Guide Checked against Apple's and Google's help pages on 30 Oct 2026
How to A/B test App Store & Google Play screenshots (2026)
Both stores let you show a new set of screenshots to part of your traffic and compare it with your current page, for free. Here's how each one works, how long a test can run, how the winner is picked, and what's worth testing first.
Store A/B tests in four lines
Short answer- App Store tool
- Product page optimization
- Google Play tool
- Store listing experiments
- Versions per test
- 3 on Apple, 2 on Google, plus your current page
- Longest a test runs
- 90 days on Apple, 6 months on Google
Not sure what to test? Our free audit checks a live listing's screenshots and text against the stores' guidelines, which is a quick way to find a first test idea.
Product page optimization vs store listing experiments
Same idea, different rules. Apple's tool lives under Product Page Optimization in App Store Connect; Google's is the Experiment column on the Store listings page in Play Console.
On the App Store your app must already be live, and on Google Play experiments are for published apps. Neither tool helps before launch.
| App Store | Google Play | |
|---|---|---|
| What you can change | App icon, screenshots and app previews. The treatment page also has a tab for the header and search results assets. Anything you don't edit stays as on your original page. | Default graphics experiments: icon, feature graphic and screenshots. Localized experiments: those plus your descriptions, in up to five languages. |
| Versions against your current page | Up to 3 treatments. Apple notes that more treatments can make a test take longer to give a clear result. | Up to 2 variants, set in the advanced settings. |
| How many tests at once | Apple's pages don't give a number for this. | One default graphics experiment, or up to 5 localized experiments, per app at the same time. |
| Who sees it | A traffic share you pick, split across treatments (3 treatments at 30% means 10% each). Only on iOS and iPadOS 15 or later, and only in the localizations you include. | An audience percentage you pick, split equally across variants. People who view a language with its own localized graphics are left out of a default graphics experiment. |
| Review needed? | Yes, the new metadata must be approved by App Review, but not a new app version. Reordering screenshots already on the store, or icon-only changes, needs no resubmission. | You save the variants and submit the changes for review from the publishing overview. |
| What counts as a win | Conversion rate (downloads and pre-orders from people who saw the page). A treatment is labelled Performing Better or Worse at 90% confidence. | The target metric you choose: unique user install clicks, open clicks or pre-registration clicks, judged against a minimum detectable effect and confidence level you can change. |
| How long it runs | Up to 90 days, or until you stop it. A stopped test can't be restarted. | Until you act on a result, or 6 months, when it stops on its own and traffic goes back to the current listing. |
| Rolling out the winner | Apply one treatment per test, which can't be undone. Only its screenshots and previews carry over; a new icon goes in your next app version. | Apply the winning variant, or Keep current listing if yours did best. |
Source: Apple, Overview of product page optimization · Apple, Create a test · Apple, Configure test treatments · Apple, Run a test · Apple, Apply a test treatment · Apple, Product Page Optimization results · Google, Run A/B tests on your store listing
What to test first
This part is our own advice, not store rules. Where a point rests on something Apple or Google says, it's noted in the text.
Test the first screenshot before anything else
Apple says the first one to three screenshots can appear in App Store search results when there's no app preview, so the opening frames are seen by far more people than screenshot five. A clearer first caption is usually a bigger change than a new colour scheme.
Change one thing per test
Google recommends testing one asset at a time so you know what caused the change. If the first screenshot and the icon both change, a win doesn't tell you which one worked.
Make the difference big enough to see
Two near-identical shades of blue won't show a result in a reasonable time on most indie apps. Test a different message, a different first feature, or a different order instead.
Write down what you expect before you start
One line, such as "saying what the app does in five words will beat the logo frame". It stops you reading a meaning into a result after the fact.
Don't ship an app update over a running test
Apple warns that releasing a new version during a test can affect the results if it changes the assets or metadata you're testing. Plan tests between releases.
Not much traffic?
Both stores will tell you up front roughly how long a test needs. Check that estimate before you design anything.
Use the duration estimate
Apple's Estimate Your Test Duration uses your daily impressions and new downloads, and warns a test may not reach the improvement you want within 90 days. Play Console estimates the time and number of installs an experiment needs, and lets you adjust the minimum detectable effect and confidence level.
Source: Apple, Create a test · Google, Run A/B tests on your store listing
If the estimate is too long
Test one treatment instead of three, and make it a bigger change. If it still won't finish in time, a test isn't the right tool yet: show your first screenshot to a few people who've never seen the app, ask what it does, and fix what confuses them.
And if few people reach your page at all, screenshots aren't the first problem. Find where people drop off.
Need something worth testing?
For $149 per app we'll make the full listing for both stores: screenshots at every required size, the Play feature graphic and the listing text. You review it and upload it yourself, so you can run it as a test against your current page first. See the makeover
Related: Your first screenshot · App Store conversion rate · Screenshot sizes · Localizing screenshots
Questions
- Can I A/B test App Store screenshots?
- Yes. Apple's product page optimization in App Store Connect lets you test up to 3 alternate versions of your screenshots, app previews and icon against your current product page. Your app has to be live on the App Store (Ready for Distribution or Pre-Order Ready for Distribution).
- How long does an App Store product page optimization test run?
- Up to 90 days, or until you stop it. Apple's create-a-test screen estimates how long a test may need from your daily impressions and new downloads, and warns that it may not be possible to reach the improvement you want within 90 days.
- When do product page optimization results show up?
- Apple says test results appear in App Analytics after 5 first-time downloads are associated with the test. A treatment gets a Performing Better or Performing Worse label once it reaches 90% confidence; tests unlikely to reach that can be marked Likely to be Inconclusive.
- Do I need to submit a new app version to test screenshots?
- No. Apple says the test's metadata must be approved by App Review, but you can submit it without a new app version. Icon tests are different: alternate icons must already be in the app binary that's live on the store.
- How do Google Play store listing experiments work?
- In Play Console you pick a store listing, choose a default graphics or localized experiment, set a target metric, and add up to 2 variants. Play Console estimates how long the experiment will need. Results say which version did best, a draw, or that more data is needed, and experiments stop on their own after 6 months.
- Can I test my Google Play description?
- Yes, in a localized experiment, which can test the icon, feature graphic, screenshots and descriptions in up to 5 languages. Default graphics experiments cover graphics only.
- Can I test screenshots on custom product pages?
- Not on the App Store. Apple says product page optimization tests aren't available for custom product pages, or for the App Store for Apple Watch or iMessage. Google Play experiments can run on custom store listings as well as your default one.
Sources, last checked 30 Oct 2026: Apple, Overview of product page optimization · Apple, Create a test · Apple, Configure test treatments · Apple, Run a test · Apple, Apply a test treatment · Apple, Product Page Optimization results · Google, Run A/B tests on your store listing. Apple and Google change these pages without notice, so check them before you rely on a detail. Spotted something out of date? hello@shiplisting.app. ShipListing isn't affiliated with Apple or Google.