App Store and Google Play page checklist (2026): screenshots, video and every spec

What people see before they scroll

On the App Store, Apple says the first one to three screenshots show in search results when you don't have a preview video. How many depends on orientation. For most people who search, that's your whole pitch.

If you do have a preview, it takes that spot. Previews autoplay muted on the product page and in search results. They always sit before your screenshots, even if you reorder things.

Google Play does it the same way round. Your preview video shows before your screenshots and may autoplay muted for up to 30 seconds. The feature graphic is the video's cover image, and Play also uses it when it shows apps in large-format collections.

So the first three frames carry the page. Everything after them is for people who were already curious.

The specs, side by side

Here's every number I had to look up last time. Sizes are portrait, in pixels.

Apple's preview slot is for the app, not for you

This rule surprises people, so here it is in Apple's words: app previews "must show only content within the app itself."

Apple goes further. Don't film people using a device, not over the shoulder and not fingers tapping the screen. Previews are built from footage captured on the device. You can add touch hotspots, text for context, a voiceover, sound effects from your UI and one music track. And they have to be fine for all ages.

So a creator talking to camera about your app can't go in that slot. Not a face, not a hand, not a lifestyle shot. A UGC-style video doesn't become allowed because you cut a few seconds of app footage into it.

Play is a bit looser. It asks you to show the real in-app experience within the first 10 seconds, to keep at least 80% of the video representative of using the app, and not to show people tapping the device unless the app is used off-device. A short live-action opener could live inside the other 20%. I wouldn't push it.

So where do the person-on-camera videos go? On TikTok, Reels and Shorts, pointing at the store page. More on that at the end.

Localizing screenshots without doubling the work

Apple scales for you. If your UI looks the same across sizes and languages, upload only the highest resolution set and smaller devices get scaled copies.

Previews fall back too. If a storefront's language has no preview of its own, Apple shows the one from the next best language. Fine for launch day. Less fine when a German visitor watches English captions.

Play shows your default-language graphics in any language where you added translated text but no localized graphics. Where you added no translation at all, visitors can switch to a machine translation of your text.

My rule: localize the captions on the first three screenshots for your top markets before anything else. That's where the words are big and people actually read them.

Custom product pages and custom store listings

Apple lets you make up to 70 extra versions of your product page. Each one can have its own screenshots, previews, promotional text and keywords, so it can show up in search for those terms. Each gets its own URL. They go through review, but you can submit them without an app update.

Play allows up to 50 custom store listings. You can change the name, icon, descriptions and graphics. You can target them by country, by search keywords, at people who haven't opened your app in 28 days, or through a unique URL. A country can only have one custom listing at a time, and custom listings aren't translated automatically.

For an indie dev, the unique URL is the useful part. Make one page whose first screenshot matches the video you post most, and link that page wherever the video lives.

Apple's new header slot

At WWDC26 Apple announced creative assets: images and videos that sit in the product page header and in search results. They're meant for brand art, seasonal offers and new content, not only app footage. Apple's newsroom says they're rolling out this year. Its WWDC26 guide lists an Asset Library for uploading and pre-approving them, and a product page preview tool, both marked coming this fall.

The Apple pages I read don't give pixel sizes yet. AppScreens covered it in an August 2026 post: 3840 x 1646 for the header, 3840 x 2560 for the search result asset, and 5244 x 2950 for a universal master that serves both. Treat those as their reading until Apple's spec page lists them.

I also couldn't find whether people may appear in these assets. If you were hoping to put a creator up top, wait for Apple's guidelines.

Where AppScreens fits

Most of the work above is screenshot production: right sizes, captions, languages, upload. AppScreens is built for that part, so here's what its own site says it does.

150+ template sets and 500+ editable layouts. All iOS and Android sizes on the paid plans. Localization in 80+ languages on the Scale plan, 10 on Pro. AI captions and AI restyling. One-click upload to App Store Connect and Google Play Console, which is the step I dread most. It also has presets for Apple's new header and search result sizes.

Pricing on their site today: a free plan with up to 5 screens per project and watermarked Pro features, no card. Pro is $99 a year. Scale is $180 a year and adds all 80+ languages and a license for client work.

What it isn't: a video tool. I didn't find preview video features on their site, so you'll still record and cut your app preview yourself.

See AppScreens

One page, planned start to finish

Here's how I'd plan it for a made-up app: a sleep tracker, iPhone only on iOS, phones only on Android, selling in the US, Germany and Japan.

1. 1

   Write three captions first

   One short line per screenshot. The first says what the app does. The second shows the result. The third answers the doubt, like "No account needed."

2. 2

   Make the biggest iPhone set

   Six screenshots at 1320 x 2868. Smaller iPhones get scaled copies, so one set covers them all.

3. 3

   Make the Play set

   Six at 1080 x 1920, which clears the four-at-1080 bar. Then a 1024 x 500 feature graphic. Check no caption says best or #1.

4. 4

   Record one preview

   20 seconds, screen recording only, core screen in the first few seconds since it plays muted. Export 886 x 1920 for Apple and put the same cut on YouTube, unlisted, monetization off, for Play.

5. 5

   Localize the captions

   German and Japanese captions on all six. With a template tool that's minutes per language, not a day.

6. 6

   Add one custom page

   A custom product page whose first screenshot matches the video you post most. Use its URL wherever that video lives.

Mistakes I keep seeing

These are the ones I check for before every release.

• A logo or splash screen as screenshot one. It's one of the few frames people see in search. Show what the app does
• A talking-head video in the App Store preview slot. Apple's rules say app content only
• Captions on Play that say #1 or Download now. Both are on Google's list of things not to write
• A preview with the best moment at second 20. It plays muted, and on Play only the first 30 seconds autoplay
• A private YouTube video, or one with monetization on, as the Play preview. Neither will show
• Uploading every iPhone size by hand when the UI is the same. Upload the highest resolution and let Apple scale
• A feature graphic made as an afterthought. Play uses it as the cover of your preview video

Video for the feeds that send people to the page

The store page converts people who already arrived. Getting them there is a different job, and that's where a person on camera works. TikTok, Reels and Shorts are full of people talking about apps they use.

That's the video I build ClipUGC for. Paste your App Store or Google Play link and you get three UGC videos free, with an AI influencer who keeps the same face from one video to the next. After that it's $14.99 a month on the Professional plan.

Point those videos at the custom page whose first screenshot matches what the video promised. The video makes the claim and the page backs it up.