Stories & updates.
Behind-the-scenes posts on building Launch Shots, indie dev insights, and product updates from the team.
01iPad App Store Screenshots: Do You Need Them, and How to Make Good Ones
iPad App Store screenshots are required if your app supports iPadOS. The 13-inch sizes, why scaled iPhone shots get rejected, and how to design a real iPad set.
02Seasonal App Store Screenshots: Should You Update Them for the Holidays?
Should you make holiday App Store screenshots? Which apps benefit, cheaper options like promotional text and in-app events, review timing, and how to revert safely.
03Automating Store Screenshots With fastlane snapshot and frameit
Set up fastlane snapshot, screengrab and frameit to capture, frame and upload store screenshots from CI, and learn when that automation actually pays off.
04The App Store Optimization Checklist for a New App Launch
An ASO checklist for launching on the App Store and Google Play: metadata limits, keywords, screenshots, ratings prompts, pre-orders and your first 30 days.
05Panoramic App Store Screenshots: How to Design a Continuous Set
Panoramic App Store screenshots turn a set into one continuous image. How they read in search, how to design across the gaps, and how to slice the file.
06How to Make App Store Screenshots in Figma (and When a Generator Is Faster)
Make App Store screenshots in Figma: exact frame sizes, a reusable caption-and-device component, clean 1x exports, and when a generator is faster.
07Custom Product Pages: A Practical Guide for Small App Teams
How custom product pages on the App Store work in 2026: the 70-page limit, keywords for organic search, deep links, review and analytics, plus a plan for small teams.
08App Store Subtitle vs Promotional Text: What Each Field Is For
App Store subtitle vs promotional text: which one is indexed for search, which you can change without an update, and how to write each, with examples.
09Google Play Screenshot Requirements and Policies (2026)
Every Google Play screenshot requirement in one place: formats, pixel limits, aspect ratios, counts per device, recommendation rules and what policy forbids.
10How to Generate App Store Screenshots From Claude Code or Cursor
Connect an MCP server once, then ask Claude Code or Cursor to generate App Store screenshots from your real screens. Setup for each client, prompts and tips.
11Why Apple Rejects App Store Screenshots (and How to Avoid It)
App Store screenshot rejected? The App Review guidelines behind it, the triggers we see most, and how to fix it and reply to App Review without a new build.
12What to Put on Your First App Store Screenshot
Your first App Store screenshot often shows in search before anyone opens the listing. Here's what it has to say, the patterns that work, and examples.
13The App Store Keyword Field: How to Use All 100 Characters
How to fill the App Store keywords field: commas without spaces, no repeated words, singular forms, and the extra localizations each storefront reads.
14How to Take Clean Screenshots From the iOS Simulator and Android Emulator
Set the iOS Simulator status bar to 9:41 with one simctl command, switch Android to demo mode, and capture store-ready screens at the right size and format.
15Google Play Feature Graphic: Size, Rules and Design Tips
The Google Play feature graphic size is 1024 × 500 px. Here is where it appears today, what gets cropped, and how to design one that still holds up.
16Do App Store Screenshots Affect Search Rankings?
Do App Store screenshots affect search ranking? Yes, mostly through conversion — plus what the 2025 reports on screenshot text indexing actually found.
17How to Make App Store Screenshots: A Step-by-Step Guide (2026)
How to make App Store screenshots from start to upload: plan the story, capture clean screens, write captions, design, export every size, ship.
18Introducing the LaunchShots MCP Server: Store Screenshots From Inside Your Coding Agent
Your coding agent already knows your app. Now it can turn your screenshots into a finished, editable App Store and Google Play set — without you leaving your editor.
19Translating an App Store Listing Isn’t Localization
Why simply translating your app store title, screenshots, and keywords into Spanish or other languages isn't true localization—and how adapting context, search behavior, and visual presentation drives real international ASO growth.
20The "ASO Plateau": What to Do When Your App Stops Growing
What is an ASO plateau, why organic growth levels off despite continuous optimization, and practical strategies to find your next growth leap when standard store optimizations stop working.
21The "Microservice Regret" Era: Why Teams Are Quietly Going Back to Monoliths
Why startups and engineering teams are quietly returning to modular monoliths after experiencing the hidden operational costs and complexity of premature microservices.
22The "AI Feature" Tax: Why Adding AI to a Product Can Make It Worse
Not every product needs AI. Discover the AI feature tax—the added complexity, cost, uncertainty, and user friction when AI is added where simple software works better.
23When Every Tool Looks the Same
When AI tools make building software easier, standing out gets harder. Discover why modern SaaS products end up looking identical and how to build a recognizable visual identity.
24Why People Abandon Products They Actually Like
People can like your product and still stop using it. Discover why retention fails even for good products, and how friction, onboarding, feature fatigue, and habit shifts cause users to disappear.
25The Problem With “Simple, Fast, Powerful”
Vague marketing buzzwords like simple, fast, and powerful don't tell users anything. Discover why specificity, evidence, and clear copy win over generic adjectives.
26Why Users Remember How a Product Felt
Features fade, but feelings stick. Discover why product experience is built through micro-moments, consistency, and friction-free interactions—and why how a product feels determines whether users return.
27The Cost of Making Users Think
Your product can work perfectly without bugs or crashes, and users can still leave. Learn why cognitive friction is a UX problem and how good products save the user's thinking for what actually matters.
28The Feature Graveyard: What Happens to Features Nobody Uses?
Every product has unused features that sit quietly taking up space. Discover why features end up in the graveyard, the hidden cost of keeping them, and how to know when to let go.
29LaunchShots vs AppDrift vs App Radar: Which Tool Is Worth Your Money?
Compare LaunchShots, AppDrift, and App Radar on features, pricing, store listing management, ASO tools, and workflow to find the right tool for your app.
30What Every Indie Hacker Learns Too Late
Building the product is only half the job. Discover the hard-earned lessons about marketing, distribution, and presentation that every indie hacker learns too late.
31Introducing Store Listings: Manage Your Entire App Store Presence in One Place
Keeping your App Store and Google Play listings up to date shouldn't require endless tabs, spreadsheets, and repetitive work. Today, we're excited to introduce Store Listings in LaunchShots.
32The Hardest Part of Building Software Isn't Building It
AI has made building products faster than ever. The real challenge now is getting people to discover them. Here is why distribution and visibility matter more than ever.
33Why Every Startup Needs Visual Assets Faster Than Ever
There has never been a better time to build a startup. AI can write code, generate designs, and draft copy—but getting people to notice your product is now the hardest part. Here is why startups need visual assets faster than ever.
34The Hidden Cost of Poor Product Screenshots
When startups think about improving conversions, they usually focus on pricing, features, SEO, or advertising. Screenshots rarely make the list. Here is the hidden cost of poor product screenshots and how to fix them.
35The Most Underrated Marketing Asset for Startups
When founders think about growing their startup, they usually focus on product, AI, or paid ads—and overlook screenshots. Here's why screenshots are one of your most underrated marketing assets.
36AI Can Generate Images. Why Do We Still Need Screenshot Tools?
AI can create almost any image in seconds, but authentic product visuals are more valuable than ever. Here's why screenshot tools aren't obsolete—and how AI and screenshots work together to build trust.
37Choosing a Framework? AI Just Changed the Rules.
Not long ago, choosing a framework meant comparing docs and performance benchmarks. Today, AI coding assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, and Copilot have shifted what 'the right framework' actually means.
38The Tells: 19 Small Details Inside Your App Store Screenshots That Give You Away
Status bars at 23%. Lorem ipsum that made it to ship. An iPhone X frame in 2026. The tiny details inside the frame — not the design around it — that quietly mark a listing as amateur.
39App Store Screenshot Copywriting: 27 Caption Patterns That Convert
The full playbook for writing app store screenshot captions that actually drive installs. 27 patterns grouped into 5 categories, the rules Apple enforces, and the localization gotchas that quietly kill conversion.
40App Preview Videos vs Screenshots: When to Use Each (2026 Guide)
App Preview videos and screenshots play different roles in your store listing. Here is when each one converts, the exact specs Apple and Google require in 2026, and how to combine them.
41App Store Screenshot Best Practices (2026)
What actually works in App Store and Play Store screenshots in 2026. Headline patterns that convert, the right number of screens, when to use device frames, and the mistakes to avoid.
42How to Localize App Store Screenshots (Complete 2026 Guide)
A practical, step-by-step guide to localizing your App Store and Play Store screenshots. Which languages to start with, how AI translation handles screenshot copy, and how to handle right-to-left languages.
43The End of the "Manual Upload" Era: Meet Direct Upload
Skip the download-unzip-reupload shuffle. Direct Upload sends your screenshots straight from LaunchShots to App Store Connect and Google Play Console — from design to deployment, seamlessly.
4411 Common App Store Screenshot Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)
The most common mistakes in App Store and Play Store screenshots — from unreadable thumbnail text to missing localization. Each mistake comes with the fix.
45How to A/B Test App Store and Play Store Screenshots
A complete guide to running screenshot A/B tests on the App Store (Product Page Optimization) and Google Play (Store Listing Experiments) — what to test, how long to run, and how to read the results.
46Why I Built Launch Shots
I spent 30 minutes on a screenshot design, then hit a $29/month paywall to download it. That is why I built Launch Shots, and what it has become since.
The best App Store screenshot generators in 2026
Honest, ranked comparison of seven leading tools — Launch Shots, Mockuuups Studio, Previewed, ButterKit, AppLaunchpad, AppScreens, Screenshot.rocks.
Launch Shots vs Mockuuups Studio
Mockup-focused design tool with a large device and lifestyle library
Launch Shots vs Previewed
3D mockup generator with a strong device animation library
Launch Shots vs Screenshot.rocks
Free browser and mobile screenshot mockup tool
Launch Shots vs ButterKit
macOS-native screenshot studio for Apple platform developers
Launch Shots vs AppLaunchpad
Long-standing web screenshot generator with a deep template library
Launch Shots vs AppScreens
Multi-store screenshot generator with localization and auto-upload