How to Make App Store Screenshots from Simulator Captures

1. Plan the screenshot story

List the product’s strongest outcome, core workflow, differentiator, and trust signal. Assign each to a panel before opening the simulator. This determines which screens and sample data you need and prevents a folder full of attractive captures that do not form a useful sequence.

Five panels are a practical working set, not an Apple requirement. Use fewer when the story is complete and more only when each additional image answers a real user question. Write draft headlines now so every capture has a clear evidence requirement.

• Panel 1: main outcome
• Panel 2: core workflow
• Panel 3: differentiator
• Panel 4: trust or control
• Panel 5: supporting workflow or device experience

2. Prepare a clean, repeatable app state

Use a dedicated demo account with realistic fictional content. Remove debug overlays, network inspectors, test labels, internal feature flags, and personal notifications. Set a stable time, battery state, theme, permissions, and sample data so the set looks deliberate rather than captured across unrelated sessions.

Record the app build and seed data used for the capture. A small manifest makes it possible to reproduce the state when a typo, localization, or UI update requires one panel to be replaced weeks later.

3. Capture genuine iPhone and iPad layouts

Navigate to the product state assigned to each panel and capture the complete simulator or device screen. Preserve clean originals without marketing text or framing. Avoid cropping at this stage; the full source gives the layout tool more flexibility and remains useful for future formats.

If the app supports iPad, capture its real large-screen layout separately. Enlarging an iPhone screen cannot demonstrate iPad navigation, columns, or content density. Keep portrait and landscape sets separate and use the orientation that represents the actual experience.

• Capture at native scale
• Keep one clean original per panel and locale
• Use the correct platform and form factor
• Check every screen for stale or private data

4. Build the visual system and captions

Upload the ordered captures to App Asset Kit, choose a template, and write one benefit-led headline for each panel. Use a device frame when it improves context; choose a frameless layout when interface detail is more important. Check the five-panel rail before perfecting any one image.

For a custom brand treatment, choose the two background colors and verify text contrast through the entire gradient. Keep typography, device finish, alignment, and spacing consistent while allowing each panel to carry a different message.

5. Export an accepted App Store size

Select iPhone or iPad, choose portrait or landscape, and export an exact Apple pixel pair. A modern iPhone workflow can start with the 6.9-inch 1320 × 2868 portrait preset. If the app supports iPad, prepare the required 13-inch category from genuine iPad captures; 2064 × 2752 is a practical portrait starting point.

App Asset Kit renders opaque PNG files and organizes them by selected size. After downloading, open every primary output at full resolution and inspect the actual pixel dimensions. Confirm that no headline, device edge, or product control was clipped during the final crop.

• Use JPEG/JPG or opaque PNG
• Match one exact accepted pixel pair
• Keep source and final orientation aligned
• Use real iPad UI for the iPad category

6. Validate and upload in App Store Connect

Compare the completed set with the submitted build. Verify spelling, claims, sample data, device family, localization, and order. Apple allows one to ten screenshots per supported context; upload only the panels that improve the story.

In App Store Connect, open the intended platform version and localization, then add the files to the matching display category. Review the store preview after upload. If the interface is consistent, App Store Connect may scale a highest-resolution set for smaller phone classes, but iPad support still requires genuine iPad assets.

7. Preserve a source package for the next release

Keep clean captures, approved copy, locale, app version, template choice, and export settings together. The exported ZIP is not enough to rebuild a listing because it no longer separates interface, captions, and design decisions.

When a feature changes, review the story before replacing the screenshot mechanically. A new workflow may deserve a different panel order or headline. Update only the affected assets, then repeat the full-resolution and store-preview checks.