Squint Support

Welcome to the official support page for Squint: Thumbnail Preview — the app that shows you your thumbnail at the size that actually decides whether it gets tapped: 120 pixels wide, in a grey row, halfway down a phone, next to five competitors.

Common Questions

• What do I get for free, and what needs Pro?
  The free version gives you three preview contexts, an A/B pair, and the squint and grayscale tests. Squint Pro adds the attention test, the legibility report, four more contexts, competitor rows, unlimited variants, and side-by-side export as PNG or PDF.
• Is Squint Pro a subscription?
  No. It is a one-time purchase. There is no recurring charge and nothing to cancel.
• Do I have to buy it again on my iPad or Mac?
  No. One purchase covers iPhone, iPad and Mac, as long as you are signed in to the same Apple Account on each device.
• I bought Pro but a new device shows the free version.
  Tap Restore Purchases in the app's settings. Make sure the device is signed in to the same Apple Account you bought with, and that it has a connection at that moment — the check goes through the App Store.
• Do I need an internet connection?
  Only to make or restore a purchase. Every preview, test and export runs on your device and works offline.
• Do I need an account?
  No. There is no sign-up, no login and no email required.
• Are my thumbnails uploaded anywhere?
  No. Every image and project stays on your device. There is no server, no sync and no analytics.
• Which platform are the mock layouts copying?
  None. Squint is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any video platform. The layouts are generic feed shapes of our own design, built to match the real proportions a thumbnail is seen at.
• What does "actual size" mode on the Mac do?
  It renders the mock at its true physical dimensions, using your display's real pixel density — so a phone feed on screen is the size of a phone feed in your hand. You can hold a ruler to it.

Using the Tests

• Squint (blur) — blur the thumbnail until it is a smudge. If the composition still reads, it works at any size.
• Grayscale — drain the colour out. If it holds up in grey, it holds up anywhere, and you know the contrast is doing the work rather than the palette.
• Attention — dims everything the attention model expects a viewer to skip. Check that your subject is not sitting in the dark half.
• Legibility report — reads the text in your image and tells you how tall it will render at the smallest size it appears, and whether its contrast clears the WCAG floor. Small type and muddy contrast are the two most common reasons a good thumbnail fails, and both are invisible at full size.
• A/B compare — put version A next to version B, or flicker between them in the same spot with no fade and no delay, so your eye catches the difference the way a viewer would.
• Competitor rows — load the thumbnails yours will actually sit beside. A thumbnail is never judged alone, and grey filler rows will not tell you whether yours stands out.

Troubleshooting

• The app cannot see my images.
  Photo access is probably set to Selected Photos or denied. On iPhone and iPad, open Settings → Privacy & Security → Photos → Squint and choose full access, then reopen the app.
• The legibility report found no text.
  Text recognition needs reasonably clean, reasonably large lettering. Very stylised type, heavy outlines or text baked into a busy background may not be detected — which is itself a useful signal about how legible it is.
• My purchase will not go through.
  Purchases are handled entirely by the App Store. Check your connection and your payment method in Settings → [your name] → Payment & Shipping. If the charge appeared but Pro did not unlock, tap Restore Purchases, and email us if it still will not.
• Refunds.
  We cannot issue refunds ourselves, because we never receive the payment. Apple handles all of them at reportaproblem.apple.com. Do tell us what went wrong, though — it usually means something needs fixing.
• An export looks wrong or will not save.
  Check that the app has permission to save to the destination you picked, and try exporting to Files first. Send us the details if it persists.

Contact Us

When reporting a problem, telling us your device, your OS version and what you were doing at the time gets you a useful answer far faster.

Privacy

Your images never leave your device, and Squint collects nothing about you. Read the full Privacy Policy.

Feedback

Squint exists because thumbnails get judged at a size nobody designs at. If there is a context you need, a test you would use, or something that is simply wrong, email us — that is where the next version comes from.

Thank you for using Squint.