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Reference apps: screenshot design benchmarks

How Reference apps design their App Store screenshots — theme, caption position, background colours, screenshot counts — measured from 22 listings by LaunchShots.

32%
use a light theme across the set
light 32%mixed 45%dark 23%
32%
put the caption above the phone
above 32%below 5%overlay 14%no caption 50%
6.5
screenshots per listing on average · 36% use 8 or more
3.93
average App Store rating of the analysed apps
Background colours
white 41%orange 14%blue 9%red 9%black 9%

Based on 22 analysed listings in Reference. Updated continuously as new apps are analysed. How we measure →

Analysed Reference listings

Live Translator - AI Translate
mixed · caption none · 9 shots
名字由来net 〜全国都道府県ランキングや家紋家系図
light · caption overlay · 8 shots
漢字検索プラス
light · caption none · 3 shots
ヴァロラント Tracker - Valking.gg
dark · caption bottom · 5 shots
성경
dark · caption none · 4 shots
MEGA24
mixed · caption top · 8 shots
NIV Bible Offline in English
mixed · caption overlay · 9 shots
Hadith حديث‎ - Sahih Bukhari
dark · caption none · 4 shots
Sports Card Scanner Value AI
mixed · caption none · 5 shots
鹿小贝要上岸 成年人的考公考编星光|科学记忆+精准高频库
light · caption top · 10 shots
MyTiscali
mixed · caption top · 10 shots
Kuli Kuli - Travel Translator
light · caption none · 6 shots

How to read this

If you're designing screenshots for a Reference app, this is the field you're competing in. A dark theme is the majority choice here, so going the other way is a deliberate way to stand out in search results — where your first screenshot sits next to competitors'. 32% put the caption above the phone; the caption is read first either way, but above-the-phone keeps the text in the thumbnail crop the App Store shows in search. The average listing uses 6.5 screenshots — Apple allows 10, and only 36% use 8 or more, so the later slots are mostly uncontested space for feature depth. Open any listing above to see its exact colours and load them into the editor with one click.

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