What video resolution and format is most suitable for ios apps?

Question

I would like to play full-screen videos as a background in one of my apps. The problem is that videos take up a lot of space. What resolution and format is most suitable for ios apps? The main criteria are file size & loading time.

Answer 1

The supported video types are mentioned at the Apple docs:

iPhone OS provides support for full-screen video playback through the Media Player framework (MediaPlayer.framework). This framework supports the playback of movie files with the .mov, .mp4, .m4v, and .3gp filename extensions and using the following compression standards:

• H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
• H.264 video, up to 768 Kbps, 320 by 240 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
• MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
• Numerous audio formats, including the ones listed in “Audio Technologies”

Best video formats for iPhone 6/6+, link:

1. H.264 video up to 1080p, 60 frames per second, High Profile level 4.2/4.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats;
2. MPEG-4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats;
3. Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format.