App Store Screenshots can give a user their first look at the app, so it’s important they make a good impression. When an app relies on seasonality, such as Valentine’s Day apps, it’s equally important that they use their screenshots to capitalize on the holiday with thematically appropriate imagery. For this week’s App Store Spotlight, we take a look at Hidden Objects Valentine’s Day to see how its App Store Screenshots utilize seasonality and how they’re designed for conversions.
On the Apple App Store, Hidden Objects Valentine’s Day uses five screenshots. This is only half of the amount allowed on the App Store, so it could include five more in order to fully portray the features and improve its chances of converting users. As the screenshots are all in landscape mode, only the first screenshot – a splash image showing the title page – will appear in search results. If the app appears in search results both as the Search Ad and the #1 app for the keyword, it will also display the first screenshot in the Search Ad and the second screenshot in the organic listing.
Thematically, the screenshots carry the Valentine’s Day seasonality in every aspect of their design. The designs are primarily pink and red, and every screenshot is filled with heart imagery. This capitalizes on the season, although as the app is built around Valentine’s Day, it has not adjusted them since it launched.
After the splash image, the remaining four use two in-app images per picture. Each screenshot shows a different part of the app, including different scenes, items players can find, and the letter scramble games. In doing so, they successfully illustrate multiple visual aspects.
The images are paired with large callout text on the bottom of the screen that describes a function of the app. The callout text itself is framed by roses, adding to the thematic design. These present value propositions for the app, such as “Find 100’s of objects” and “Valentines from Around the World.”
The callout text does get a little lengthy, making the font cramped and harder to read on phone screens. For instance, one screenshot says “Find Objects by Pictures, Bonus Words & Scrambled Letters! FUN Seek & Find.” Not only is this hard to read on a phone screen, but it presents multiple features and could easily be broken into multiple screenshots.
While the App Store screenshots do use many design best practices, they could be improved by using more screenshots to convey the same messages in all the space Apple allows.
The App Store Screenshots on Google Play are significantly different. While it also starts with a splash image, the other four images are screencaps without context. There is no callout text to illustrate the features; simply unedited screenshots from the game.
Leaving out the callout text means the images must stand on their own. While these screenshots do show the different stages and designs of the app, including all the Valentine’s Day thematic designs, they do not tell us any more than that.
When designing App Store Screenshots, developers should remember a few best practices:
Designing and testing screenshots that follow these best practices is important for App Store Optimization. Hidden Objects Valentine’s Day is on the right track to optimization with its App Store Screenshots, although it could improve them. Using more images can spread the value propositions out, rather than try to fit everything into a small amount of screen and callout text. These changes can be applied to Google Play as well, as its screenshots there lack callout text. By following ASO best practices, apps like Hidden Objects can find users that love it come Valentine’s Day.
Want more information regarding App Store Optimization? Contact Gummicube and we’ll help get your strategy started.
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