your demo, the one that goes on your site and in your launch post, is the file you keep re-recording.
Frequently asked questions
How long can an App Store preview video be?
App previews must be 15 to 30 seconds. You can submit up to three previews per app per localization, and each one has to sit inside that window, so a 31-second clip fails at upload rather than at review.
Can I use a screen recording from my iPhone as an App Store preview?
Yes, iPhone screen recordings are a valid source as long as the file matches the resolution, orientation, duration, and codec requirements listed in App Store Connect for the device family you’re submitting. The catch is that most phone-recorded takes fail on duration or on an accidental notification in frame, not on quality.
Can I put a face cam in my App Store preview video?
I would not. Apple’s preview guidelines expect footage captured from the app itself, and a camera overlay is additional content layered on top, which makes it a reviewer judgment call you don’t need. Use a clean capture for the store asset and record a separate face cam version in DemoScope for your landing page, Product Hunt launch, or social posts.
Does DemoScope let me trim a recording down to 30 seconds?
No. DemoScope has no video editing, no trimming, and no cropping. It records your iPhone or iPad screen with a face cam overlay and exports MP4 (H.264) to your camera roll, so hitting a target length means scripting for it and re-recording when a take runs long. The built-in teleprompter, which is visible only to you and not recorded, is the tool that keeps takes on time.
What format does DemoScope export, and does the free version add a watermark?
DemoScope exports MP4 using H.264 at your device’s native resolution, saved to the camera roll. The free tier adds DemoScope branding to exports; DemoScope Pro is a $19.99 one-time purchase (not a subscription) and removes the watermark.