# App promo video script: a problem-first social ad and a feature walkthrough

Canonical page: https://www.veedio.co/scripts/app-promo-video-script
Updated: 2026-10-30

An app promo script should sell the moment before the app, not the app’s menu. Open on the situation where the viewer needs it, show the one screen that fixes it, add a second feature only if it supports the first, and end with the app name and where to get it. Keep social ads to about 30 seconds. App Store preview videos are different: Apple requires footage captured from the app itself, so make those separately from your social promos.

Key facts:
- Apple says App Store app previews must use footage captured on device and show only content within the app; each preview can be up to 30 seconds (Apple Developer).
- Veedio makes social promo videos in 9:16, 1:1 and 16:9, with a voiceover, captions and music.
- Veedio’s generated visuals illustrate situations and devices; record your real app screens for any shot of the interface.
- A five-scene promo costs 13 credits on Veedio with still images; an eight-scene walkthrough costs 19.
- Veedio publishes directly to TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.

## Script 1: “Shelfwise: cook it before it goes off” (30-second problem-first ad)

Runtime: about 30 seconds.

**Scene 1**
- Voiceover: You bought spinach with the best intentions. It’s now a science experiment.
- Visual: Cinematic close-up of a bag of wilted spinach at the back of a fridge drawer, cold fridge light, a half-used lemon beside it.
- On screen: Best intentions.

**Scene 2**
- Voiceover: Shelfwise keeps a list of what’s in your fridge from your grocery receipt. You don’t type a thing.
- Visual: Insert your screen recording: scanning a paper receipt and the fridge list filling in automatically.
- On screen: Scan the receipt

**Scene 3**
- Voiceover: When something’s close to its best-before date, it nudges you, with a recipe that uses it up.
- Visual: Insert your screen recording: a notification reading “Spinach: use by tomorrow” opening to a spinach and egg recipe.
- On screen: Nudge + recipe

**Scene 4**
- Voiceover: Spinach, eggs, that lemon. Dinner in fifteen minutes.
- Visual: Cinematic overhead of a skillet with eggs set in bright green spinach, lemon zest on top, a fork resting on the pan edge.

**Scene 5**
- Voiceover: Shelfwise. Cook it before it goes off. On the App Store and Google Play.
- Visual: End card: app icon on a clean background with App Store and Google Play badges.
- On screen: Shelfwise · iOS & Android

## Script 2: “Trailhead: maps that work with no signal” (45-second feature walkthrough)

Runtime: about 45 seconds.

**Scene 1**
- Voiceover: Here’s the moment the hiking app on your phone stops being useful: the signal bar goes empty.
- Visual: Cinematic shot of a hiker seen from behind on a misty ridge trail, phone in hand, the trail splitting in two ahead.
- On screen: No signal.

**Scene 2**
- Voiceover: Trailhead downloads the whole route before you leave, so the map keeps working when the signal doesn’t.
- Visual: Insert your screen recording: tapping download on a route and a progress bar filling.
- On screen: Download before you go

**Scene 3**
- Voiceover: Your position still shows on the map using your phone’s GPS, with or without a connection.
- Visual: Insert your screen recording: a blue dot moving along a dotted trail on a topographic map in airplane mode.
- On screen: GPS, no data needed

**Scene 4**
- Voiceover: At a fork, it shows which way your route goes, and buzzes if you wander off it.
- Visual: Insert your screen recording: the route highlighted at a junction, then an off-route alert banner.

**Scene 5**
- Voiceover: Before you set off, share your planned route with someone at home, so they know where you’ll be.
- Visual: Insert your screen recording: a share sheet sending the route to a contact.

**Scene 6**
- Voiceover: And at the top, you’ve got the climb, the distance and the time, saved for your next trip.
- Visual: Cinematic shot of the hiker at a summit cairn above the clouds, early sunlight.

**Scene 7**
- Voiceover: Trailhead. Download the route, keep the map.
- Visual: Cinematic shot of the trail winding down the ridge, a small figure walking it.

**Scene 8**
- Voiceover: Get it on the App Store or Google Play.
- Visual: End card: app icon over a soft mountain silhouette with the store badges.
- On screen: Trailhead · iOS & Android

## 8 alternative hooks

- Your spinach has a week to live. Your fridge won’t tell you. This app will.
- POV: you finally cook the thing before it goes off.
- Scan one receipt and never type a grocery list again.
- What’s for dinner? Whatever’s about to expire.
- Your hiking app works great, right up until the signal disappears.
- Download the route at home, keep the map on the mountain.
- The trail splits, you’ve got no signal. Now what?
- Three things to set up on your phone before any hike.

## How to adapt these scripts to your app

1. Name the situation, not the category. “Spinach turned into a science experiment” beats “a smart kitchen inventory app”.
2. Show one core screen per feature, and no more than two or three features in a 30-second ad.
3. Use real screen recordings for every interface shot. Generated images of a phone screen won’t match your app, and showing features that look different from the real thing misleads people.
4. Use generated scenes for the world around the app: the fridge, the ridge, the dinner. That is where an illustrative visual earns its place.
5. For App Store previews, follow Apple’s rules separately: footage captured on device, only content within the app, up to 30 seconds. Your social ad and your store preview are two different videos.
6. Make every claim match the current version. If offline maps are a paid feature, say so or leave it out.
7. End with exactly where to get it. Name the stores the app is actually on.
8. Test hooks, not whole videos. Keep scenes two to five identical and change only the first line.

## Recommended Veedio settings

| Setting | Shelfwise ad (30s) | Trailhead walkthrough (45s) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Media | Generated scenes for the fridge and food; your own screen recordings for app shots | Generated scenes for the trail; your own screen recordings for every map shot |
| Visual style | Cinematic (cinematic) | Cinematic (cinematic), or Documentary (documentary) for a more natural outdoor look |
| Voice | Laura (laura), enthusiastic and quirky | Will (will), a relaxed optimist |
| Caption style | Pop (pop) | Boxed (boxed) |
| Music | Uplifting (uplifting) | AI score (score) |
| Length | 30s | 60s setting; the script runs about 45 seconds |
| Scenes and credits | 5 scenes: 13 credits with stills, 68 with AI motion | 8 scenes: 19 credits with stills, 107 with AI motion |

## FAQ

### How long should an app promo video be?

Around 30 seconds for social ads, with a 15-second cut for retargeting. Feature walkthroughs can run 45 to 60 seconds. App Store previews are capped at 30 seconds by Apple.

### Can I use an AI-made promo as my App Store preview?

Not as is. Apple says previews must use footage captured on device and show only content within the app, so generated scenes and over-the-shoulder shots aren’t allowed there. Use AI-made promos for social, and make the store preview from screen recordings.

### What should an app promo video show first?

The problem moment, in one shot: the wilted spinach, the empty signal bar. Viewers decide in the first seconds whether this is for them, and they recognise their own situation faster than they recognise an interface.

### Should app promo videos have a voiceover?

For social, yes, with captions, since many people watch on mute and the captions carry the message either way. Keep the voiceover conversational, and let the screen recording show what the voice describes.

### Can I make UGC-style ads for my app?

Yes. A real user describing their own experience, with any payment disclosed, is a strong format. On Veedio Pro and Studio you can also make UGC-style ads with an AI creator; write those as demonstrations, not as personal testimonials.

### How do I promote an app without showing the interface too much?

Show the outcome in the real world, such as dinner on the table or a hiker at the summit, and use one or two short screen recordings for proof. Most viewers care about what changes in their day, not about menus.

## Sources

- [Apple Developer: App previews](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/app-previews/) (checked 2026-10-30)

Make it with Veedio: https://www.veedio.co/tools/app-promo-video-generator