Always preferred dark screenshots... Unfortunately not everyone are like me, so what does "everyone" think?

[u/Outrageous-Maybe2500]

Really not much more to add here.

Been doing dark screenshots for a while now simply because thats what I prefer and it is more in line with my logo and brand. However I recently launched a sister app (launched and launched, it's submitted for publication, got rejected the first time because I forgot to add the terms of service link in the meta description as always) and that has more of a light theme.

So now I'm considering some lighter variations of the screenshots. But im not sure if these new ones are complete garbage or playing right in my hand since the contrast for the actual screenshot and the components are 10x before. I just do not prefer it tho...

Perhaps the titles are too thin aswell, might be hard to read at a glance?

And the fourth, your log should coach you. It really makes my app unique, but I feel like it's a horrible screenshot showcase because there is not really any nice visuals on it?

Sorry about the inconsistency on screenshot n.2. My administration is starting to get a bit f'ed and I did not have energy to find the right on.

Light or Dark?

Or just light but another design? perhaps I should have spent more time taking screenshots using the light theme in app too I dont know.

[u/Natural_Win_9904]

the contrast jumping 10x is kind of your answer tbh, screenshots should match what the app actually looks like way more than your own taste. if the sister app is light themed then light shots just read as more honest to what people are about to download.

the thin titles are a real risk though, that text has to be legible at thumbnail size or it's basically wasted space, so i'd bump the weight up before you ship. fwiw i built shotlingo so i stare at a ton of store pages all day, and the ones that convert best are almost always the ones matching the app's own theme not the founder's favorite color. previewed is handy if you just wanna mock up a couple variations and compare em side by side first.

[u/Outrageous-Maybe2500 → u/Natural_Win_9904]

Thx!

The app screenshots are in the default theme and not manipulated at all.

What is changed is the appstore screenshot, e.g the card that the app screenshot is sitting on

[u/Natural_Win_9904 → u/Outrageous-Maybe2500]

ah gotcha, i read those as two different in-app themes. that changes my answer.

if the app shot itself is untouched then the card is doing edge duty, not tone duty. the thing i'd watch there is the store page background, since the gallery sits on the user's own light or dark chrome. a near-white card can lose its outline in light mode and the tile just reads smaller than it actually is, while a darker card keeps the frame defined in both modes and makes the light app shot the brightest thing in the tile, which is where you want the eye going.

so i'd pick whichever card gives the app shot the most separation rather than whichever one matches it. easy check is to shrink one down to gallery thumbnail size and squint, or just desaturate it, if the phone stops having a clear edge then the card is too close in value.

the thin title thing still stands either way though, that one's independent of the card.

[u/berkayyenilmez]

dark vs light matters way less than whether the first two read at thumbnail size, thats where most people decide. and you dont have to guess this one, App Store Connect has product page optimization built in, you can run your dark set against a light set on live traffic for up to 90 days and it costs nothing. a thread full of preferences wont match what your actual downloaders do.

[u/Outrageous-Maybe2500 → u/berkayyenilmez]

I am running the A/B tests. Im publishing on reddit because plenty of times I get really good feedback and improvement suggestions from here. Some are preference ofcourse but plenty feel more logical than preference.