03 Apr 2026

Sammy Greener App Store Screenshots Comparisons

App store screenshot workflow

How to Make App Store Screenshots: A Step-by-Step Guide

To make App Store screenshots, capture your app's strongest screens, add captions that explain the benefits, and export the required store sizes. AppScreens keeps the design and device outputs in one project. Follow the six steps below to make your first set.

You don't need to start from a blank canvas. Choose an AppScreens template, add your app captures, and make it your own. The same project gives you the Google Play outputs you select, too.

Quick Take

Put the strongest reason to install in screenshot one. Give each following screenshot a different job: show the core action, a useful result, or a reason to trust the app. Preview every selected output before downloading the set or sending it through direct store uploads on a paid plan.

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Make your App Store screenshot set in six steps

Capture the app screens you'll use. Open a current build and fill it with readable sample data. Capture the screens that show the main outcome and supporting features. Our capture guide covers phones, simulators, and emulators.
Create your AppScreens project. Search for a live app through AI onboarding, or add an unpublished app and describe what it does. Choose a template with room for your caption and the app detail you want to show.
Add your captures and put the main benefit first. Replace the sample screens, then arrange the set. Start with the clearest reason to install. Use the next screens to show what people do in the app and the result they get.
Edit the captions and apply your brand. Refine the initial caption suggestions or write your own. "Know where your money goes" gives someone a reason to want an expense tracker; "Reports" doesn't. Apply your colours, fonts, and device treatment across the set.
Select and preview the store outputs. Choose the device groups your app needs, then check each caption's line breaks, the app-screen crop, and text readability. Review localized versions if you're publishing in more than one language. The App Store size guide and Google Play size guide explain the output requirements.
Export and publish. Download the selected files and add them to the matching device and language slots in App Store Connect or Google Play Console. Paid plans include direct store uploads for supported outputs. Keep the project so your next release starts with updating the affected screen.

AppScreens Free includes one saved project and up to five screenshot designs, with essential output groups for manual upload. Choose a paid plan when you need additional sizes, localization, or direct uploads. The free screenshot guide lists the included outputs and limits.

Choose your screenshot template and follow the steps with your own app screens.

Need help choosing a screenshot tool?

AppScreens is our recommendation for designing and publishing the finished set. Our screenshot tool comparison explains the differences from design canvases, capture automation, and mockup editors.

Need the source images first? Use our raw screenshot capture guide.

Have a Figma file? Our Figma screenshot guide shows where a dedicated screenshot workflow saves repeated design work.

Working with a designer? Ask for the editable AppScreens project so your next app update doesn't require a new brief.

Already capture screens with Fastlane? Bring those files into AppScreens for the captions and finished design. Read AppScreens vs Fastlane for the connected workflow.

For a first set, start with an AppScreens template. Finish the captures and captions before spending time on another design direction.

Before you export: captions, localization, testing, and requirements

Prepare your source screens and message

Prepare clean app screens, safe sample data, your key benefit messages, brand colors or fonts, target stores, target devices, and priority languages. You do not need every final size before designing if you use a responsive AppScreens project, but you should know which stores and device types you need to support before export.

Plan the screenshot story

Collect clean app screens from a current build. Remove test data, broken states, personal details, notifications, and anything that does not reflect the current app experience. If you need the capture steps, use our How to take App Store screenshots guide.

Pick screens that show the main outcome, core workflow, trust points, and strongest reasons to install. Replace labels like "Dashboard" or "Reports" with captions like "Track every project in one place" or "See what is working at a glance."

Before you choose the final set, plan the first screenshot, caption, order, localization, and test variants. Keep claims accurate: screenshots should show the real app experience, avoid tiny unreadable text, and avoid ranking, price, award, or download claims that can create policy issues.

Sammy explains how the first three screenshots communicate the main benefit, alongside real App Store search listings.

Keep the first set as your starting point

Once you have a complete set, keep it as the control for your next test. Duplicate the project and change one clear idea: the opening benefit, its supporting image, or the screenshot order. Compare the result using the store's testing tools before carrying that change into the next release.

Our store-specific guides explain how to run those tests:

Use Product Page Optimization testing to decide what to test first on iOS.
Use Custom Product Pages for paid traffic when screenshots need to match campaigns.
Use Google Play Store Listing Experiments to test Android screenshots with real store traffic.
Use the ASO screenshot workflow and PPO and CPP screenshot variants guides to create variants without re-editing every store size, localized set, and upload file by hand.

Match the caption and app capture in every language

A translated headline above an English app screen makes the set feel unfinished. Add your priority languages in AppScreens, review the translated captions, and use the matching localized app capture. Check longer text and right-to-left layouts in each output before publishing. Our localization checklist covers that final review.

Common mistakes to avoid

Mistake	Use this rule	Why it matters
Uploading raw screenshots as final store creative	Use raw captures as source material, then add captions, hierarchy, and store-ready design.	Raw screens show the interface, but they rarely explain the outcome or give visitors a clear reason to install.
Choosing screens because they look busy or impressive	Choose screens that explain the main outcome, strongest workflow, proof point, or reason to install.	Store visitors scan quickly. A pretty but unclear screen can waste the first screenshot slot.
Writing captions as feature labels	Write short benefit-led captions, then test stronger hooks, order, and variants over time.	Labels like Dashboard or Reports describe the UI, but benefits explain why the app is worth installing.
Treating localization as translated text only	Check text fit, fonts, RTL, per-language screenshots, market-specific images, exports, uploads, and QA.	Longer translated captions, different reading direction, or local examples can break a screenshot that worked in English.
Waiting until export to check sizes and store rules	Design the story first, but verify App Store and Google Play requirements before final export.	Wrong dimensions, file formats, crops, or device sets can create last-minute upload errors.
Rebuilding each device, language, and variant by hand	Keep captions, text fitting, per-language screenshots, per-language images, store exports, variants, and uploads in one editable AppScreens project.	One caption, screenshot, or language change can otherwise create repeated edits across iPhone, iPad, Android, localized sets, CPP/PPO pages, Play experiments, export folders, upload mapping, and replacement files.

Check App Store and Google Play screenshot requirements

Do not start the design process by memorizing every screenshot size. First create a strong screenshot story, then export the sizes required for the stores, devices, and orientations your app supports.

For exact dimensions, use our App Store screenshot sizes and Google Play screenshot sizes guides before exporting.

For Apple, you can upload one to ten screenshots per device type in .jpeg, .jpg, or .png format, with no alpha channel or transparency. The required iPhone size is iPhone with Dynamic Island (medium display), 1179 x 2556 px or 1206 x 2622 px, and it is the default iPhone tab in App Store Connect. An iPhone with Dynamic Island (large display) set at 1320 x 2868 px also works, because App Store Connect scales it into the required slot. iPhone Duo needs its own outer or inner display set and is required from April 2027 for apps built with the iOS 27.1 SDK or later, so check the latest requirements in App Store Connect guidance before export. If your app supports iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, or Vision Pro, check those requirements separately.

For Google Play, you need at least two screenshots across device types to publish a store listing. You can upload up to eight screenshots for each supported device type. Screenshots must be JPEG or 24-bit PNG with no alpha, have a minimum dimension of 320 px and a maximum dimension of 3840 px, and the longest side cannot be more than twice the shortest side. You can also compare against the official Google Play screenshot requirements.

That is a lot to manage by hand, especially when one future caption, screenshot, language, or store-size change can force repeated caption edits, layout fixes, re-exports, upload mapping, and file replacement across multiple assets.

Keep your next release in the same project

App store screenshots work best when they explain the app outcome quickly, not when they simply show the UI. Start with real app screens, turn them into a polished screenshot set, then keep improving the first screenshot, captions, order, localization, and variants over time.

Better screenshots are measurable. Use AppScreens to create a strong baseline, then test instead of guessing. Learn why ASO and A/B testing can mean more downloads, compare AppScreens with other app store screenshot tools, see pricing, or start with templates.

Create screenshots that sell the app

Choose your template, add the app screens, and make the first reason to install unmistakable. Save the project once the set is ready. Your next update starts there.

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FAQ

What is the easiest way to make app store screenshots?

The easiest workflow is AppScreens: use AI onboarding to find your app and store context, choose a reusable AppScreens template, upload real app screens, generate benefit-led AI captions, apply device frames and brand styling, then export or upload the required App Store and Google Play sizes from one editable project.

Can I make app screenshots for free with AppScreens?

Yes. The free AppScreens workflow is enough for many launch screenshot sets: use AI mode, pick a template, add up to five screenshots, export, and upload manually to App Store Connect or Google Play. Paid plans add more screenshots, direct upload workflows, localization, variants, and team or client scale. See pricing.

Is AppScreens good for a one-off screenshot mockup?

Yes. AppScreens is built for both quick one-off mockups and serious release workflows. A founder can create one polished launch set quickly, while a team can keep the same project editable for future releases, localizations, ASO tests, feature graphics, uploads, and QA.

Are raw screenshots enough for the App Store?

Raw captures show the interface. A finished screenshot set makes the reason to install clear with readable captions and a deliberate sequence. Bring your captures into AppScreens, show the strongest benefit first and export the sizes the store needs.

Why use AppScreens instead of Figma, Photoshop, or Sketch?

AppScreens handles the store work around the design: device outputs, localized captions and uploads. Update the saved project when the app changes instead of rebuilding a set of separate canvases. Bring custom artwork from your design tool when you need it.

What breaks when app screenshots are made manually?

Separate files drift apart. A changed caption needs to be fitted again, a new capture needs replacing in every size and each locale needs the right exports. AppScreens keeps those edits connected in one project.

When should I use AppScreens?

Use AppScreens when you want downloads, automation, quick screenshot creation, lower production cost, correct App Store and Google Play sizes without figuring them out, and polished screenshots without becoming a designer. AppScreens keeps caption fitting, per-language assets, store-ready exports, uploads, localization, and future updates in one editable project, while ASO variants are faster to create without rebuilding every size and language by hand. Start with templates or try the App Store screenshot generator.

Should I localize app store screenshots?

Yes, if growth in multiple markets matters. Localization makes the screenshot story feel native to each audience, and AppScreens lets teams localize screenshots, fit longer captions, support RTL, swap per-language screenshots or images, export store-ready sizes, and upload localized sets without editing each language as separate files.

How many app screenshots do I need?

Apple allows one to ten screenshots per device type. Google Play requires at least two screenshots across device types and allows up to eight screenshots per supported device type. In practice, create enough screenshots to explain the main benefit, core workflow, proof points, and strongest reasons to install.

What should the first app screenshot show?

The first screenshot should show the strongest reason to install the app. Lead with the main user outcome, not a generic dashboard, splash screen, settings screen, or vague brand claim.

Should I make different screenshots for App Store and Google Play?

Yes. Use the same creative direction if it fits, but each store has different requirements, surfaces, feature graphic needs, and testing options. Export and review each set separately before publishing.

What files does AppScreens export?

AppScreens exports high-resolution PNG screenshots for required App Store and Google Play sizes, plus custom sizes and Google Play feature graphics where needed. Free users can export for manual upload, while paid workflows can reduce upload work through App Store Connect and Google Play upload options. Check App Store screenshot sizes and Google Play screenshot sizes.

Can I make app screenshots without a designer?

Yes. AppScreens gives developers, founders, marketers, and indie teams a fast template workflow for polished store screenshots without starting from a blank design file. Use AI onboarding, choose a template, upload clean app screens, generate captions, adjust the result, and export the store-ready set. Start with templates and compare plans at pricing.

Where can I start making screenshots in AppScreens?

Start with templates if you want the fastest path, choose the App Store screenshot generator or Google Play screenshot generator, then compare pricing when you need more screenshots, uploads, localization, variants, team workflows, or client work.

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