Short answer: For Apple, design iPhone screenshots at 1320 × 2868 px and iPad screenshots at 2064 × 2752 px. For Google Play, export JPEG or 24-bit PNG files with no transparency, at least 1080 px on the short side, plus a 1024 × 500 px feature graphic and a 512 × 512 px icon. Both stores reject or degrade images that do not follow their rules, so it pays to get the numbers right before you upload.
Screenshots are often the first thing a visitor looks at on a store page. They also tend to be the part of a listing that gets rejected, cropped or blurred because the dimensions are slightly off. Apple and Google handle screenshots differently, and the requirements change from year to year as new devices launch.
This guide compares the current rules for both stores side by side, based on Apple’s App Store Connect Help and Google’s Play Console Help, and explains how to avoid the most common upload problems.
Apple App Store screenshot requirements
App Store Connect requires at least one screenshot and lets you upload up to 10 per device size, in JPEG or PNG format. Images cannot contain alpha channels or transparency. All sizes below are portrait; for landscape, swap the width and height.
|
Device class |
Accepted sizes (px) |
Notes |
| iPhone, large display (6.9-inch class) | 1320 × 2868, 1290 × 2796 or 1260 × 2736 | Best choice as your master iPhone set |
| iPhone, medium display (6.3-inch class) | 1206 × 2622 or 1179 × 2556 | Scaled automatically if you skip it |
| iPad, 13-inch display | 2064 × 2752 or 2048 × 2732 | Required only if your app runs on iPad |
Apple also says that if your interface looks the same across device sizes and languages, you only need to provide the highest required resolution, and App Store Connect scales it down for smaller devices. In practice, one large-iPhone set and, if you support iPad, one 13-inch set covers most apps.
Apple has changed which device classes count as required more than once, so treat the upload screen in App Store Connect as the final authority before you submit.
Google Play screenshot requirements
Google Play is more flexible about exact pixel sizes but stricter about format, quantity and content:
- Format: JPEG or 24-bit PNG, with no alpha channel.
- Dimensions: each side must be between 320 and 3,840 px, and the longer side cannot be more than twice the shorter side.
- Quantity: up to eight screenshots per device type, and at least two across device types to publish a listing.
- Recommendation eligibility: for apps to qualify for large-format recommendation placements, Google asks for at least four screenshots at a minimum of 1080 px, either 9:16 portrait (1080 × 1920) or 16:9 landscape (1920 × 1080).
- Tablets and Chromebooks: at least four screenshots, between 1,080 and 7,680 px.
- App icon: 512 × 512 px, 32-bit PNG with alpha, up to 1,024 KB.
- Feature graphic: 1024 × 500 px, JPEG or 24-bit PNG with no alpha. It is required for every listing and also serves as the cover for your preview video.
Apple vs Google Play at a glance
|
Apple App Store |
Google Play |
|
| File format | JPEG, JPG or PNG | JPEG or 24-bit PNG |
| Transparency | Not allowed | Not allowed in screenshots |
| Max screenshots | 10 per device size | 8 per device type |
| Main phone size | 1320 × 2868 px | 1080 × 1920 px (recommended minimum) |
| Tablet | 13-inch iPad: 2064 × 2752 px | 4+ screenshots, 1,080 to 7,680 px |
| App icon | Set in your Xcode project | 512 × 512 px upload in Play Console |
| Extra banner | None | 1024 × 500 px feature graphic (required) |
How screenshot quality affects downloads
Google notes that screenshots can appear in search and on the Play homepage, not only on your own listing page, which means a weak set costs you visibility in several places at once. A blurry, stretched or wrongly cropped image signals low effort before a user reads a word of your description.
A few practical habits help on both stores:
- Put your core feature in the first two or three screenshots. Google specifically recommends prioritizing real interface in the first three.
- Keep captions short and large enough to read at thumbnail size. Google suggests taglines should not take up more than 20% of the image.
- On Google Play, avoid words such as “Best”, “#1”, “Top” or “Free”, and avoid calls to action like “Download now” in screenshots and feature graphics.
- Clean up the status bar before capturing: full battery, full signal and no notifications.
- Localize any text overlays for each market you target.
Common screenshot mistakes to avoid
- Stretching to fit. Squashing an image to hit exact pixels distorts the interface. Re-export at the correct aspect ratio instead.
- Leaving transparency in. Both stores reject alpha channels in screenshots, so flatten PNG files before upload.
- Reusing phone images for tablets. A tablet listing with stretched phone screens looks unfinished and can hurt conversion.
- Forgetting to update after a redesign. Screenshots should always match the current version of your app.
- Uploading raw captures. Unedited device screenshots often include notifications, personal data or inconsistent status bars.
A simple workflow for getting the sizes right
Design your screenshots at the largest size you need first, then export the other sizes from that master. Scaling down keeps quality; scaling up does not. If you only need a quick crop, a format change between JPG and PNG, or exact pixel dimensions with the aspect ratio locked, a free online image resizer such as ResizeMyImg can handle it in a few clicks. For the final store-ready set, though, export from your design file at native resolution rather than resizing after the fact.
Screenshots are only one part of discoverability. Keywords, title, icon, ratings and update frequency all affect how often your app is found. If you would rather not manage every piece yourself, a team offering App Store Optimization services can audit your listing, test different screenshot sets and localize them for each market.
Quick pre-upload checklist
- Format is JPEG or PNG with no transparency
- Apple: iPhone set at 1320 × 2868 px, plus a 13-inch iPad set if your app supports iPad
- Google Play: at least four screenshots at 1080 px or larger, in 9:16 or 16:9
- Google Play: 512 × 512 px icon and 1024 × 500 px feature graphic ready
- First three screenshots show real interface and your main benefit
- Status bars are clean and text overlays are readable at small sizes
Final thoughts
Apple and Google agree on the basics: clean files, no transparency, and images that show the real app. They differ on exact dimensions, quantity and extra assets like the Play feature graphic. Check the current specifications in App Store Connect and Play Console before each release, since both stores update their requirements as new devices and surfaces appear.