Use case
An app UGC video is you talking, a screen recording of the app and a closing line about what it changed
An app UGC video is a person talking to the camera about an app, with the real app on screen while they talk. It opens on a hook, shows the app working and ends on what it changed for them.
In short
- An app UGC video is a short vertical video of a person talking about an app, with a screen recording of the real app in the middle.
- It has three parts: a hook from the person on camera, the app working on screen, and a closing line about what changed, followed by the call to action.
- Superscale's guide for app founders gives a 15 to 25-second version that goes from the problem to the app on screen to the result.
- Record the real app on your phone, not a mock-up. Apple's rules for App Store previews ask for footage of the app itself, and the same habit keeps an ad honest.
- Cutroom's Magic Editor turns the video of you talking, your screen recording and your screenshots into one video. Its Skit style is made for a product walkthrough with a face on screen.
What is an app UGC video?
An app UGC video is a short vertical video of a person talking about an app, with the app on screen. It looks like a post from a user rather than an ad from the company.
App founders buy them from UGC creators or film their own. Creators sell them as app demos, walkthroughs and reviews.
- They run on TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, as posts or as paid ads.
- The person on camera can be a creator, a user of the app or the founder.
- The app itself has to be on screen, because the viewer is deciding whether to install it.
- Another layout is the green screen: the person talks in front of a screenshot of the app. TikTok's Green Screen effect does this in the app, with any photo from your phone as the background and no real green screen needed.
The three parts of an app UGC video
An app UGC video has three parts: your hook, the app working on screen, and a closing line about what it changed. Superscale's guide for app founders lays out one version at 15 to 25 seconds.
- The hook is you, talking to the camera about the problem, such as "I never knew where my money went."
- The app part is a screen recording of one task, start to finish, while you keep talking.
- The ending is you again, saying what changed, such as "Now I check one screen on Sunday and I'm done." Then comes the call to action, such as "Link in bio".
- Superscale adds one step between the hook and the app: how you found it. Its version goes from the problem, to the discovery, to a quick screen recording of the key features, to the result.
The three parts of an app UGC video
Hook
You on camera, naming the problem
The app
A screen recording of one task
The ending
You again, saying what changed, then the call to action
How Cutroom's Magic Editor edits a video like this
Jacob is the AI editor inside Cutroom's Magic Editor: it edits your video for you, then changes it when you ask in a chat.
The 4 styles, as example edits
Steps
Three steps, four angles
Skit
Hook, hard stop, demo card
Verdict
The tester's verdict
Poster
Typography does the talking
Hover or tap an example to play it, without sound. These are example edits of each style; the presenters in them are generated with AI.
- Your take: one video of you talking, up to 3 minutes
- Your style: one of 4: Steps, Skit, Verdict or Poster
- Your files: screenshots, a screen recording or a logo, if you have them
- Your goal: what the video is for, in a few words, if you like
- Jacob makes it: normally 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email
- Your edit: ask Jacob for changes in a chat, then export
Then you ask Jacob, for example
- “Make this about 10 seconds shorter”
- “Put a clip on the strongest sentence”
- “Change the music to something calmer”
Each change is a new version, and going back is free. First cut 250 credits, each change 40, questions free, export 30 credits per started minute.
What to record on the app
Record the real app on your phone, not a mock-up, and show one task from start to finish. Apple's rules for App Store previews ask for footage of the app itself, captured on the device.
A UGC ad isn't an App Store preview, but the same habit keeps it honest. People see the screens they'll really get after they install.
- On an iPhone, swipe down from the top-right corner, tap the Record button and wait for the three-second countdown. The recording lands in Photos.
- On Android, swipe down twice from the top, tap Screen record and then Start. You can choose to record audio and to show your touches.
- Use sample data instead of your own private details, and turn on Do Not Disturb so no notification pops up mid-recording.
- Save two or three screenshots of the key screens too, for the moments where you name them.
- If you edit in Cutroom, pictures can be PNG, JPEG or WebP up to 25 MB; recordings can be MP4, MOV or WebM up to 200 MB.
Turning the files into one video
By hand, you lay the recording over the video of you talking on a timeline, at the words that name the feature. Then you add captions and music.
In Cutroom's Magic Editor, Jacob makes that edit from one press of "Make my video". The Skit style fits app UGC, because it's made for a product walkthrough with a face on screen.
- Upload the clip of you talking in "Your take", then add the screen recording and screenshots in "Your files".
- In "Your goal", pick "My app" as what you're showing and write the call to action you want at the end.
- In the Skit style the video opens on your hook, your screenshots slide in over your face while you talk, and the video ends on a phone with your call to action.
- Skit plays the screen recording on that phone at the end. To show it in the middle, ask Jacob "Put my screen recording on the words about the receipt". The example below does exactly that.
- If you want the green-screen look, film it with TikTok's effect. Cutroom's styles show your screens in a card over your face, in floating windows, on a laptop or on a phone.
- Then you change it in the chat, for example "Change the call to action to Try it free". Each change costs 40 credits and makes a new version.
- It's one clip of you talking per video, up to 3 minutes, and the export is a vertical MP4, 1080 by 1920, 30 frames a second, with the sound levelled. Cutroom doesn't post it for you.
A budgeting app's loose files, made into one Skit edit
Before: a video of the founder talking, a 15-second screen recording and two screenshots. After: one video, with each screen on the words that name it. It ends on the founder, then a phone with the call to action. The first chat message moves the screen recording into the middle.
Drawing of an example clip, not a customer video
Before · the clip as filmed
A 20-second phone video of a founder talking about her budgeting app, plus a 15-second screen recording of the app and two screenshots
“Okay, so, I never knew where my money went until I built this app. Um, You snap a receipt … (pause) and it sorts the spending for you. Now I check one screen on Sunday and I'm done.”
struck through = what Jacob cuts
After · Jacob's first edit, Skit style
“I never knew where my money went until I built this app. You snap a receipt and it sorts the spending for you. Now I check one screen on Sunday and I'm done.”
- On “money”: the hook in big words, then a sudden stop with the music cut
- On “receipt”: your screenshot scan.png in a card over your face
- On “spending”: your screenshot categories.png swapped into the card
- Under the whole video: music with energy under your voice
- On “done”: you on screen for the last line, then a phone with the call to action "Link in bio", playing your screen recording
window: scan.png
Then you ask Jacob
- “Put my screen recording on the words about the receipt”v2your screen recording now plays in the card over your face while you say you snap a receipt, in place of scan.png, and the phone with Link in bio still ends the video
- “Change the call to action to Try it free”v3the phone at the end now says Try it free, the rest unchanged
Questions people ask
- What is an app UGC video?
- It's a short vertical video of a person talking about an app, with a screen recording of the real app in the middle. It opens on a hook and ends on what the app changed for them.
- How long should an app UGC video be?
- Short. Superscale's guide for app founders puts its formats between 15 and 45 seconds, with the problem-and-solution version at 15 to 25 seconds.
- Can I use a mock-up instead of the real app?
- It's better not to. Apple's rules for App Store previews ask for footage of the app itself, and a mock-up in an ad shows screens people won't get when they install.
- How do I record my app's screen?
- On an iPhone, swipe down from the top-right corner, tap the Record button and wait for the countdown. On Android, swipe down twice from the top and tap Screen record. Both phones save the recording with your photos.
- Are screenshots enough, or do I need a screen recording?
- Record the app if you can. A screen recording shows the app working, which is what people want to see before they install. Screenshots work for the moments where you name one screen.
- How much does an app UGC video cost?
- Superscale's UGC pricing guide puts most creators at $150 to $300 per short video, entry work at $50 to $150 and premium creators at $300 to $500 or more. Those are general UGC prices, before usage rights or raw footage.
- Can Cutroom edit app UGC videos?
- Yes. Upload the clip of you talking, add your screen recording and screenshots, and pick the Skit style. Jacob puts your screenshots on the words where you talk about them and plays the recording on a phone at the end. To show it in the middle, ask in the chat: "Put my screen recording on the words about the receipt".
Record one task in your app, film yourself talking about it and let Jacob put the two together. Your first video is free.