Apple doesn’t give much guidance on this important chunk of text. “Write your Application Description with a focus on what makes the functionality or design of your app unique.” was a tip from this past June from the App Store Tips blog.

We know that 4000 characters is the limit.  And App descriptions are made up of simple text, including unicode symbols like checkboxes (✔) and more (♣☢☂).  Apple takes your unicode text and formats it for display on the web via Web Preview, in iTunes and on the iOS devices themselves (the app store).

Since you probably have very specific points you want to get across, and users have a very short attention span, you need to pay attention to how Apple will format what you write.  In this entry I discuss how to create app descriptions that look great everywhere Apple publishes your app description.

Word Wrap and the Fold

Word wrap occurs in app descriptions when enough characters fill up a line.  Each line has a maximum number of characters and when a word goes over that, it is bumped to the next line.  This is important because one word of word wrap can waste an entire line of potential ad copy.  This is important: the length of your lines in your app description affects the placement of the fold.

The fold is the point where iTunes, Web Preview or the iPad App Store app decide to make the user click or tap the More… button.  Everything below the fold is out of sight, out of mind.  Without the data to prove it, my hunch is that at least half the time, users are not bothering to click More… before deciding whether they are installing an app or not.

All this means is that you must use the space above the fold as effectively as possible.

All app purchase vectors limit the top of fold line display to three lines.  Two important rules here:

1. Blank lines count as lines.
2. Lines over 120 characters in length will lead to word wrap and the use of an additional line above the fold line.

App Description Formatting on iTunes and Web Preview

Web Preview and iTunes behave in a similar way, Web Preview is just that, a summary of your app description and screenshots along with a link to view the app in iTunes.  The final step on a computer is to have iTunes open to the page where the user clicks purchase to download the app.  A history of Web Preview and SEO implications may be found here.

Both iTunes and Web Preview show the same number of lines from your app description before the “break” point.  A break point is where all text is hidden below the fold, and the user must click the More… link to display the rest.

Let’s look at some examples. The following three shots were taken from Web Preview.  iTunes displays the same amount of information as Web Preview, however only Web Preview has fixed width.  Resize the iTunes app window, allows longer word-wrapping lines but ultimately the same amount of information above the fold as Web Preview.

Note: Click any images to see the full size.

Here the app publisher has chosen to highlight two specific sentences and put a line of space between them for readibility.  Note that if the first line was longer than 120 characters, top of fold would be a complete and a partial line (due to the wrap) and the third would simply be a blank space.

Here the app publisher has one long line of text with no carriage returns.  This means that all three allowable lines of text are the result of one word wrapped line.  This is the maximum amount of information you can cram into the top of fold, but it does not read very well here.  Wait until you see how ad copy like this looks in the iPhone’s App Store.  For your reference, this one line of text is about 343 characters in length.

Looking at the devices

Currently there are two different sizes in the iOS hardware family.  The long one, (iPhone and iPod Touch devices), and the wide one, (iPad devices).  In addition, there are three types of binaries, iPhone only apps, iPad only apps and Universal apps, which work on both iPhone (iPod Touch too) and iPad.

If your app is only for iPhone you need to focus on how it is displayed in the iPhone’s app store.  If it is only for iPad, you need to look at it there.  In either case you also need to look at how Apple’s relatively new Web Preview page displays your app description too.

App Description Formatting on the iPhone

Often users install apps directly on their device, rather than using iTunes and syncing a purchase.  It is certainly less clunky and you have instant satisfaction of getting to run the app right away.  That means your app description marketing copy should be influenced by how the lines of text look when displayed on each of these devices.

Here are some screenshots of how word wrapping of text affects readability on the iPhone App Store app.  Note that the iPhone app store app only supports portrait orientation.

Interestingly, a long line of text looks like a nice paragraph on the iPhone.  Also, Apple uses the bullet character to bullet features.

Note here that the long lines make the display of this text awkward and difficult to read.  (I use it anyhow!)

Note a few things here:

1. The first and third lines are used so Web Preview and iTunes display both lines top of fold.
2. The bulleted lists do not word wrap, (the max char per line is 45).
3. Unicode goodness makes it look crisp.
4. Attention goes to lines 17 and 18 in the app description.  They are the final ones before the user would scroll down to see the screen shots.

Here’s Rock Show’s Web Preview:

App Description Formatting on the iPad

The iPad app store app supports both landscape and portrait modes.  It also brings back the idea of the fold and its exposing link, “More…”  In this way, the iPad’s app store application is formated more like iTunes’ traditional display.  See for yourself by comparing iBooks Web Preview with the landscape view of the iPad App Store app. iBooks also happens to have a fancy custom background that 3rd party developers generally won’t have access to:

Conclusion

There isn’t an easy way to preview how your app’s text will look in all these different store fronts until after it is published , but you can at least know what you’re up against.

Experiment with your language and line length.  Every opportunity for a new installation of your software on an iOS device holds not only immediate, but residual value.  Since potential users may view your value proposition from a few different angles, pay attention to the quirks and write accordingly.

New Media: Facebook’s Privacy Settings Updates

Facebook has made major changes to how it handles privacy settings for users.  Most likely you are familiar with the outcry and acceptance around Facebook’s push to make your updates more transparent.

Facebook was conceived around the idea of sharing detailed content like photos and notes only with your social net, which was supposed to represent your core group of friends in the meatspace.  Twitter’s growth has been in addressing the extreme opposite: sharing 140 characters worth of insight with the entire world instantly.

Facebook relies on deep engagement with its users in order to get its advertisements clicked on.  Facebook was forced to change its strategy because it was losing opportunities for interaction with its users to Twitter.  In addition, Facebook is missing out on buzz because Facebook it is seen as lacking the real time relevance of Twitter.

The update to Facebook’s Privacy Settings is a tactic in the company’s strategy to get more Facebook users to share their updates with the public or at least make it obvious that users are welcome to do so.

The problem is that average internet users are not capable of building and utilizing a set of sophisticated privacy settings.  The result is that many are unwittingly sharing what they believe is private information.  Rafe Needleman makes a great point that the initial user interface designed to guide Facebook users does more to guide them to exposing their information rather than creating the controls they want.

If these ideas are to be accepted, it suggests that Facebook is knowingly creating conditions where the details of user’s personal lives are made public because it will lead the company towards greater market share and profits.

Old Media: Tiger Woods Endorsement Contracts

Let it be known that I am not a huge fan of old media.  To be clear, this includes broadcast and time shifted television advertisements, magazine advertising and  just about any electronic sign found in sports arenas like the Rose Garden. (Go Blazers.)  My reasoning is that old media too often lacks any real context and is more about blanketing the masses with the critical six exposures rather than seeking to engage individual interests.

Celebrity endorsements or testimonials are a classic tool of old media and I couldn’t help but notice the full page advertisement for Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer, which features their “official partner” Tiger Woods.

Woods is currently deep in allegations of adultery, and after being dropped from Accenture this past Sunday the Tag Heuer made the statement that Woods’ personal life is “not our business.”

So I had a closer look at this big magazine advertisement and the text reads: “I first swung a golf club when I was nine months old…Since 1996, my Foundation has inspired more than 10 million youth…Together with TAG Heuer, I’m helping young people believe in themselves.”

My question to Tag Heuer is if you’re going to have a representative for your brand make claims about his ability to connect with and inspire children, is your representative’s personal life really not your business?  It is one thing if you are going to depict your representative as a an accomplished athlete and another if he is going to be talking about his influence on kids.

Closing

I selected these to examples because I was interested in them.  Facebook is social media, which I enjoy and Woods’ sex scandal has become interesting because of the business aspect and the general extent of what he’s described as “transgressions.”

But the greater comment I’m after is that it is easy to say that Facebook or major media has taken away people’s right to privacy.  Or to believe that there is complete compromise in participating in social networking or great accomplishment that puts you in the public spotlight.

However, who controls your personal information and the judgement of exactly what is a constitutes “personal life” is a moving target.  New technologies and dollars and cents will affect what you get to keep private as much as evolving social mores.

Since I rarely see advertisements, I hardly ever investigate contextual advertising.  But given the sheer variety of products and services, I had to check out some of these:

• The Gold Cockerel Books company offers a chicken coop construction booklet at a mere $13.00.  Except they call it a “poultry house” which is surely a major step up for any fowl who grew up in a lowly coop.
• Google picked up on a keyword for a traditional Ethiopian clothing worn around Christmas but instead provided a few links for Chinese clothing.  That’s a pretty far off from Africa, but the wedding dresses were still beautiful.
• Perhaps the most confusing advertisement was the How to be a Manhattan Dad, which linked out to a blog by a father with two young children The City.  There are some rather cute videos of his children endorsing Barack Obama and a brief rant on paternity leave disparity.

I often get stuck in a cycle of reading my big news sites, my rss syndication and checking the analytics on online properties I control.  For those Gmail users seeking adventure, I recommend cruising some of your more colorful past conversations for odd destinations on the web you would otherwise never have considered.