Can App Store screenshots have transparency?
Verified against Apple, App Store Connect Help on
Transparent PNGs are fine as long as nothing in the visible area is actually see-through.
Why it is wrong: Apple names alpha channels and transparency as two separate things in the same sentence, so an image can satisfy the second and still fail on the first. Design tools make this easy to hit by accident: exporting a PNG from a canvas that started with a transparent artboard keeps the alpha channel even after you put an opaque background layer behind everything.
What does Apple actually say?
The screenshot specifications page allows .jpeg, .jpg and .png, then states: "Images can't include alpha channels or transparencies."
Why does an opaque-looking PNG still fail?
Because the alpha channel is a property of the file, not of what you can see. A PNG exported as RGBA carries a fourth channel for every pixel even when every one of those values is fully opaque. Nothing looks transparent, and the file still contains the channel Apple names.
This is why the failure is confusing in practice: the image is visually correct, so the natural assumption is that the size or the format is wrong.
How do you flatten it?
Export as JPEG, which has no alpha channel at all, or export PNG explicitly as RGB rather than RGBA. In most design tools the reliable move is to place an opaque rectangle across the full canvas as the bottom layer and re-export, then confirm the channel is gone rather than assuming.
To check a file you already have, ImageMagick reports it directly:
identify -format "%[channels]" screenshot.png
srgb is fine. srgba still carries the alpha channel.
Does this apply to Google Play?
The constraint that trips people is specific to App Store Connect, but exporting flattened for both stores is the simpler habit than tracking which one enforces what.
Sources
- Screenshot specifications | Apple, App Store Connect Help (primary)
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Related answers
- How many screenshot sizes does the App Store require?Two. An iPhone app needs one set at the 6.9-inch size (1260 x 2736, 1290 x 2796 or 1320 x 2868 portrait) and an iPad app needs one set at the 13-inch size (2064 x 2752 or 2048 x 2732).
- Is the 60/40 screenshot rule an Apple requirement?No. The App Store Review Guidelines contain no percentage.
- Do iPad screenshots need to be 12.9-inch or 13-inch?The 13-inch size. App Store Connect requires one iPad set at 2064 x 2752 or 2048 x 2732 portrait for any app that runs on iPad.