An app preview is the most constrained video most teams ever ship: 15–30 seconds per preview, up to three previews per device size and language per platform, footage captured on the device itself — so the review that matters isn't "does it look great" but "is it compliant, and does the message land in the first ten seconds." This post gives mobile teams the spec facts (verified against Apple and Google documentation, November 2026) and the stakeholder approval loop that gets previews through product, marketing, and legal without five rounds.
The specs that shape your review
| Constraint | Apple App Store (App Previews) | Google Play (promo video) |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 15–30 seconds | No policy maximum — the first ~30 seconds autoplay on the listing, so front-load core features in the first 10 |
| How many | Up to 3 previews per supported device size AND language, per platform | 1 promo video per listing (a YouTube URL); Android XR allows one spatial + one non-spatial |
| Source footage | Captured on the device showing the app in use | Any hosted YouTube video (public or unlisted, not private; embeddable; ads disabled) |
| Frame rate / format | Max 30 fps; H.264 (.mov/.m4v/.mp4) or ProRes 422 HQ; ~10–12 Mbps target; ≤500 MB | Whatever YouTube accepts; portrait allowed without black bars |
| Orientation | Portrait or landscape on iOS; landscape-only for macOS, tvOS, visionOS | Landscape or portrait |
Three review consequences fall straight out of that table: the 30fps cap means motion-design flourishes get rendered to spec, not argued about; the per-device-size preview set means "the preview" is actually a small family of files that must stay in sync — treat each device size as a version in a stack, not a folder of one-off exports; and Google's autoplay window makes the first ten seconds the legally-reviewed part too, since that's what every store visitor sees whether they pressed play or not.
The approval loop (three lanes, one round)
Previews die in serial review — product signs, then marketing re-opens it, then legal. Run them as lanes on one review round instead:
- Product lane: does each beat show a real flow captured on device? Flag anything that reads as staged or implies a feature that isn't shipping — Apple's capture rule is about honest representation, and reviewers on both stores do reject misleading previews.
- Marketing lane: first ten seconds carry the core feature and the hook; caption text readable at feed speed (the same vertical-readability checks as reviewing vertical video for feeds apply, since Play previews can run portrait).
- Legal/brand lane: claims match the current app version, third-party marks cleared, no unlicensed music (the preview ships with the app's listing — the music licensing standards apply).
Each lane comments on the timestamp, threads get resolved, and the round ends with one explicit approval — the same sign-off discipline as any client round (the review checklist covers the mechanics). What ships to App Store Connect or the Play Console is then the approved version, with the device-size variants cut from that locked master.
Versioning the preview family
Because previews are per device size and language, the honest versioning model is: one locked creative, versions beneath it. When the app changes before the release date, you re-cut from the locked master and upload a new version — and the version stack on the review page shows which exact cut was approved for each store update (the versioning guide covers the mechanics; naming the variants per the naming conventions keeps the family findable). If your preview work feeds a broader content pipeline, the same approval can flow straight into scheduling once the listing ships (approve-then-publish).
FAQ
How many App Store previews can we upload?
Up to three previews per supported device size and language, per platform (iOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS). Ten is the screenshot count — previews and screenshots have different limits, and mixing them up is a common planning error.
Can we use captured footage that isn't from the device?
Not for the app itself: Apple requires App Preview footage to be captured on the device showing the app in use. Marketing-style b-roll belongs on your product page or campaigns, not inside the preview.
How long should a Google Play promo video be?
Policy sets no maximum, but only the first ~30 seconds autoplay on the listing — so the working answer is "short, with the core feature visible in the first 10 seconds." Anything past the autoplay window only plays for visitors who chose to.
Who should approve an app preview before upload?
One round, three lanes — product (honest, on-device flows), marketing (first-10-seconds hook, caption readability), legal/brand (claims, marks, music) — with one named approver signing the round. Serial handoffs are why preview updates miss release dates.