App Store screenshot headlines: what the top apps write

How was this counted?

From the App Screenshot Index, read on October 9, 2026: every screenshot of the top 100 free apps in 23 US App Store categories, 12,745 screenshots from 2,295 apps. 89% carry a headline, 11,376 in all, and every share on this page is a share of those headlines unless it says otherwise. Words are counted by spaces; size, case, numbers and punctuation are counted by rule; what a subline does is judged by a classifier. The counts tactic by tactic are on the Index’s data page.

These numbers describe what top-ranked apps write, not what causes installs. Rank comes from many things, brand, budget, age and ads among them, so read them as the conventions your headline sits beside, not as a recipe.

How long are the top apps’ headlines?

The median is 4 words. 57% are under five words and 6% run past eight. First screenshots are no longer than the rest: their median is 4 words too.

Short does not mean one line. Only 13% sit on a single line, so most headlines, short ones included, are broken over more than one line of larger type. Long headlines read like this: “One app that helps you get more done” · “REAL-TIME TESTING ALL BUILD VERSIONS IN YOUR PHONE” · “Access all of your favorited courses and groups!”.

Can you read them at thumbnail size?

Mostly not. The Index counts a headline as readable at thumbnail size when each line is at least a twelfth of the picture’s height, and as too small when a line is under a twentieth. 35% are readable, 15% are too small, and the other 50% sit in between.

The top apps do set their first screenshot larger: 44% of first-screenshot headlines are readable, against 33% of later ones. Type is largest in Games (58% readable) and smallest in Photo & Video (24%). Short headlines that read at a glance look like this: “Strengthen your professional profile.” · “Discover Endless Apps” · “Get Test Scores” · “SO WHAT'S THE CATCH?”.

Title case, sentence case or capitals?

Sentence case, by a wide margin. Of the 9,365 headlines of three words or more, 60% are in sentence case, 25% in title case and 15% in capitals. This is where categories split hardest: capitals are 64% of headlines in Games against 2% in Medical and Productivity, and title case 53% in Graphics & Design against 6% in Business.

Do they say “you”, use numbers or ask questions?

33% say “you”, 9% use a number and almost none ask. The table counts each across all 11,376 headlines (a number or “you” counts in the subline too), with real headlines quoted without their apps’ names.

52% of headlines are commands (“Track”, “Discover”, “Get”), and they grow more common deeper in the set: 41% of first-screenshot headlines against 55% later. Numbers go the other way, 15% on first screenshots and 8% after. A question is the rarest move of all, 37 headlines, which also means a question headline stands out in almost any row. A word picked out in colour is common, at 25%, so it is a convention rather than a way to be noticed.

What does the subline do?

It explains. 3,182 screenshots carry a smaller second line, 32% of first-screenshot headlines and 27% of later ones. Of those, 69% explain the headline (say how), 16% add a second benefit, and 15% do neither. Sublines are most common in Shopping (45% of headlines) and least in Games (12%).

How do headlines differ by category?

In style far more than in length. Every category’s median is between 3 and 5 words, but capitals run from 2% to 64% and “you” from 10% in Games to 50% in Finance. Headlines are shortest in Games (91% under five words, against 37% in Finance). Numbers are most common in Finance (22%) and rarest in Developer Tools (3%). Too-small type is most common in Business, Entertainment, Health & Fitness and Productivity (19%). Each category has 361 to 556 headlines, so a gap of a few points is small.

Title case and capitals are shares of headlines of three words or more. Each category name opens its screenshots in the Index, where you can filter to any of these.

How should you write yours?

Big, short and about the reader. The numbers say what the top apps do, and the gaps between them are where your headline can do better than the row it sits in:

1. Set it large enough to read in search.Only 35% of the top apps’ headlines pass the Index’s thumbnail test (a line at least a twelfth of the picture’s height). That is the cheapest gap to close.
2. Keep it to a few words, then make them count.The median is 4 words. A short headline still has to say what the app does for the person: “Track every bill” beats “Smart finance”.
3. Talk to the reader.33% say “you” or “your”. It is the easiest way to turn a feature into a benefit: “See where your money goes”.
4. Use a number when it is specific and true.9% of headlines and sublines carry a figure, more on first screenshots (15%) than later. A real number of templates or minutes is concrete; a user count has to be current.
5. Use the subline to say how.69% of sublines explain the headline. If the headline is the promise, the subline is the feature that keeps it.
6. Write one headline per search on custom product pages.A page made for “meal planner” should say meal planner in its first headline. The searcher’s own words are the strongest lead you have.

Custom product pages let each search, ad or link have its own screenshots, and a page can have its own keywords for search, so each page’s first headline can be written for one search.1 The method is in how to write screenshot headlines for a custom product page, and what the first screenshot leads with across the Index is in what the top apps put in their first screenshot.