App Screenshot Index · Reference
What the top 100 Reference apps put on their screenshots.
566 screenshots, read and tagged by what each one does. 92% carry a headline. Pick a tactic to see who does it, or describe what you are looking for.
US App Store, top free, read on 2026-10-09. Screenshots are the developers’ own, shown from Apple’s servers with a link to each app.
Compare with another category Changed this month Browse by tactic The data, across every category
Browse Reference screenshots by tactic.
Each tactic has its own page: the share of the top 100 Reference apps that use it, every example with its headline, and which of the top ten do it. The number beside each is the share of apps.
Meaning
- Plain tone93%
- Leads with a feature91%
- States a benefit81%
- Subline explains the headline40%
- Leads with an outcome27%
- Names its audience16%
- Subline adds a second benefit16%
- Asks for an action15%
- Playful tone10%
- Compares with something9%
- Premium tone8%
- Leads with trust6%
- Urgent tone6%
- Leads with a problem5%
- Technical tone5%
- Leads with who it is for3%
- Leads with price2%
- Leads with what is new2%
Words
- Has a headline93%
- Headline under five words87%
- Tells you to do something78%
- Says “you” or “your”66%
- Headline in Title Case61%
- Has a subline48%
- Uses a number37%
- Says “I” or “my”21%
- Names the app19%
- Headline on one line17%
- Headline in capitals14%
- No words at all14%
- Has a kicker13%
- Headline over eight words11%
- Exclaims6%
- Asks a question5%
- Uses an emoji3%
- Names another app1%
- Uses a percentage1%
Layout
- Phone drawn99%
- Screen fills the picture99%
- Whole phone shown95%
- Words at the top91%
- A photograph88%
- Headline readable at thumbnail size78%
- Illustration or mascot70%
- Phone cut off at the foot60%
- Arrows or callouts53%
- A person in the picture50%
- Headline too small to read42%
- App icon shown41%
- Words aligned left31%
- A hand holds the phone28%
- No phone, bare screen27%
- Zoomed detail of the UI26%
- No app screen at all21%
- Two or more screens21%
- Phone cut off at the head19%
- Phone at an angle14%
- Words at the bottom13%
- Screen is small11%
- Watch, iPad or Mac beside it10%
- Words over the screen8%
Look
- Light71%
- Gradient background65%
- Background is the icon’s colour64%
- A word in a different colour53%
- High contrast words45%
- Blue43%
- Black, white or grey41%
- Dark41%
- Orange40%
- Solid background39%
- Low contrast words30%
- Photo background27%
- Teal23%
- Green22%
- Serif headline21%
- Pattern or texture16%
- Red16%
- Rounded headline type12%
- Yellow11%
- The app itself is the background8%
- Condensed or display type4%
- Purple4%
- Pink3%
Proof
Your app against this.
Find your app and its first three screenshots are read the same way: what it shares with Reference, what it does that few do, and what most do that it does not.