App Store screenshots with photography
A photograph as background or beside the screen. A photograph sets the app in the real world: the place, the activity or the result.
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
80% 1835 of 2295
Screenshots that do it
48% 6070 of 12745
The top tens
200 of 230 against 1635 of the other 2065
6070 of the 12745 screenshots read (48%) do this, across 1835 of the 2295 top apps in 23 App Store categories (80%). 200 of the 230 apps in a top ten do it (87%), against 1635 of the other 2065 (79%): the top ten do it about as often as the rest. It is most common in Food & Drink (100% of apps) and least common in Games (24%).
By category, most to least.
The share of each category’s top apps with App Store screenshots with photography. Each category opens its own page, with every example and headline.
| Category | Apps that do it | Screenshots | Top ten |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food & Drink | 100% 100 of 100 | 74% 400 of 540 | 10 of 10 |
| Photo & Video | 99% 99 of 100 | 86% 488 of 566 | 10 of 10 |
| Shopping | 99% 99 of 100 | 71% 398 of 562 | 10 of 10 |
| Travel | 94% 94 of 100 | 60% 337 of 561 | 10 of 10 |
| Social Networking | 93% 93 of 100 | 64% 356 of 554 | 9 of 10 |
| News | 89% 87 of 98 | 60% 310 of 517 | 9 of 10 |
| Reference | 88% 88 of 100 | 48% 272 of 566 | 8 of 10 |
| Entertainment | 87% 87 of 100 | 62% 335 of 544 | 10 of 10 |
| Lifestyle | 86% 86 of 100 | 59% 328 of 556 | 9 of 10 |
| Music | 86% 86 of 100 | 49% 269 of 550 | 10 of 10 |
| Weather | 86% 86 of 100 | 50% 276 of 555 | 10 of 10 |
| Graphics & Design | 86% 85 of 99 | 62% 349 of 564 | 9 of 10 |
| Sports | 85% 85 of 100 | 51% 286 of 558 | 10 of 10 |
| Health & Fitness | 83% 83 of 100 | 40% 229 of 574 | 8 of 10 |
| Business | 80% 80 of 100 | 39% 215 of 554 | 9 of 10 |
| Navigation | 76% 75 of 99 | 32% 183 of 566 | 9 of 10 |
| Productivity | 76% 75 of 99 | 38% 209 of 551 | 9 of 10 |
| Medical | 74% 74 of 100 | 31% 168 of 548 | 8 of 10 |
| Utilities | 70% 70 of 100 | 35% 190 of 549 | 9 of 10 |
| Education | 64% 64 of 100 | 31% 171 of 555 | 7 of 10 |
| Developer Tools | 58% 58 of 100 | 24% 121 of 507 | 8 of 10 |
| Finance | 57% 57 of 100 | 23% 131 of 581 | 8 of 10 |
| Games | 24% 24 of 100 | 9% 49 of 567 | 1 of 10 |
Examples from each category.
Up to 6 from each category, from the apps highest on its chart.
Food & Drink 400 examples · 100% of apps
“Earn points for Free McDonald's”
“A ONE-STOP SHOP FOR EVERYTHING YOU NEED”
“Order your faves and start earning points for free food”
“ORDER AHEAD”
“Mid-week grocery run. Without the run.”
“Earn rewards with your App-etite”
Photo & Video 488 examples · 99% of apps
“Amazing templates”
“Discover entertaining videos with Reels”
“Create”
“AI Video”
“Snap”
“Design anything”
Shopping 398 examples · 99% of apps
“Sell with no fees”
“Keep more of your cash with no selling fees”
“WOMEN'S FASHION”
“Discover your next favorite brand”
“Spend less. Smile more.”
“Shop over half a billion items in the app”
Travel 337 examples · 94% of apps
“One app. All the rides.”
“Plan one-of-a-kind trips all in one app”
“Text and voice translation at your fingertips”
“Connect anytime, anywhere”
“Fly with Southwest ®”
Social Networking 356 examples · 93% of apps
“Message privately with end-to-end encryption”
“Private”
“Explore what youre into”
“See your pet’s location 24/7”
“WATCH, CHAT AND PLAY”
“Let's get real.”
News 310 examples · 89% of apps
“Be the first to know.”
“The heart of the internet”
“Listen to First- Responder Audio”
“Read, watch, chat”
“Join over 100 million neighbors”
“Local News, Alerts, Headlines & More.”
Reference 272 examples · 88% of apps
“Translate Anything”
“Start your day with God's Word”
“Photo Translator”
“Travel Without Language Barrier”
“Trusted Choice”
“Short Videos. Eternal Truths”
Entertainment 335 examples · 87% of apps
“Live Thursdays 7PM ET”
“TikTok Pro - Events”
“Your Next Favorite Show”
“DO WHAT YOU LOVE”
“Your Next Obsession”
“Share videos with your favourite person”
Lifestyle 328 examples · 86% of apps
“Get pictures described by Be My AI with a single tap”
“Embrace spooky season”
“One app. All the things.”
“Peace of mind while you are away.”
“Create Events in Seconds”
“No.1 Wishlist app”
Music 269 examples · 86% of apps
“MUSIC, PODCASTS AND AUDIOBOOKS IN ONE PLACE”
“Remix your songs or ones you find”
“Discover new music with a swipe”
“MUSIC YOU CAN'T FIND ELSEWHERE”
“Discover music around you”
“100 Million Songs,”
Weather 276 examples · 86% of apps
“Keep Dry”
“NOAA Weather Radar Live Map”
“Live coverage broken down, so you know what's next”
“Experience Daily Video Forecasts & Weather Related Content”
“GOES-East & West Satellite”
Graphics & Design 349 examples · 86% of apps
“AI BIRTHDAY PHOTO SHOOT”
“KlingAI 3.0”
“Create and edit images and videos with Google's generative models”
“Explore Stunning Wallpapers”
“Cast Your AI Self”
“Use a camera”
Sports 286 examples · 85% of apps
“#1 SPORTSBOOK FOR LIVE BETTING”
“Deposit $10 Get $50”
“Your Teams. Your Fights. One Home.”
“NOW AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE”
“PLAY $5 GET $150”
“GET UP TO $1,000 IN BONUS FUNDS”
Health & Fitness 229 examples · 83% of apps
“Apple Watch App of the Year”
“PROGRESS STARTS HERE”
“Get to know your body changes”
“ANALYZE products in a single scan”
“Make calorie tracking easy with AI”
“Your Personal Health Companion”
Business 215 examples · 80% of apps
“Connect with anyone on video meetings and calls”
“Discover jobs that work for you”
“Focus on the conversation, not on writing notes”
“The network that works for you”
“DELIVER WITH DOORDASH”
Navigation 183 examples · 76% of apps
“Save places and share lists with friends”
“Real Places Live See Them Now”
“Get directions on your car’s display”
“Get the parking app trusted by millions of drivers”
“TURN YOUR MAPS INTO A GAME”
Productivity 209 examples · 76% of apps
“Edit your look”
“Generate and edit videos with Gemini Omni”
“Get useful answers wherever you are”
“Powerful search”
“Use Authenticator to sign in”
“Copilot, the AI built for work”
Medical 168 examples · 74% of apps
“Your pharmacy benefits,”
“Manage Your Personal Health Records & Easily Communicate With Your Doctor’s Office”
“SimplePractice Client Portal”
“Data Tracking and Recording”
“Track your sleep therapy with your Resmed AirSense™ or AirCurve™ machine”
Utilities 190 examples · 70% of apps
“Find more of what you love with Discover”
“实时预览”
“Ask ✦ Gemini while you browse”
“Delete Duplicate Photos”
“Conveniently Control Your Devices”
“What starts here, gets done here”
Education 171 examples · 64% of apps
“Get Test Scores”
“All-In-One Study Buddy”
“get feedback without fear”
“Your school's official app”
“Access all of your favorited courses and groups!”
Developer Tools 121 examples · 58% of apps
“Accept invitations to test beta apps”
“#1 Interactive Creation Platform”
“Build apps, agents, and anything”
“Build from anywhere”
Finance 131 examples · 57% of apps
“Welcome to Trump Accounts.”
“FOOTBALL IS BACK.”
“The easiest decision ever”
“Shop with buyer protection.”
“Send and receive money easily”
“Millions of people already do.”
Games 49 examples · 24% of apps
“MULTIPLE WAYS TO PLAY”
“ROLL!”
“Always real opponents.”
“HOT ARTISTS AVAILABLE”
“Challenge Yourself”
“PLAY”
Related tactics.
Often on the same screenshot
- A person in the picture47% of these screenshots, against 26% of every screenshot read
- Photo background22% of these screenshots, against 11% of every screenshot read
- Orange17% of these screenshots, against 13% of every screenshot read
- High contrast words27% of these screenshots, against 23% of every screenshot read
- A hand holds the phone10% of these screenshots, against 6% of every screenshot read
- Words at the top83% of these screenshots, against 80% of every screenshot read
More in layout
- Screen fills the picture99%
- Phone drawn94%
- Whole phone shown88%
- Words at the top88%
- Illustration or mascot69%
- Headline readable at thumbnail size68%
- A person in the picture57%
- Phone cut off at the foot45%
- Headline too small to read44%
- App icon shown42%
- Arrows or callouts42%
- No phone, bare screen34%
- Words aligned left30%
- A hand holds the phone24%
- Two or more screens23%
- Zoomed detail of the UI22%
- Phone cut off at the head18%
- No app screen at all18%
- Words at the bottom17%
- Phone at an angle17%
- Screen is small15%
- Watch, iPad or Mac beside it11%
- Words over the screen9%
- Continues into the next screenshotunder 1%
Questions, answered from the chart.
How common are App Store screenshots with photography?
1835 of the 2295 top apps read across 23 App Store categories (80%) have at least one, and 6070 of their 12745 screenshots (48%) 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 photography?
Most common in Food & Drink (100 of 100 apps, 100%), Photo & Video (99 of 100 apps, 99%) and Shopping (99 of 100 apps, 99%). Least common in Games (24 of 100 apps, 24%).
Should my app have App Store screenshots with photography?
The charts show who does it, not whether it would work for your app. Across the categories read, 200 of the 230 apps in a top ten do it (87%), against 1635 of the other 2065 (79%), so the top ten do it about as often as the rest. The numbers differ by category, so look at your own.
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