Seasonal App Store Screenshots: What Apple Allows

Seasonal App Store screenshots swap the marketing layer of your listing (backgrounds, captions, and feature order) to match a holiday or event, while the real app UI stays in place. The rule most guides miss: Apple keeps prices and sale terms out of screenshots [1], so the seasonal theme goes in the frames and the time-limited offer goes somewhere else. Ship the change 2 to 3 weeks before each peak.

That one distinction (theme in the screenshot, offer outside it) is what separates a seasonal refresh that ships from one that gets flagged in review. The rest of this guide covers where the offer actually goes, when to deploy, which peaks matter for your category, and how to design the seasonal layer without redrawing your app.

TL;DR:

• What goes in the frame: the seasonal theme (palette, captions, feature order), not a price or a "% off" badge. App Store Review Guidelines 2.3.7 keeps prices and non-specific terms out of screenshots [1].
• Where the offer goes instead: promotional text, in-app events, or a Custom Product Page. Apple built Custom Product Pages for seasonal and culturally relevant content, up to 70 per app [2].
• When to ship: 2 to 3 weeks before the peak, as a metadata-only update with no new build, so the set is live and indexed before the traffic surge.
• The calendar: map the 3 to 4 peaks that actually move your category (fitness in January, shopping at Black Friday, travel in summer) [3], not every holiday on the calendar.
• Keep the UI real: screenshots must show the app in use [1]. The seasonal layer wraps your actual screens, it does not replace them.
• Validate, then revert: test the swap with a pre-peak Product Page Optimization run, ship the winner, switch back when the season ends.

Table of Contents

• What can you put in a seasonal App Store screenshot?
• Where do time-limited promotions go instead?
• When should you ship seasonal screenshots?
• The 2026 seasonal calendar by category
• How do you design the seasonal layer without redrawing the app?
• How do you know if the seasonal swap worked?
• Ship the season, not the sale

What can you put in a seasonal App Store screenshot?

You can change the background, the caption copy, and which feature leads, as long as the screenshot still shows the app in use [1]. What you cannot add is a price, a percent-off badge, or "sale ends Sunday." Apple guideline 2.3.7 states that screenshots must not include prices or terms that are not specific to the metadata type [1].

This is where a lot of seasonal advice goes wrong. The common suggestion is to stamp "50% OFF" or "Black Friday Deal" across frame 1. That language is exactly what 2.3.7 excludes, and guideline 2.3.3 reinforces the point: screenshots "should show the app in use, and not merely the title art, login page, or splash screen" [1]. A frame that is mostly a discount banner is a marketing asset, not a demonstration of the app.

The compliant version of the same idea keeps the seasonal cue and drops the offer. Instead of "50% OFF holiday plans," show your real planner screen on a festive background with a caption like "Plan every holiday gift in one list." The user still reads "this app is for right now," and the screenshot still passes review because it shows the product doing its job.

Where do time-limited promotions go instead?

Put the actual offer where Apple expects it: promotional text, in-app events, and Custom Product Pages. Apple designed Custom Product Pages for "seasonal or culturally relevant content" and lets you publish up to 70 per app [2], each with its own screenshots and a unique URL.

Three surfaces carry the time-limited message that your screenshots cannot:

• Promotional text is a 170-character line at the top of your description. You can update it any time without submitting a new version, which makes it the fastest place to announce a dated offer. The free promotional text tool helps you fit the message in the limit.
• In-app events are built for time-bound happenings (a holiday challenge, a limited mode). They surface on your product page, in search, and in editorial slots, and they carry the dates natively.
• Custom Product Pages are full alternate product pages with their own seasonal screenshots. Apple supports up to 70 [2]. Link to one from your ad, email, or social campaign so the offer lives on the campaign page while your default page stays evergreen.

The split keeps your default listing clean and review-safe. Seasonal theme on the default screenshots, dated offer on a Custom Product Page or in promotional text.

When should you ship seasonal screenshots?

Ship 2 to 3 weeks before the peak, not during it. Screenshots, captions, subtitle, and promotional text all update through a metadata-only version submission, with no Xcode and no new binary, so the seasonal set can be live and indexed before the traffic surge arrives rather than after it has passed.

The timing logic is simple: search and download behavior spikes on a known date, and you want the seasonal listing already in place when it does. Updating mid-peak means you spend the highest-traffic days serving last season's screenshots while the new set waits in review.

A metadata-only update still goes through App Review, and while most reviews clear quickly, Apple does not guarantee a turnaround time, so the 2-to-3-week buffer protects you from a slow review landing on the worst possible day. The metadata-only update workflow covers exactly which fields you can change without a new build. After the season ends, revert promptly: a "Happy New Year" set still live in March reads as a neglected listing.

The 2026 seasonal calendar by category

Seasonality is the recurring pattern in how people search for, download, and use apps across the year [3]. The move is not to chase every holiday, it is to map the 3 to 4 peaks that actually shift your category: fitness in January, shopping at Black Friday, travel in summer, education at back-to-school, finance around tax season [3]. Build your calendar from your peaks, then back-date the ship target by three weeks.

The Black Friday row is the one to read twice. The peak is real and worth designing for, but the discount itself stays out of the frame and goes into promotional text or a campaign Custom Product Page. For how often to refresh across the year beyond these anchors, the refresh cadence by category guide sets the baseline.

How do you design the seasonal layer without redrawing the app?

Change only the marketing layer: swap the background, rewrite the first two captions for seasonal intent, and reorder frames so the season's most relevant feature leads. Keep the device screenshots as your real, current UI [1]. You are restyling the wrapper around the app, not rebuilding the app.

Three edits cover almost every seasonal refresh:

1. Background and palette. Move to colors that read as the season (cool blues and festive accents for winter, warm tones for summer) while keeping enough contrast that captions stay legible at thumbnail size.
2. Captions for intent, not for offers. Rewrite the first two captions around the season's job to be done. "Track holiday gift spending" beats a generic "Track your spending," and unlike "Holiday Sale," it stays inside the guidelines.
3. Feature order. Promote the feature that matters most this season to frame 1. A photo app can lead with collage-making in December and filters the rest of the year.

An optional seasonal app icon adds a recognition cue in search results, though unlike screenshots, an icon change requires a new build. Because the seasonal layer is a recognition problem (you usually do not know the right palette until you see a few), this is a place to iterate: describe the season in the screenshot builder, see a few themed options, and refine the one that fits. The seasonal screenshot themes page is the starting point for themed sets.

How do you know if the seasonal swap worked?

Compare impression-to-install conversion rate before and after the swap, year over year rather than month over month, since seasonal baselines move on their own and make raw month-to-month numbers misleading. For a higher-stakes swap, run a pre-peak Product Page Optimization test so you ship a validated set instead of a guess.

Product Page Optimization matters here because seasonal art is not a guaranteed win. The seasonal A/B test framework walks through Apple's documented Rovio case, where an evergreen control actually beat the holiday variant, and shows how to size a test against a short holiday window. Run that test in the weeks before the peak, ship the winner, and keep an eye on conversion through the season so you can revert if the lift fades.

Ship the season, not the sale

Seasonal screenshots work when you keep them on the right side of the line: the theme goes in the frames, the offer goes in promotional text, an in-app event, or a Custom Product Page. Ship 2 to 3 weeks ahead through a metadata-only update, anchor your calendar to the 3 to 4 peaks that move your category, and validate the swap before peak traffic arrives.

From there it is an iteration loop, not a redesign. Describe the season in the screenshot builder, browse themed starting points on the seasonal screenshot themes page, validate the variant with the seasonal A/B test framework, and time the next swap with the refresh cadence guide.