App Store screenshot
sizes, end-to-end.

The two required sizes

Since April 2025, App Store Connect only requires screenshots at two display sizes, one for iPhone, one for iPad. If your app supports both platforms, you need both. If iPhone-only, just the first.

Optional sizes (when you should bother)

Apple still accepts older sizes if you want pixel control on those displays. Most apps don't need to. Three cases where it's worth uploading the optional sizes:

• Your screenshots have small text that downsamples poorly when Apple scales 1290×2796 down to a 5.5″ phone.
• Your app's layout changes meaningfully between iPhone and iPhone Pro, a sidebar collapses, controls reflow, the home indicator overlaps something, and you want to show each one accurately.
• You're localizing and your translations break the layout at certain widths.

File rules

These are the technical constraints App Store Connect enforces at upload. The screenshot editor outputs all of these by default, but if you're rolling your own:

• Format: PNG (recommended, lossless) or JPEG. No HEIC, no WebP, no AVIF.
• Color space: sRGB or P3. No CMYK.
• Color depth: 24-bit (RGB) or 32-bit (RGBA). PNG transparency is allowed but flattened against white on the listing.
• Resolution: 72 DPI. Apple ignores higher DPI, so don't bother.
• Per app: up to 10 screenshots per device size, per locale. The first 3 show inline; the rest open the gallery.
• Aspect ratio: must match the device exactly. If you submit something off-spec, App Store Connect rejects it before review.

What "App Store auto-scaling" actually does

If you submit only the two required sizes, Apple downsamples them to fit smaller devices using a bicubic filter. That's usually fine for marketing screenshots, the difference between a 1290×2796 master and Apple's 1242×2688 derivative is invisible at thumbnail scale. Where it shows up is in long body copy or detail-heavy UI: a 13px paragraph in your app becomes a 12px paragraph after the resize, and pixel-snapping suffers slightly.

The fix isn't more upload sizes. The fix is: design your screenshots for the smallest display you care about, then upload at the largest required size. Anti-aliased text downsamples cleanly; text that's already small downsamples poorly.

Updating screenshots after launch

The rule that surprises everyone once: App Store screenshots can only be changed by submitting a new app version. Screenshots are version-level metadata, the live listing's set is frozen until your next release passes review. If you spot a typo in a caption the day after launch, the fix rides along with version 1.0.1, not a quick edit.

Google Play is the opposite: store listing graphics can be updated any time from the Play Console, no new build required, with changes typically live within hours. Two practical consequences:

• Treat App Store screenshot day as a release-blocking deadline, because it is one. A template-based workflow, compose once, re-render on change, keeps it from eating the release.
• Use Play as the testing ground. Since Play edits are free, try caption and ordering changes there first, then carry the winners into your next App Store submission.

Where these sizes come from, and when they change

Apple's size list tracks its flagship display classes, which means it changes roughly when the hardware does. The 6.5″ class (1242×2688) was the required iPhone size for years; the 6.9″ class (1290×2796) replaced it as the requirement once the Pro Max displays moved on, and April 2025 collapsed the requirement to today's two sizes. Expect the same pattern again: when a new display class ships, App Store Connect starts accepting its dimensions, runs both for a while, then moves the "required" label.

The future-proofing is boring and effective: keep your screenshot compositions in a re-renderable form rather than as flattened exports. When the required size shifts, a saved template re-exports at the new dimensions in minutes, the redesign only has to happen when your app's UI actually changes.

Common mistakes

Submitting at exactly 1290×2796 on a 6.7″ phone simulator

Simulator screenshots are at the device's logical resolution, not 3× retina. A "1290×2796" iPhone screenshot from your simulator is usually 430×932 unless you've set the simulator to record at native resolution. Use xcrun simctl io booted screenshot --type=png to grab the real pixel count.

Letterboxing instead of resizing

App Store Connect will reject 1290×2796 padded inside a 2064×2752 canvas. The exporter needs to render at the target size, not pad an existing one. Mockstack handles this, every size is a fresh canvas.

Transparent corners on dark backgrounds

If you ship PNGs with rounded transparent corners, the App Store composites them against white, which on a dark-background screenshot reads as four bright triangles in the corners. Either flatten the background or don't round.

Quick reference, what to ship

• iPhone-only app: 1290×2796, 10 screenshots, PNG.
• iPad-only app: 2064×2752, 10 screenshots, PNG.
• Universal app: both sets, 10 each.
• Apple Watch app: separate size guide, Apple Watch screenshots are 410×502 (Series 7+) or 396×484 (Series 4 to 6). Not covered here.
• Mac app: 1280×800 to 2880×1800. Not covered here.

That's the whole spec. Two sizes, ten screenshots each, PNG, no transparency at the edges. The rest is content.