Build in public: how to share progress screenshots

Updated October 30, 2026

Building in public works when people can see the progress at a glance. Post one screenshot at a time, each showing one change: a new screen, a before and after, a fixed bug or a number. Post on a steady schedule, give every image the same look so people recognize your posts, remove private data before you share, and write a caption that says what changed and why.

What to post

You don’t need a launch to have something to show. Most weeks have at least one of these.

A new screen. The first time a feature looks real. Even a rough version is interesting if you say what it’s for.
Before and after. The same screen, old on the left, new on the right. It’s the easiest progress post to read, because the difference is the story.
A fixed bug. Show the broken state and the fix. Developers love a good bug, and it shows you care about details.
A small detail. An animation, an empty state, a settings screen you spent too long on. Details are what make an app feel finished.
A number. Downloads, revenue, the first paying customer. Show the chart or the dashboard, with anything private hidden.
A decision. Two designs side by side, and which one you picked. Or ask: people like to vote.

Pick a cadence you can keep

Consistency matters more than volume. One good post a week, every week, builds more of an audience than ten posts in launch week and silence after.

A simple rhythm:

Once a week: one progress screenshot, posted on the same day. Friday works well: you know what you shipped.
Once a month: a recap with three or four screens and the numbers.
When it happens: milestones, the first sale, a bug story worth telling.

Keep a folder of screenshots as you work. When it’s time to post, you’re choosing, not scrambling.

Make your posts recognizable

People scroll fast. If every progress post looks the same, they start to recognize your work before they read your name.

Use the same background color or gradient each time.
Use the same device frame, angle and canvas shape.
Put a small handle or logo in the same corner. See how to watermark your screenshots.
Use your app’s colors, so the images look like the product.

This also saves time. Once the look is set, a new post is just a new screenshot.

Remove private data first

Progress screenshots come from your own phone and your own test data, which is where private things hide. Before you post, check every screenshot for:

Real names, email addresses and phone numbers, yours or anyone else’s.
Notifications and banners at the top of the screen.
API keys, tokens, server addresses and debug overlays.
Customer data in dashboards: emails, order details, anything that identifies a person.
Exact revenue figures you didn’t mean to share.

The easiest fix is prevention. Use a test account with made-up data, and the Simulator, where the status bar shows a clean 9:41 and no notifications. If you must use real data, cover it with a solid shape rather than a blur: some blurs can be partly reversed.

Frame it so it reads in a feed

A raw phone screenshot is a tall, narrow strip. Most feeds crop it or shrink it, and the detail you wanted to show gets lost. A few things help:

Put it on a canvas the feed expects. 4:5 for Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads and Bluesky; 16:9 for X. Sizes for each are in image sizes for sharing app screenshots.
Add a device frame. It tells people they’re looking at an app, not a document, and gives the image a clear shape.
Show one thing. If the change is a button, crop or zoom so the button is visible at phone size.
Before and after side by side. Two phones in a row on a 16:9 canvas, same frame, same angle. The only difference should be the change.

Our guide to making screenshots look good covers backgrounds, padding and shadows.

Write captions that tell the story

The image shows what changed. The caption says why it matters. A short structure works for most posts:

What changed: “Redesigned the export screen.”
Why: “People kept missing the format option.”
What’s next or a question: “Shipping Friday. Does the new layout make sense?”

Keep it human. “Spent three evenings on this empty state” is more interesting than a feature list. And don’t start every post with “Day 47”: say what happened instead.

Add alt text

Describe the screenshot for people who use screen readers. Say what the screen shows and what changed: “The export screen, now with format options above the Export button instead of in a menu.” Most platforms have an alt text field when you attach an image; fill it in every time. Buffer’s alt text guide recommends staying under 200 characters.

Make progress posts quickly with FeatureFrame

FeatureFrame is a Mac app for exactly this kind of post. Drop or paste a screenshot and it detects the device from the pixel size and puts it in a 3D frame of that model, from iPhone 11 Pro to iPhone 18 Pro Max, iPhone Air and iPad.

It remembers the device and color you pick for each screenshot size, so the next post starts the same way.
Add up to three screenshots for a before-and-after in a Row layout.
Pick 4:5 or 16:9 for the feed you’re posting to.
Add your handle as a watermark, in any of six positions.
Copy the result with ⌘C and paste it straight into your post.

Building a Mac app? Window captures get a plain frame: FeatureFrame crops away the window’s shadow and keeps its rounded corners. See Mac screenshots without the shadow. And if you’d rather not show a real device model, clay mockups give you a simple, matte frame in your own color.