# How to Record an App Store Preview Video on iPhone > A practical workflow for recording an app store preview video on a real iPhone, with touch indicators, clean takes, and no editing suite required. - Published: 2026-10-02 - Author: Adam Tal, developer of DemoScope (https://demoscope.app) - Canonical: https://demoscope.app/blog/posts/how-to-record-app-store-preview-video-iphone.html --- Your build is approved, the screenshots are uploaded, and App Store Connect is still showing an empty slot where the preview video goes. You open the built-in iOS recorder, tap through your onboarding flow, and the result is a 42-second clip where nobody can tell what you tapped, the keyboard covers half the UI, and a Slack notification slides in at the eight-second mark. **Short answer:** Record your app store preview video on a real iPhone using DemoScope (HD Face Cam Screen Recorder on the App Store), turn on touch indicators so viewers can see every tap, and keep the face cam off for the submitted cut. Shoot one clean 30-second pass, then trim it in the iOS Photos app before uploading to App Store Connect. ## What Apple expects from an App Store preview video An App Store preview is a short video that plays on your product page and shows your app actually being used. Apple requires previews to be 15 to 30 seconds long, captured from a real device, and you can upload up to three per localization. App Store Connect lists the accepted resolutions per device family, and those change often enough that you should check the current list there rather than trusting a blog post from last year. The important constraint for your workflow: Apple wants to see the app, not a produced commercial. Heavy overlays, talking-head intros, and stock footage are a risk. That shapes everything below. ## Record on a physical device, not the simulator Simulator captures look wrong and reviewers notice. Animation timing is off, scroll physics are not quite right, and anything involving the camera, haptics, or real network latency either does not work or does not look like the real thing. Record on the oldest phone you support if you can, because that is where your animations actually reveal their frame drops. If you are still deciding between the system recorder and a dedicated app, the [ios screen recorder guide: built-in tool vs dedicated apps](/blog/posts/ios-screen-recorder-guide-mobile-recording.html) walks through the differences in detail. The short version for preview videos: the built-in recorder is fine for raw footage and useless for anything that needs tap visibility. ## A five-step workflow for recording the take 1. **Put the phone in Do Not Disturb and charge it above 50 percent.** A 14 percent battery badge in the corner of your preview video looks careless, and a banner notification mid-take means a full retake since there is no cutting it out later. 2. **Reset the app to a clean state.** Seed realistic demo data first. Lorem ipsum in your task list kills trust faster than a slightly rough recording does. 3. **Enable touch indicators and pick a color that contrasts with your UI.** DemoScope draws an animated circle at each tap point, which is the single biggest readability upgrade for a silent autoplaying preview. A white indicator on a light UI is invisible, so switch it to something your app does not already use. 4. **Rehearse the tap sequence twice without recording.** Preview videos are short. You are performing roughly 8 to 12 deliberate taps in 30 seconds, and muscle memory is what keeps the pacing even. 5. **Record one pass that runs about 35 to 40 seconds, then trim.** Give yourself a second of dead air at the start and end so the trim handles have room. DemoScope exports MP4 to your camera roll, and you trim from there. Be clear about one thing: DemoScope has no editing tools. No trimming, no cutting, no filters. It records and exports clean MP4 to the camera roll, and the trimming happens in the Photos app or whatever editor you already use. That is a real limitation, and for a 15 to 30 second app store preview video it matters less than you would think, because you are shooting a single continuous take anyway. ## Face cam on or off for an App Store preview? Off for the version you submit. On for everything else. A face cam overlay is excellent for a Product Hunt launch video, a tutorial, or a post on X where your presence is the hook. On an App Store product page, Apple's guidance pushes toward footage of the app itself, and a bubble with your face in the corner takes up screen real estate on a video that already has to earn attention in three seconds. The practical move is to record twice in the same sitting, same script, same taps. One pass with the face cam disabled for App Store Connect, one pass with DemoScope's face cam overlay for the social cut. The camera bubble is draggable to any corner and resizable by pinching, and it supports circle, square, vertical rectangle, and horizontal rectangle shapes, so you can put a vertical rectangle along one edge if your app's UI is busy in the corners. If you want a longer breakdown of overlay setups, [best ios screen recorder with face cam overlay?](/blog/posts/best-ios-screen-recorder-with-face-cam-overlay.html) covers how the options compare. ## How the options compare for preview footage | Tool | Touch indicators | Face cam overlay | Records other apps | Cost | |------|------------------|------------------|--------------------|------| | iOS built-in recorder | No | No | Yes | Free | | DemoScope Free | Yes | Yes | Yes (Other App mode) | $0, watermark, 10 min per take | | DemoScope Pro | Yes | Yes | Yes (Other App mode) | $19.99 one-time, no watermark | | Loom | No | Yes | Desktop/web focused | Subscription | | Record It! | Varies | Yes | Yes | Varies | The watermark is the deciding factor for App Store submissions. You cannot ship a preview video with another app's branding burned into it, so the free tier is for testing your workflow and Pro is for the actual upload. At $19.99 one time with no subscription, the math against a monthly tool is not close if you ship more than one app a year. For a broader look at how dedicated recorders stack up against what ships with iOS, see [ios screen recorder: built-in tool vs third-party apps](/blog/posts/best-ios-screen-recorder-options-built-in-vs-third-party.html). ## Things that actually go wrong **Mic routing.** If AirPods are connected, iOS routes audio to them and your preview audio picks up a thin, compressed voice. Disconnect Bluetooth entirely before recording. Most App Store previews are watched muted anyway, but if you are narrating, this one ruins takes silently. **Storage.** A device-native resolution recording of a few minutes eats real space fast. Check free storage before a session, not after a recording fails to save. **Keyboard typing.** Typing on screen during a preview is slow and eats seconds you do not have. Pre-fill fields where you can, or use a short string. **Recording a flow that needs another app.** If your demo involves a share sheet, a payment sheet, or jumping to Safari, in-app recording will not follow you. DemoScope's Other App mode handles this: it activates a system-wide floating PiP face cam, sends DemoScope to the background, and captures your whole phone through an iOS Broadcast Extension. Almost no other iOS app offers this. The trade-off is real though. In Other App mode you lose touch indicators and the teleprompter, because iOS limits what the broadcast extension can draw. Tools there are limited to Camera, PiP Border, and text on screen. For more fixes at this level, [10 iphone screen recording tips that actually make a difference](/blog/posts/iphone-screen-recording-tips-that-make-difference.html) is the companion read. ## When not to use DemoScope for this If your preview video needs cuts between three separate flows, speed ramps, or title cards between scenes, DemoScope is the capture tool and not the finishing tool. Record the clean passes with touch indicators on, then assemble elsewhere. And if the preview you need is genuinely a single continuous 20-second walkthrough of one flow, which describes most good App Store previews, you can shoot it, trim it in Photos, and upload it without touching an editor at all. That single-take constraint is not a compromise. It is the discipline that makes 30-second previews watchable. Get the tap sequence right, make the taps visible, and ship it. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How long does an App Store preview video have to be? App Store previews must be 15 to 30 seconds. You can upload up to three per localization, and App Store Connect lists the accepted resolutions for each device family, so check there before exporting. ### Can I record an app store preview video directly on my iPhone? Yes. Recording on a physical iPhone is what Apple expects, and apps like DemoScope capture at device-native resolution and export MP4 (H.264) straight to your camera roll. You then trim the clip to 15 to 30 seconds in the Photos app before uploading to App Store Connect. ### Does the iOS built-in screen recorder show where you tap? No. The built-in iOS recorder captures the screen but draws nothing at tap points, so viewers cannot tell whether you tapped a button or the screen changed on its own. DemoScope's touch indicators show an animated circle at each tap location, and the indicator color is customizable so it stays visible against your app's UI. ### Should my App Store preview video include my face? Keep the face cam off for the version you submit to App Store Connect, since Apple's preview guidance favors footage of the app itself. Use a face cam overlay for the Product Hunt, YouTube, or social versions of the same demo, where your presence helps. ### How much does DemoScope cost? DemoScope Pro is $19.99 as a one-time purchase, not a subscription. The free tier lets you record and stream with a watermark and a 10-minute limit per take, which is enough to test your workflow but not enough for a submitted App Store preview, since the watermark would appear in the final video.