# App Store screenshot backgrounds that sell the app [Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/app-store-screenshot-backgrounds) The pictures in a store listing are a row, and the background is what makes that row look like one app. Here is the layout, the sizes and a way to build the set once. ## The short version - An app store screenshot background is one calm colour behind the caption and the phone, repeated on every frame so the listing reads as one app. - Apple requires an iPhone screenshot at 1206 × 2622 or 1179 × 2556 pixels, accepts 1 to 10 images per device size, and does not accept transparency. - A raw modern iPhone capture is taller than Google Play allows, so place it unstretched on a 1080 × 1920 ground, which meets Play's 9:16 minimum for large screenshot placements. - Keep one short caption in the same top band on every frame, leave the real interface readable, and show the app in use in more than half of the set. - Build the series as pages on one ground, change only the line and the screen, then export a flat PNG or JPEG at the store's exact pixels. An **app store screenshot background** is the colour behind the caption and the phone: the same calm ground on every frame, so the row reads as one product. Keep the caption off the interface, and export a flat image at a size the store accepts. ## What the background is for People meet a listing as a short strip. You can upload up to 10 screenshots per device size, and up to three can appear in search, depending on orientation. Repeat one colour, one caption position and one margin so the strip is a sequence. The interface is the proof. The ground stays outside it. - Play 1080×1920: 1080 × 1920 - 4:5 share 1080×1350: 1080 × 1350 - iPhone 1206×2622: 1206 × 2622 Three frames for one listing, drawn to scale. Play's portrait is 9:16. The 4:5 frame is the same layout with less height, for sharing a screenshot. Apple's required iPhone size is much taller, so one raw capture cannot fill both stores. ## Where the caption goes Put one short line in the top band, in the same place on every frame, and leave the app's own labels alone. Three to six words is enough: the line names the outcome, and the screen below proves it. A caption sitting on buttons makes the line and the screen harder to read. [Text on a gradient](https://gradiently.design/guide/text-on-gradient) is the remedy: find a calm area, then let the type follow how light or dark that area is. A tall phone listing frame with the caption Start a focus block on a calm gradient and room below for the app The 1080 × 1920 frame: one line in the top band, and the height below left for the real screen. A shorter 4:5 frame with the same caption on the same gradient, leaving less space under the line The same line on 1080 × 1350. The caption stays put, so check the phone still fits. Cropping the tall frame down to 4:5 cuts the phone or the line, so lock the caption to the top, keep the side margins even, and check the short frame. In [visual hierarchy](https://gradiently.design/guide/visual-hierarchy) terms, the line is the first read and the screen is the second. ### Avoid - A new colour on every frame - A photo or a noisy pattern behind the words - The caption painted over buttons - A new type size and position each frame ### Do - One ground for the whole set - The caption in the same top band, clear of the interface - The real screen below, unstretched - Type that switches to light or dark with the ground > **Keep the app visible** Show the app in use, not only title art, a login page or a splash screen. Overlays are allowed, but more than half the set must show the app, and the caption must not cover it. ## Sizes each store accepts Upload the required iPhone size exactly: **1206 × 2622** or **1179 × 2556** pixels in portrait. Landscape swaps the sides. Use `.jpeg`, `.jpg` or `.png` with no transparency, 1 to 10 per device size. If the interface is the same across phones, App Store Connect scales the highest required resolution down. An iPad app also needs a 13 inch screenshot. Use an accepted size exactly. | Frame | Pixels | Rule | | --- | --- | --- | | Required iPhone | 1206 × 2622 or 1179 × 2556 | Portrait. 1 to 10 per device size. No transparency. | | Large iPhone | 1320 × 2868, 1290 × 2796 or 1260 × 2736 | Accepted sizes for the larger phones. | | Play 9:16 or 16:9 | 1080 × 1920 or 1920 × 1080 | At least four, at these sizes or larger, for large placements. | | Play, any phone | 320 to 3840 px a side | Long side at most twice the short side. At least two to publish. | Upload sizes from Apple's screenshot specifications and Google Play's preview asset rules. A file that fits one store does not automatically fit the other. A 1206 × 2622 iPhone file is too tall for Play, because twice 1206 is 2412. Place the capture, unstretched, on a 1080 × 1920 ground, and on the taller Apple canvas add ground instead of stretching the screen. Play's rules are on [the preview assets page](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9866151?hl=en). ## Build the set once In Gradiently that ground is a Mark. Auto ink sets the caption light or dark from it, with no box behind the words. You can design on any unclaimed Mark, but exporting needs it to be yours. Claiming is a one-time payment, the first year of keeping is included, and after that keeping is free with Pro, or a yearly fee without it. Only you and the people you assign can then design or export with it. [Try on your brand](/try) previews a Mark as an App Store listing. 1. **Lay out the first frame** Start at 1080 × 1920: the line in the top band, the real screen centred below, even margins, nothing stretched. On a dark app, leave a rim of ground so the phone stays visible. [Dark mode design](https://gradiently.design/guide/dark-mode-design) is that edge. 2. **Add a page for each screenshot** Keep the ground, the type position and the phone size. Change only the line and the screen. [Pages](https://gradiently.design/guide/carousel-pages) hold the series in order, frame one first. 3. **Copy the layout to the other sizes** Add 1080 × 1350 and the Apple size you will upload. Custom sizes run from 200 to 8,000 pixels a side. [Copy to sizes](https://gradiently.design/guide/copy-to-sizes) lays each size out again. The whole set at once is part of Pro. One new size is free. Check the caption and the phone afterwards. 4. **Fill the captions from a sheet** [Bulk create](https://gradiently.design/guide/bulk-create-from-spreadsheet) connects a CSV or TSV to the text. The first row is headings, the file can be up to 1 MB, you review every version, and one undo removes the batch. The sheet stays in the browser. 5. **Export a flat image** Export PNG or JPEG with no alpha channel. Pro goes up to 4K with no watermark, which covers these sizes. A free export is PNG or JPG at 720p with a small watermark, short of the App Store sizes above. ```text caption,file Start a focus block,timer.png See the whole week,week.png Hand it to the team,people.png ``` One row per screenshot for a fictional focus app, Nock. Connect the caption column to the line, then review each version before you create the frames. For Nock, a fictional focus app, frame one is the timer, frame two the week, frame three the shared list. Add another frame only when it shows something new. Use the same ground on [app launch graphics](https://gradiently.design/guide/mobile-app-launch-graphics) and on the icon, which still has to read small ([app icon gradient](https://gradiently.design/guide/app-icon-gradient)). ## Captions that hold up small Write the line for a thumbnail: one idea per frame, in the app's own words, with no awards and no line that only says to download. More than half the frames show the app in use. Read the first three beside the icon. If a stranger cannot say what the app does, the caption is too small or the screen is buried. ## FAQ ### What should an app store screenshot background be? One calm colour on every frame, a short caption in the top band, and the real screen below it, not covering the interface. ### What size are App Store screenshots for iPhone? The required portrait size is 1206 × 2622 or 1179 × 2556 pixels. Upload 1 to 10 per device size, as JPEG or PNG, with no transparency. ### Can I upload an iPhone screenshot to Google Play as it is? Not when it is taller than twice its width. Place a 1206 × 2622 capture, unstretched, on a 1080 × 1920 background. ### Are text captions allowed on store screenshots? Yes, as overlays, if the app stays visible and the caption does not hide the interface. More than half the set has to show the app in use. ### How do I keep a caption readable on the background? Put it in the calm top band and let the type go light or dark with the ground. Skip a box, a blur or a heavy shadow behind the words.