App Store Screenshot Sizes (ASO Guideline)

Before you pubish your app, there are a few guidelines and restrictions for the screenshot you can use for Apple’s App Store and Google Play.

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There are arguments that app icons and descriptions are the fundamental influencers that drive downloads. However, the screenshots you choose have an equal, if not a powerful influence, over catching attention and converting viewers.

In this article, let’s take a look at app store screen shot sizes for both iOS and Android while addressing App Store Optimization (ASO).

Screenshot Sizes for Apple iOS

On the iOS App Store, you must upload a set of screenshots for all device types. You can use a minimum of one and a total of ten screenshots to your gallery in either landscape portrait format.

Later in this guide, you’ll find tips and suggestions for the types of screenshots to create, but first, let’s review the actual sizes you need:

Requirements for iPhone Xs Max/XR (6.5-Inch Super Retina Display)

• 1242 x 2688 pixels for portrait
• 2688 x 1242 pixels for landscape
• Accepted formats: jpg, png

Requirements for iPhone X/Xs (5.8-Inch Super Retina Display)

• 1125 x 2436 pixels for portrait
• 2436 x 1125 pixels for landscape
• Accepted formats: jpg, png

Requirements for iPhone 6 Plus/7 Plus/8 Plus (5.5-Inch Retina Display)

• 1242 x 2208 pixels for portrait
• 2208 x 1242 pixels for landscape
• Accepted formats: jpg, png

Requirements for iPhone 6/7/8 (4.7-Inch Retina Display)

• 750 x 1334 pixels for portrait
• 1334 x 750 pixels for landscape
• Accepted formats: jpg, png

Requirements for iPhone 5 (4-Inch Retina Display)

• 640 x 1096 pixels for portrait (without status bar)
• 640 x 1136 pixels for portrait (full screen)
• 1136 x 600 pixels for landscape (without status bar)
• 1136 x 640 pixels for landscape (full screen)
• Accepted formats: jpg, png

Minimum Requirements for iPad (12.9-Inch Retina Display)

• 2048 x 2732 pixels for portrait
• 2732 x 2048 pixels for landscape
• Accepted formats: jpg, png

Requirements for Apple Watch

• 312 x 390 pixels
• Accepted formats: jpg, png

For a complete list of Apple’s screenshot requirements, read this.

Screenshot Tip

Best practice for screenshots include lifestyle images that express app value or incorporate real app screenshots that highlight specific features using minimal text to describe it or both.

Screenshot Sizes for Google Play

When uploading screenshots to Google Play, you need a minimum of two screenshots with a maximum of eight as landscape or portrait.

As a quick note, Google recently updated their store design. If you take a look in the sample below, the new update puts more emphasis on the screenshots you use for your app.

You can see that the featured image and badges below the “Install” button have been removed. This is a big shift which directs users attention more toward your app icon and the app screenshots.

Here are the actual sizes to use on Google Play:

• Minimum dimension: 320 pixels
• Maximum dimension: 3840 pixels
• Aspect ratio can’t be more than 2:1 or 1:2
• Accepted formats: jpg, png

For a complete list of Google Play’s screenshot requirements, read this.

ASO Guidelines for App Store Screenshots

Now that you know the screenshot sizes for both Apple and Google’s app stores, let’s dive into some specific topics of ASO.

Screenshot Orientations (Landscape vs. Portrait)

The decision to create landscape or portrait is entirely up to you, however, you must always remember the user’s convenience. If possible, try to stick to portrait screenshots to make the images quick to understand and eashy to consume.

In some app categories, such as gaming, horizontal screenshots work well since their users are already familiar with holding their phones in that position. This is something that can be A/B tested to see which works best with your target audience.

For example, the Rovio team (creators of Angry Birds 2), performed an A/B test on screen shot orientations. This was uncommon in their category, as most users were used to seeing portrait style screen shots. The result of this A/B test allowed the app to get 13% more conversions from their horizontal style screenshots.  

Image Source – SplitMetrics

Try testing different orientations for your screenshots and be sure to track the results in your analytics to see which performs better.

Colors & Background Styles

When it comes to the colors and background styles for your app store screenshots, there are a few things to consider to improve your designs.

According to Incipia’s research on the top 100 Apple Store Apps, they found the following:

• Blurred images in the background were more common than clear images;
• Colorful backgrounds are popular in categories like social networking and shopping;
• Blue and white are the top two most common background colors.

Image Source: Indica

Captions

To keep up with the changes in ASO, take note of what many app publishers are doing with their captions. The latest trend involves adding short descriptive text in a noticeable placement in the screenshot.

The goal with caption is to use text in a non-intrusive and visually aesthetic way. In the examples above, you can see brief descirptions of each app’s core features. The captions are typically no more than two sentences and, according to Indica’s research, having some text on your screenshots can have a better performance than without.

Localization

This is important. When you are creating your screenshots and the captions for your app, do not forget localization.

If you’re app serves users in multiple languages, you’ll have the ability to upload screenshots that contain captions relevant to the culture and language of your audience.

Above, you can see uber uses variations in their screenshots in the US versus Japan iOS App Store. Map routes, langauge, currency, and features are all distinguished in these slightly similar but very different screen shots.

When creating your screenshots for different locations, be sure to consult a professional translator to ensure your phrases and captions use the correct nuances and language style.

Final thoughts

Having the right screenshots in the app store has an influential role in determining whether someone is going to download your app or choose a competitors. Try using powerful visuals that capture the core functions and benefits of your app in a story form style.

If you want to learn more strategies to increase your app downloads, give this a read.

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