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App Store images: three slots, and one that does not exist.

An icon, a screenshot set, and an optional preview video. No banner, no header, no cover art. Here is what each slot takes, and the asset people keep looking for because Google Play has it.

Generate the screenshot setEvery screenshot size
Sourced from Apple's specsExact pixels per slotNo header image, and why
Generated App Store screenshot 1 of 5 for a photo editor app, sharing one palette and type scale across the set
Generated App Store screenshot 2 of 5 for a photo editor app, sharing one palette and type scale across the set
Generated App Store screenshot 3 of 5 for a photo editor app, sharing one palette and type scale across the set
Generated App Store screenshot 4 of 5 for a photo editor app, sharing one palette and type scale across the set
Generated App Store screenshot 5 of 5 for a photo editor app, sharing one palette and type scale across the set
The whole list

Three slots, and only two are uploads

An App Store product page is built from fewer images than most listing checklists imply. This is all of them.

App icon

1024 x 1024, PNG, no alpha

Comes from your build, not from App Store Connect.

This is the one that surprises people. You do not upload the icon next to your screenshots. You add it to an asset catalog in Xcode or build it in Icon Composer, and it travels with the binary. Apple enforces the rules at upload rather than in a published spec table: ITMS-90704 when the icon is missing, and ITMS-90717 when it carries transparency, since the icon "can't be transparent nor contain an alpha channel". Leave the corners square, Apple applies the rounded mask itself.

Screenshots

1 to 10 per language

The only slot that changes per device size.

Formats are .jpeg, .jpg and .png, and Apple states the constraint plainly: "Images can't include alpha channels or transparencies." One set at the 6.9-inch iPhone size covers iPhone, one set at the 13-inch iPad size covers iPad, and every smaller size falls back to a scaled copy rather than needing its own upload.

App preview

Optional, up to 3 per language

15 to 30 seconds, 500MB, .mov, .m4v or .mp4.

Optional in the real sense: a listing with screenshots and no preview is a complete listing, and Apple never asks for one. Worth knowing before you budget a video shoot into a launch that does not need it.

The missing asset

There is no App Store header image

Not a banner, not a hero, not cover art. The slot does not exist, and that is the answer rather than a gap in this page.

People look for one because Google Play has it. The feature graphic is a 1024 x 500 banner, required before you can publish there, displayed above the screenshots. The App Store has no counterpart to it, so there is nothing to resize and nothing to crop.

That matters most when you are porting a listing in one direction or the other. A Google Play asset set has one image the App Store will never ask for, and it cannot be cut out of a portrait screenshot without wrecking the composition. The feature graphic versus screenshots breakdown covers what that asset has to do on its own, and the cross-platform workflow guide covers budgeting it as a separate design rather than an export.

The other thing this confusion produces is the search “Google App Store”, which is two store names welded together. If you are filling in a listing right now, the quickest way to tell which one you are in: App Store Connect asks for screenshots at exact pixel sizes per device, Google Play Console accepts a range and asks for the feature graphic.

What Apple actually requires

Two screenshot sets, not eight

The rest fall back to scaled copies, which is why a listing needs far fewer uploads than most tutorials describe.

iPhone, 6.9-inch

Any of the three portrait sizes is valid.

1260 x 2736, 1290 x 2796 or 1320 x 2868

iPad, 13-inch

Labelled "Required if app runs on iPad".

2064 x 2752 or 2048 x 2732

Apple phrases the iPhone half backwards and it catches people out. The 6.9-inch slot carries no requirement label at all. The label sits on the 6.5-inch slot instead, reading “Required if app runs on iPhone and screenshots for 6.9" display aren’t provided”, so the obligation is to ship one iPhone set and the 6.9-inch set is what discharges it. The full size guide walks every slot, the device dimensions tool checks a file you already have, and the alpha channel fix handles the most common upload rejection.

Questions & Answers

What images do you need for an App Store listing?

Three things, and only two of them are uploads. An app icon, which ships inside your build rather than being uploaded in App Store Connect. A set of screenshots, 1 to 10 per language. And an app preview video, which is optional. That is the whole list. There is no banner, no header and no cover art.

Does the App Store have a header image?

No. An App Store product page has no header, banner or hero image slot at all. People look for one because Google Play has it: the feature graphic, a 1024 x 500 banner that is required before you can publish there. If you are porting a listing from Google Play, that asset has no App Store counterpart and nothing on the Apple side replaces it.

What is the difference between App Store images and Google Play images?

Google Play takes a feature graphic at 1024 x 500 and 2 to 8 screenshots per device type, sized anywhere from 320 to 3,840 px. The App Store takes no feature graphic, 1 to 10 screenshots per language, and wants them at exact pixel sizes per device rather than inside a range. The icon differs too: on the App Store it comes from your build, on Google Play you upload it. Searching for "Google App Store" usually means one store or the other, so it is worth knowing which listing you are filling in.

What size is the App Store app icon?

1024 x 1024 pixels, PNG, with no alpha channel and no transparency. You do not upload it alongside your screenshots: you add it to an asset catalog in Xcode, or build it with Icon Composer, and it arrives with the build. Apple enforces the rules at upload rather than in a spec table, through validation errors: ITMS-90704 when the icon is missing, and ITMS-90717 when it carries transparency, since the icon "can't be transparent nor contain an alpha channel". Do not round the corners yourself, Apple applies the mask.

How many App Store screenshots are required?

One set, at the 6.9-inch iPhone size if your app runs on iPhone, and one set at the 13-inch iPad size if it runs on iPad. Apple phrases the iPhone half backwards, which catches people out: the 6.9-inch slot carries no requirement label, and the 6.5-inch slot is labelled "Required if app runs on iPhone and screenshots for 6.9\" display aren't provided". Every smaller size is optional and falls back to a scaled copy of the larger set.

Can App Store images have transparent backgrounds?

No. Apple states it plainly in the screenshot specifications: "Images can't include alpha channels or transparencies." A PNG exported from most design tools carries an alpha channel even when nothing in the image looks transparent, which is why this is one of the most common upload rejections. The same rule applies to the app icon.

Are app preview videos required?

No, app previews are optional. If you use them you can deliver up to 3 per language, each 15 to 30 seconds, up to 500MB, as .mov, .m4v or .mp4. A listing with screenshots and no preview is a complete listing.

The screenshots are the slot that takes real work

The icon ships with your build and the preview is optional. Describe your app and get a full App Store set at exact pixel sizes, then change any single frame by chatting instead of starting over.

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