App Store screenshots with high-contrast text
The headline stands far from its background in brightness. The further the words stand from the background in brightness, the easier they are to read at small sizes.
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
45% 1023 of 2295
Screenshots that do it
23% 2933 of 12745
The top tens
97 of 230 against 926 of the other 2065
2933 of the 12745 screenshots read (23%) do this, across 1023 of the 2295 top apps in 23 App Store categories (45%). 97 of the 230 apps in a top ten do it (42%), against 926 of the other 2065 (45%): the top ten do it about as often as the rest. It is most common in Graphics & Design (65% of apps) and least common in Medical (20%).
By category, most to least.
The share of each category’s top apps with App Store screenshots with high-contrast text. Each category opens its own page, with every example and headline.
| Category | Apps that do it | Screenshots | Top ten |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graphics & Design | 65% 64 of 99 | 43% 241 of 564 | 8 of 10 |
| Food & Drink | 64% 64 of 100 | 30% 164 of 540 | 8 of 10 |
| Sports | 64% 64 of 100 | 41% 230 of 558 | 7 of 10 |
| Music | 57% 57 of 100 | 28% 152 of 550 | 3 of 10 |
| Photo & Video | 56% 56 of 100 | 30% 170 of 566 | 6 of 10 |
| Navigation | 51% 50 of 99 | 21% 119 of 566 | 4 of 10 |
| Entertainment | 50% 50 of 100 | 29% 159 of 544 | 8 of 10 |
| Shopping | 48% 48 of 100 | 20% 112 of 562 | 5 of 10 |
| Utilities | 47% 47 of 100 | 26% 142 of 549 | 4 of 10 |
| Finance | 45% 45 of 100 | 21% 122 of 581 | 4 of 10 |
| Reference | 45% 45 of 100 | 25% 141 of 566 | 2 of 10 |
| Games | 42% 42 of 100 | 22% 127 of 567 | 5 of 10 |
| Health & Fitness | 42% 42 of 100 | 19% 111 of 574 | 4 of 10 |
| Social Networking | 41% 41 of 100 | 22% 121 of 554 | 1 of 10 |
| Weather | 40% 40 of 100 | 20% 111 of 555 | 3 of 10 |
| Education | 39% 39 of 100 | 13% 74 of 555 | 4 of 10 |
| Lifestyle | 38% 38 of 100 | 18% 100 of 556 | 3 of 10 |
| Developer Tools | 37% 37 of 100 | 22% 111 of 507 | 1 of 10 |
| Travel | 37% 37 of 100 | 17% 95 of 561 | 5 of 10 |
| Productivity | 36% 36 of 99 | 20% 108 of 551 | 2 of 10 |
| News | 34% 33 of 98 | 20% 102 of 517 | 5 of 10 |
| Business | 28% 28 of 100 | 15% 83 of 554 | 1 of 10 |
| Medical | 20% 20 of 100 | 7% 38 of 548 | 4 of 10 |
Examples from each category.
Up to 6 from each category, from the apps highest on its chart.
Graphics & Design 241 examples · 65% of apps
“AI BIRTHDAY PHOTO SHOOT”
“KlingAI 3.0”
“Create and edit images and videos with Google's generative models”
“Smiley 4K Live Wallpapers”
“Drawing Lessons”
“Anyone from Children to Adults Can Draw Freely !”
Food & Drink 164 examples · 64% of apps
“Order McDelivery® to earn points & redeem rewards anywhere”
“Don't miss exclusive offers and experiences with Tuesday Drops”
“ORDER AHEAD”
“Mid-week grocery run. Without the run.”
“Order your favorites ahead”
“Order and enjoy Rewards in the app”
Sports 230 examples · 64% of apps
“SPEND $5 GET $150”
“America’s Sports Prediction Market”
“Your Teams. Your Fights. One Home.”
“NOW AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE”
“PLAY $5 GET $150”
“STREAM ALL OF ESPN ALL IN ONE PLACE”
Music 152 examples · 57% of apps
“MUSIC YOU CAN'T FIND ELSEWHERE”
“Record and edit on the fly”
“Discover the Hottest New Trending Music.”
“Connect to 65,000 jukeboxes”
“Anka Insight”
“LISTEN”
Photo & Video 170 examples · 56% of apps
“Amazing templates”
“Create”
“AI Video”
“Chat”
“Turn imagination into characters”
“AI Dance Generator”
Navigation 119 examples · 51% of apps
“Parking Pin Find Your Car Fast”
“Get the parking app trusted by millions of drivers”
“TURN YOUR MAPS INTO A GAME”
“KNOW WHEN TO HUNT”
“Track Your Train in Real Time”
“Remarkable parking”
Entertainment 159 examples · 50% of apps
“Live Thursdays 7PM ET”
“TikTok Pro - Events”
“Your Next Favorite Show”
“YOUR FIRST $10 IS ON US”
“Your Next Obsession”
“Sharing Moments Together”
Shopping 112 examples · 48% of apps
“Help old favorites”
“Keep more of your cash with no selling fees”
“Discover your next favorite brand”
“Great finds, sweet deals, and more.”
“#1 Verified Savings App”
“OPEN REAL CARD PACKS!”
Utilities 142 examples · 47% of apps
“实时预览”
“Search what you see with Lens”
“Summarize long articles in seconds”
“Simple is the new standard”
“Ultra-fast VPN servers”
“Just Blink and Youre Home”
Finance 122 examples · 45% of apps
“FOOTBALL IS BACK.”
“Manage your subscriptions all in one app.”
“Send money instantly”
“America's #1 Choice for Banking™”
“LIVETRADE SPORTS”
“Your everyday money app”
Reference 141 examples · 45% of apps
“Short Videos. Deep Truths.”
“Discover amazing Deals”
“Stargazing made easy”
“Connect with God”
“Explore the Night Sky with AR”
“Get daily interesting facts”
Games 127 examples · 42% of apps
“CLEAR THE BOARD!”
“CALM MIND DAILY”
“Designed For Seniors”
“SMASH!”
“MULTIPLE WAYS TO PLAY”
“Helo Them”
Health & Fitness 111 examples · 42% of apps
“Get motivated by the community”
“Log your activities . . .”
“Walk against your friends”
“Discover 500,000+ trails”
“GET STRONGER, WITH A PLAN.”
“Join the class. Love your results.”
Social Networking 121 examples · 41% of apps
“group chats for people who touch grass”
“The phone service that won’t leave you hanging. No fixed contracts. No bills. Ever.”
“Organize your group on BAND!”
“Share Moments and Have Fun”
“Weekly photo dumps with your best friends”
“The private second phone number app”
Weather 111 examples · 40% of apps
“Drive Safe”
“Real-Time Radar Map”
“Real-time 3D Radar”
“Wind map”
“DYNAMIC MODEL VIEWING”
“11 Billion+ weather alerts sent last year”
Education 74 examples · 39% of apps
“solve chess puzzles”
“Explore AI Course”
“Speak English like a native”
“Were making learning fun. Really.”
“Find key insights from books & more”
“You can learn Anything”
Lifestyle 100 examples · 38% of apps
“Embrace spooky season”
“Create Events in Seconds”
“Plan your next move”
“SEE IMPORTANT MOMENTS”
“Discover Personalized Content”
“Ready to start your love story?”
Developer Tools 111 examples · 37% of apps
“Create Instantly”
“你的服务器 随时在手”
“Fastest Servers”
“Unlin”
“Every agent, every machine, one inbox.”
“Build with any agent, anywhere”
Travel 95 examples · 37% of apps
“GO ANY- WHERE”
“One app. All the rides.”
“Text and voice translation at your fingertips”
“Book a flight to your next destination.”
“Book your whole trip in one app”
“Quickly access your boarding pass during your travel day.”
Productivity 108 examples · 36% of apps
“Get the best of Gmail on iPhone”
“Quickly summarize and draft documents on the go with Gemini in Docs”
“Create anywhere, anytime-even offline”
“Designed to simplify your life”
“Your HP devices, all in one place”
“SCAN”
News 102 examples · 34% of apps
“Be the first to know.”
“The heart of the internet”
“Your neighborhood's safety at a glance.”
“Get lifesaving, real-time alerts”
“Lift the veil on media bias”
“Walkie Talkie”
Business 83 examples · 28% of apps
“DELIVER WITH DOORDASH”
“It's easy to get started in the app”
“Fill and sign PDFs.”
“Receive mobile notifications about the status of your mail & packages”
“Send documents, videos and more”
“JOB RECS”
Medical 38 examples · 20% of apps
“Connect with your care team”
“Easily access your health information”
“Data Tracking and Recording”
“Communicate with your care team and more, anywhere, antime.”
“You Put Them to Sleep, but We’ll Tell You When”
“Contraction”
Related tactics.
Often on the same screenshot
- Dark42% of these screenshots, against 28% of every screenshot read
- Headline in capitals30% of these screenshots, against 16% of every screenshot read
- Headline under five words63% of these screenshots, against 50% of every screenshot read
- Has a headline100% of these screenshots, against 89% of every screenshot read
- Headline readable at thumbnail size41% of these screenshots, against 31% of every screenshot read
- A photograph56% of these screenshots, against 48% of every screenshot read
More in look
- Light66%
- Gradient background62%
- Background is the icon’s colour59%
- Solid background48%
- Blue47%
- Black, white or grey46%
- A word in a different colour46%
- Dark44%
- Low contrast words34%
- Orange31%
- Photo background25%
- Rounded headline type20%
- Teal18%
- Red16%
- Green16%
- Pattern or texture15%
- The app itself is the background11%
- Purple9%
- Serif headline9%
- Pink8%
- Condensed or display type6%
- Yellow6%
Questions, answered from the chart.
How common are App Store screenshots with high-contrast text?
1023 of the 2295 top apps read across 23 App Store categories (45%) have at least one, and 2933 of their 12745 screenshots (23%) 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 high-contrast text?
Most common in Graphics & Design (64 of 99 apps, 65%), Food & Drink (64 of 100 apps, 64%) and Sports (64 of 100 apps, 64%). Least common in Medical (20 of 100 apps, 20%).
Should my app have App Store screenshots with high-contrast text?
The charts show who does it, not whether it would work for your app. Across the categories read, 97 of the 230 apps in a top ten do it (42%), against 926 of the other 2065 (45%), 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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