App Store screenshots with a kicker
A short label above the headline, such as NEW or TRUSTED BY. A kicker labels the screenshot before the headline is read: a category, a status such as NEW, or who trusts the app.
From the top free apps in 23 categories of the US App Store, last read on October 9, 2026. Screenshots are the developers’ own, shown from Apple’s servers with a link to each app.
The numbers
Apps that do it
12% 280 of 2295
Screenshots that do it
4% 572 of 12745
The top tens
23 of 230 against 257 of the other 2065
572 of the 12745 screenshots read (4%) do this, across 280 of the 2295 top apps in 23 App Store categories (12%). 23 of the 230 apps in a top ten do it (10%), against 257 of the other 2065 (12%): the top ten do it about as often as the rest. It is most common in Sports (21% of apps) and least common in Productivity (6%).
By category, most to least.
The share of each category’s top apps with App Store screenshots with a kicker. Each category opens its own page, with every example and headline.
| Category | Apps that do it | Screenshots | Top ten |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sports | 21% 21 of 100 | 12% 67 of 558 | 2 of 10 |
| Food & Drink | 20% 20 of 100 | 7% 40 of 540 | 4 of 10 |
| Shopping | 20% 20 of 100 | 7% 37 of 562 | 1 of 10 |
| Health & Fitness | 16% 16 of 100 | 4% 23 of 574 | 2 of 10 |
| Finance | 15% 15 of 100 | 8% 46 of 581 | 2 of 10 |
| Lifestyle | 15% 15 of 100 | 5% 28 of 556 | 0 of 10 |
| News | 13% 13 of 98 | 6% 33 of 517 | 4 of 10 |
| Photo & Video | 13% 13 of 100 | 5% 28 of 566 | 0 of 10 |
| Reference | 13% 13 of 100 | 5% 29 of 566 | 0 of 10 |
| Graphics & Design | 12% 12 of 99 | 4% 22 of 564 | 1 of 10 |
| Weather | 12% 12 of 100 | 3% 16 of 555 | 3 of 10 |
| Social Networking | 11% 11 of 100 | 4% 24 of 554 | 1 of 10 |
| Travel | 11% 11 of 100 | 4% 21 of 561 | 1 of 10 |
| Navigation | 10% 10 of 99 | 3% 18 of 566 | 0 of 10 |
| Entertainment | 10% 10 of 100 | 3% 18 of 544 | 0 of 10 |
| Music | 10% 10 of 100 | 2% 13 of 550 | 1 of 10 |
| Utilities | 10% 10 of 100 | 2% 11 of 549 | 1 of 10 |
| Business | 9% 9 of 100 | 5% 26 of 554 | 0 of 10 |
| Developer Tools | 9% 9 of 100 | 4% 22 of 507 | 0 of 10 |
| Education | 9% 9 of 100 | 2% 9 of 555 | 0 of 10 |
| Medical | 8% 8 of 100 | 3% 16 of 548 | 0 of 10 |
| Games | 7% 7 of 100 | 2% 12 of 567 | 0 of 10 |
| Productivity | 6% 6 of 99 | 2% 13 of 551 | 0 of 10 |
Examples from each category.
Up to 6 from each category, from the apps highest on its chart.
Sports 67 examples · 21% of apps
“IN-APP PLAYER STATS”
“PLAY CRASH”
“PRE-BUILT LINEUPS”
“SPEND 10 GET 100 IN BONUS PLAY”
“GET UP TO $100”
“STAKE PRO GAMERS WIN CASH”
Food & Drink 40 examples · 20% of apps
“Join Taco Bell Rewards and get a free item*”
“ORDER AHEAD”
“SAVING THE PLANET MADE tasty”
“FREQUENT FRYER POINTS”
“SCORE THE BEST DEALS”
“Your usual, with perks.”
Shopping 37 examples · 20% of apps
“Tools to help you sell faster”
“SHIP YOUR PULLS HOME”
“70% OFF”
“Save & earn with Target”
“Executive Reward”
“earn 5% back in rewards”
Health & Fitness 23 examples · 16% of apps
“Get answers”
“The #1 Food & Nutrition Tracking App”
“Become a morning person”
“Heart Rate”
“Search Any Restaurant”
“BLOOD SUGAR”
Finance 46 examples · 15% of apps
“FOOTBALL IS BACK.”
“Earn 5% cash back¹ with Chime Card.™”
“LIVETRADE SPORTS”
“See exactly where your money is going”
“Why do 15.8M members love SoFi?”
“BUY, SELL & HOLD CRYPTO”
Lifestyle 28 examples · 15% of apps
“#1 BOOKING APP”
“Book some you time”
“Enhance your driving experience”
“We've always supported each other. That's what makes our bond so strong.”
“Rocking Life With You”
“My Birthday 🎉”
News 33 examples · 13% of apps
“Reach anyone”
“Stay Aware with Timely Alerts”
“Breaking news and live reporting.”
“Lift the veil on media bias”
“See what people near you have to say”
“Livestream BBC News directly from the app.”
Photo & Video 28 examples · 13% of apps
“AI PHOTO & VIDEO GENERATOR”
“Get 1,000 free 4x6 photo prints a year”
“Boost engagement, skip hours of editing”
“DIGI CAM”
“Photo Gifts & Prints”
“LIBRARY”
Reference 29 examples · 13% of apps
“24/7 Astronomy Answers”
“Catch Restocks Before They Sell Out”
“NO.1 COLLECTIBLES TRACKER”
“Travel anywhere, understand everything”
“SEEK BOLDLY”
“antiques & vintage items with a snap.”
Graphics & Design 22 examples · 12% of apps
“DANCE”
“Home Designs”
“Your screen. Your style.”
“Music Widgets”
“AR Art Projector”
“TEMPLATES”
Weather 16 examples · 12% of apps
“Experience Daily Video Forecasts & Weather Related Content”
“View hyper-local Hour Cast™ Graphs”
“Your weather. At a glance.”
“OVER 10 OFFICIAL MAPS IN ONE SIMPLE VIEW”
“Moon Calendar”
Social Networking 24 examples · 11% of apps
“Know where they are in real time”
“Add your best friends to your Home Screen”
“The Global Gayborhood in your pocket”
“Points”
“the global village”
“150k+ Joined”
Travel 21 examples · 11% of apps
“Get a day-by-day view of your trip”
“TRUSTED TRAVELER”
“The world's most trusted flight tracker”
“Plan, prepare, and predict your travel day”
“Track your trip with real-time updates”
“Air Traffic Control”
Navigation 18 examples · 10% of apps
“Lane-level navigation”
“Apps of the Year”
“MapXplorer”
“Routes Built for Your Truck”
“The #1 Trucking App for Big Diesel Discounts”
“AI 副驾”
Entertainment 18 examples · 10% of apps
“Movies”
“ORIGINAL PREMIUM SCRIPTS”
“Discover curated social experiences.”
“No Fee Tickets.”
“BEST SEATS. LOWEST PRICE. GUARANTEED.”
“FUELED BY YOUR IMAGINATION”
Music 13 examples · 10% of apps
“MUSIC, PODCASTS AND AUDIOBOOKS IN ONE PLACE”
“OPENRUN PRO 2”
“Incredible live shows. Upfront pricing. Relevant recommendations.”
“The first DJ Masterclass”
“WANT SOME QUIET TIME? ENABLE GHOST MODE”
“AI Music Maker”
Utilities 11 examples · 10% of apps
“passwords and payment info”
“Detect motion using WiFi”
“Authenticator App”
“lists and testing capabilities”
“Trusted by 79,000,000+Users”
“Viral Sound Library”
Business 26 examples · 9% of apps
“JOB RECS”
“Earn money, help others & start shopping”
“Track time and access pay info in one place”
“Discover”
“Super Easy, Super Useful.”
“Get paid fast for completed shifts”
Developer Tools 22 examples · 9% of apps
“temporary phone numbers”
“PLAY INDIE GEMS”
“And Editing the HTML”
“Go from idea to build-ready”
“Don't forget your running tasks”
“Support All Formats”
Education 9 examples · 9% of apps
“Learning”
“shopping”
“Smart AI Note Taker”
“IXL is the #1 K-12 Learning App”
“Practice & Perfect”
“Record reflections with emotional Bible verses”
Medical 16 examples · 8% of apps
“We've upgraded to a new app!”
“Keep your business number or get a new one”
“Earn and save on over 50+ products and treatments at your participating dermatologist, plastic surgeon, and medspa”
“Your Journey, Your Way.”
“Manage your medication. Anytime. Anywhere.”
“Your health always, within reach”
Games 12 examples · 7% of apps
“Play and win cash.”
“BONUS GAME!”
“JUST $1”
“Minigames”
“RHINO Unlocked”
“WOW! YOUR PLACE IS LIT! CRAZY! SEE YOU AT THE PARTY TONIGHT?”
Productivity 13 examples · 6% of apps
“Save and organize your files securely”
“Your Screen Time”
“Home Screen”
“Translate All Languages, Connect the World”
“Find your focus with a single tap”
“Listen to anything”
Related tactics.
Often on the same screenshot
- Headline readable at thumbnail size53% of these screenshots, against 31% of every screenshot read
- A word in a different colour42% of these screenshots, against 23% of every screenshot read
- Names the app20% of these screenshots, against 5% of every screenshot read
- Gradient background60% of these screenshots, against 45% of every screenshot read
- Headline in capitals28% of these screenshots, against 16% of every screenshot read
- Uses a number19% of these screenshots, against 8% of every screenshot read
More in words
- Has a headline92%
- Tells you to do something80%
- Headline under five words78%
- Says “you” or “your”69%
- Has a subline47%
- Headline in Title Case35%
- Uses a number31%
- Headline on one line28%
- Headline in capitals20%
- No words at all20%
- Names the app19%
- Headline over eight words17%
- Says “I” or “my”12%
- Exclaims7%
- Uses an emoji6%
- Uses a percentage3%
- Names another app2%
- Asks a question1%
Questions, answered from the chart.
How common are App Store screenshots with a kicker?
280 of the 2295 top apps read across 23 App Store categories (12%) have at least one, and 572 of their 12745 screenshots (4%) do it. Counted from the US App Store’s top free charts, last read on October 9, 2026.
Which App Store categories have the most App Store screenshots with a kicker?
Most common in Sports (21 of 100 apps, 21%), Food & Drink (20 of 100 apps, 20%) and Shopping (20 of 100 apps, 20%). Least common in Productivity (6 of 99 apps, 6%).
Should my app have App Store screenshots with a kicker?
The charts show who does it, not whether it would work for your app. Across the categories read, 23 of the 230 apps in a top ten do it (10%), against 257 of the other 2065 (12%), so the top ten do it about as often as the rest. The numbers differ by category, so look at your own.
See your own app against this.
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