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The ASO screenshot checklist before you hit submit

The ASO screenshot checklist before you hit submit
TL;DR. Twenty things to check before pushing screenshots to App Store Connect. Ordered by how often we see each one cause a problem. The technical-spec checks are at the top because they cause rejected uploads; the design-quality checks are below because they cost conversion but don't block submission.

Technical-spec checks (rejection-prone)

  1. Exact pixel dimensions per device class. 6.9" iPhone must be 1320 × 2868. iPad 13" must be 2064 × 2752. Wrong dimensions fail at upload, not in review.
  2. PNG-24 or JPEG. Other formats (HEIC, AVIF, WebP) are rejected. PNG is preferred.
  3. File size under 8 MB per screenshot. Almost always fine — typical screenshot is under 1 MB.
  4. sRGB color profile. P3 is technically allowed but gets converted; sRGB avoids any conversion surprise.
  5. No transparency in the visible image area. Alpha channel allowed in PNG-32 but transparent pixels render unpredictably on the App Store page.
  6. 10 screenshots max per device class per locale. More than 10 fails upload. The realistic mode is 4-5 anyway.

Content rules (reviewer-rejection-prone)

  1. No Apple-branded UI you don't actually use. Showing Maps, Mail, Camera, or Settings when your app doesn't open them = rejection per guideline 2.3 (Accurate Metadata).
  2. No fake App Store ratings or "Featured in" badges. Apple wants the App Store page itself to handle ratings display. Embedded "★★★★★ in TechCrunch" badges fail review.
  3. No "Coming Soon" or "Beta" labels. Screenshots must reflect the live app being submitted.
  4. No competitor branding. Showing your app replacing Spotify won't fly. Show your app's own UI.
  5. Captions in the locale's language. English captions in a Japanese upload = rejection. The locale and the caption language must match.
  6. No misleading device chrome. If you show iPhone 16 Pro Max in screenshots, your app must actually support that device.
  7. Status bar reflects realistic state. 9:41 with full battery is convention. Random times with "23% battery, no signal" looks unintentional and reviewers flag it.

Design-quality checks (cost conversion, don't block submission)

  1. Captions readable at thumbnail size. Zoom out to ~200 px wide before shipping. If the caption is illegible, rewrite shorter or bigger.
  2. Caption position consistent across panels. Top quarter is the eye-landing zone. Don't move it around panel-to-panel.
  3. Device tilt direction consistent. Pick one (left or right) and stick to it across the carousel.
  4. Background continuous across panels. Either one gradient flowing across all panels, or distinct-but-related per-panel backgrounds. Random per-panel choices look like a deck made by committee.
  5. First panel is your strongest. Most users only see panel 1 in the search-results thumbnail. Treat panel 1 as the entire pitch.
  6. No filler text. Cut "powerful", "seamless", "intuitive", "robust", "all-in-one". Replace with specific verbs and nouns.
  7. Localized variants reviewed for visual blowup. German + Russian captions often overflow safe areas. Either shorten or font-size down per locale before exporting.

The post-submit check

After uploading to App Store Connect, before you hit "Submit for Review":

  • Preview the App Store page in App Store Connect's "Preview" mode for each locale. Make sure each carousel renders correctly.
  • Check the thumbnail render in the search-results preview. The first panel needs to read at thumbnail size.
  • If you have an App Preview video, watch it muted (autoplay default) — most users see it muted, so the visual story must work without audio.
  • Verify the carousel order matches your intent — Apple uses upload order as carousel order.

Common rejection reasons that aren't on the list

Three rejection causes that aren't from screenshots specifically but get blamed on them:

  • Metadata mismatch. Your screenshots show feature X but your app description doesn't mention it; reviewer flags the inconsistency.
  • Pricing in screenshots. Embedded "$9.99/month" overlays trigger guideline 3.1 (In-App Purchase) review. Apple wants pricing on the App Store page only.
  • Asset URL in screenshot. Screenshots showing a website URL ("visit example.com for more") fail review — Apple doesn't want you driving traffic off-store.

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