App Store Screenshots: Sizes and Best Practices (2026)

In short: As of October 2026, the App Store requires at least one iPhone screenshot for the Dynamic Island medium display (1179 × 2556 or 1206 × 2622 pixels in portrait) and, if your app runs on iPad, one 13-inch iPad screenshot (2064 × 2752 or 2048 × 2732). Upload 1 to 10 JPEG or PNG files per size, with no transparency, and App Store Connect scales them down for smaller devices. Then put your effort into the first three: they can appear in search results, so each should show the app in use and state one clear benefit.

Screenshot sizes change almost every year as new iPhones ship, and a wrong size is one of the few things that stops an upload outright. This guide lists the sizes Apple and Google accept as of October 2026, with every number checked against their documentation, then explains how to design screenshots that convert.

Why screenshots matter more than any other asset

Apple says your app's rating and "up to three screenshots or app previews may display in search results depending on the platform and image orientation." Its product page guide adds that "the first one to three images will appear in search results when no app preview is available." So for most people your screenshots are visible before they ever open your product page. How many show depends on orientation: a row has room for several portrait images or a single landscape one.

Screenshots do not add keywords. Apple's search page names the title, subtitle, keywords and primary category as the text it matches. What screenshots change is conversion: the share of people who see your app in results and install it. Because Apple lists downloads among the user behavior signals behind search results, better conversion can feed back into rankings over time.

Required App Store sizes

From Apple's screenshot specifications, the rules for every device:

• 1 to 10 screenshots per device size and localization.
• Formats: .jpeg, .jpg or .png.
• No alpha channel or transparency. A PNG exported with transparency is rejected at upload.
• Required: at least one screenshot for "iPhone with Dynamic Island (medium display)," and at least one for the 13-inch iPad display if your app runs on iPad.

Scaling. Apple says that if your interface "is consistent across multiple device sizes and localizations, you only need to provide screenshots for the highest required resolution. App Store Connect automatically scales them down for smaller device sizes." One well-made set at the required size is enough for most apps. Upload device-specific sets only when your layout really differs, for example a split view on large iPhones.

iPad by accident. If your Xcode target includes iPad and you have no iPad screenshots, App Store Connect will ask for them. Either design an iPad set or remove iPad from the target. If this is your first release, our submission checklist covers the rest of the version page.

All iPhone sizes Apple accepts

You only need the required size, but App Store Connect accepts screenshots for every display class. If you upload one, it is used for those devices instead of a scaled version.

Landscape sizes are the same numbers swapped. Apple's page also lists sizes for older 4-inch and 3.5-inch iPhones.

Coming next: iPhone Duo. Apple's page now lists screenshot sizes for iPhone Duo: 1398 × 2034 pixels for the outer display and 2007 × 2853 for the inner display (portrait). Apple states that "starting in April 2027, screenshots will be required for any app using the iOS 27.1 SDK or later," and that submitting them adds a badge to your product page showing the app is optimized for iPhone Duo. If you plan to build with that SDK next spring, add the two sizes to your design template now.

iPad and other platforms

App preview specs

App previews are optional videos shown before your screenshots. From Apple's app preview specifications:

Note that preview resolutions are not device resolutions: App Store Connect accepts 886 × 1920 for all modern iPhones. Apple says previews "autoplay with muted audio," so the first seconds must work without sound, and guideline 2.3.4 says previews "may only use video screen captures of the app itself," with narration and overlays allowed to explain what is shown.

App icon specs

Apple's Human Interface Guidelines list a 1024 × 1024 pixel layout size for iOS, iPadOS and macOS icons. The system applies the rounded-corner mask, so you provide a square, unmasked design, and it scales the icon down for places like Settings and notifications.

Since 2025, icons on these platforms can be layered: you build them in Icon Composer, which ships with Xcode, and the system adds Liquid Glass effects such as highlights and refraction. People can choose default, dark, clear or tinted Home Screen icons; you can design each variant, and the system generates any you do not provide. Apple's advice for ASO purposes is short: keep the design simple, avoid non-essential text, prefer illustrations to photos and keep the core features the same across appearances. Your icon is in every search result row, so test it like a screenshot.

Google Play graphics

Google's preview assets page sets different rules:

Google's text rules are stricter than Apple's. Its best practices ask you to keep taglines under 20% of the image, not to use ranking, award, price or promotional words such as "Best" or "Free," not to add calls to action like "Download now," and not to show people interacting with devices or device imagery. It also asks you to prioritize real UI in the first three screenshots and to add alt text of up to 140 characters.

How to design screenshots that convert

These are practical rules, drawn from Apple's and Google's guidance and from what we see tracking store pages. None of them is a ranking rule.

1. Lead with the answer to the search. Someone who typed "habit tracker" wants to see habits being tracked. Your first screenshot should show the core screen, with a caption that echoes the job: "Track every habit in one tap." Save onboarding, settings and secondary features for later positions.

2. One benefit per screenshot. Apple suggests focusing each subsequent screenshot "on a main benefit or feature." A screenshot that tries to show four features communicates none of them at thumbnail size.

3. Short captions, large type. In search results your screenshots appear at a fraction of their size. Aim for two to six words per caption and test legibility by viewing the full set at 25% zoom.

4. Show real UI. Guideline 2.3.3 says screenshots "should show the app in use, and not merely the title art, login page, or splash screen." Overlays and text are allowed. Mockups of features you have not shipped are a fast route to rejection and bad reviews.

5. Keep it 4+ and on-platform. Guideline 2.3.8 requires screenshots to fit a 4+ age rating even if the app is rated higher, and 2.3.10 bans names, icons or imagery of other mobile platforms. Guideline 2.3.7 also says screenshots should not include prices.

6. Include Dark Mode if you support it. Apple suggests including at least one screenshot showing the Dark Mode experience.

7. Localize the captions, not just the UI. Write captions in each language with the words people search there. A direct translation of "Build better habits" may not match what people type in Germany or Japan. Our App Store localization guide lists the languages each storefront uses.

8. Decide orientation on purpose. Apple shows one to three images in a search result depending on orientation, so a portrait set gives you more images in the row, while a single landscape image fills it. Landscape suits games and video apps whose core experience is landscape.

Worked example: Streakly's first three

Streakly is the hypothetical habit tracker we use across this blog. Its keyword research says most searches are for "habit tracker," followed by "daily routine" and "habit reminder." Its old set opened with a branded splash image and a welcome screen. The new storyboard:

Production plan: design once at 1206 × 2622 pixels, export PNG without transparency, upload to the Dynamic Island medium slot and let App Store Connect scale the rest. Streakly runs on iPhone only, so its Xcode target excludes iPad. For Google Play, re-export the same designs at 1080 × 1920, remove device frames and check that captions stay under 20% of each image.

Screenshots for custom product pages and events

Your default screenshot set has to serve everyone. Two App Store features let you show a different set to a specific group, and they change how you plan production.

Custom product pages. Each custom product page can have its own screenshots, previews and promotional text, and since 2025 you can assign keywords from your keyword field so the page can appear in search results for those keywords instead of your default page. For Streakly, a "water reminder" page would open with the hydration reminder screen, not the general habit list. Apple's App Store Connect help notes that when you start a page from an existing one, it copies the primary localization only, so plan to upload assets for every other language yourself. Assets can also come from the Asset Library in App Store Connect.

In-App Events. Event cards use their own artwork, not your screenshots. In search results, Apple shows the event card to people who have downloaded your app before, while people who never downloaded it still see your screenshots or previews. Your screenshots therefore remain the main creative for new users even while an event runs.

The production consequence: build your screenshots from a template where the caption, background and screen are separate layers. Swapping one screen and one caption for a custom page should take minutes, not a redesign.

Why screenshots get rejected or fail upload

Test before you redesign everything

Opinions about screenshots are cheap; tests are free.

• App Store product page optimization lets you test up to three treatments of your screenshots, previews and icon against your original page for up to 90 days. Tests without icon changes can be submitted for review without a new app version. Apple recommends waiting for at least 90% confidence before applying a winner.
• Google Play store listing experiments test graphics with up to two variants against your current listing.
• Custom product pages let you show a different screenshot set to people from a specific search or campaign. You can create up to 70, each with its own screenshots, previews, promotional text and optional keywords.

Change one thing per test: the first screenshot, or the caption style, not the whole set. When a test ends, write down what you learned so the next redesign starts from evidence.

Reading the result without a test

Not every app has the traffic for a clean A/B test: Apple's duration estimate can easily pass 90 days for a small app. In that case, compare before and after. In App Store Connect, open App Analytics, filter to the App Store search source and note the conversion rate (downloads and pre-orders divided by unique device impressions) for the 14 days before the new screenshots go live. Then read the same number for days 7 to 20 after. Keep everything else still during that window: no keyword changes, no new ads, no price change. A hypothetical example: if Streakly's search conversion moves from 3.6% to 4.1% with similar impressions, that is roughly 14% more installs from the same traffic. A move of a tenth of a point on a few thousand impressions is noise, not a result.

Upload checklist

1. Required iPhone size exported (1179 × 2556 or 1206 × 2622 portrait).
2. 13-inch iPad set, or iPad removed from the target.
3. JPEG or PNG with no alpha channel or transparency.
4. 1 to 10 screenshots per size and localization; the first three carry the main message.
5. Real UI in every screenshot, no prices, nothing above a 4+ rating, no other platforms.
6. Captions short, legible at small size, and localized per language.
7. Optional app preview: 15 to 30 seconds, 886 × 1920 for iPhone, works muted.
8. Icon at 1024 × 1024, unmasked; Google Play icon at 512 × 512.
9. Google Play set without device frames or promotional words, with alt text.
10. A product page optimization test or store listing experiment planned for the first screenshot.

How Searvia helps

Searvia's Screenshots tab reads your and your competitors' current screenshots and gives you a brief for the first three, then rewrites your captions with the words people search in each language; the screenshots guide shows how. On the App Store Release tab, screenshots are checked against Apple's exact pixel sizes before they upload, and on Google Play the release guide covers graphics uploads with the same checks. Every visual change you or a competitor makes shows on the store changes tab, so you can see whether it moved your ranks.