Quick Answer
App Store Connect accepts screenshot changes only while a version sits in one of five statuses: Prepare for Submission, Invalid Binary, Rejected, Metadata Rejected or Developer Rejected. After that, Apple's help is blunt: once your app is submitted for review and approved, you must create a new version to update the screenshots, and a new version means uploading a build and going back through App Review. Google Play treats the same job as its own change. A store listing edit sits on the Publishing overview page, goes out when you click Send for review, and publishes automatically on approval, with processing that takes a few hours or up to seven days.
The five statuses that let you swap a screenshot
Apple's page on uploading app previews and screenshots says you can upload screenshots and app previews on the platform section of your app's page when the app has one of the following statuses:
- Prepare for Submission
- Invalid Binary
- Rejected
- Metadata Rejected
- Developer Rejected
The same page sets the limits that apply whichever route you take: a minimum of one and a maximum of ten screenshots, in .jpeg, .jpg and .png formats, and the Account Holder, Admin, App Manager or Marketing role. If your interface is the same across device sizes and localizations, Apple says to provide only the highest resolution screenshots required, because they scale down automatically.
Check where you stand before you export anything: read the version status in the App Store Connect sidebar. If a rejected version is sitting there, you can drag replacements straight into the wells, using View All Sizes in Media Manager for a specific size. If the app's only version is Ready for Distribution, the wells are closed. Files that upload but come back refused are a different problem, covered in App Store Connect screenshot upload errors.
What a new version actually costs
Apple's steps for creating a new version start with a prerequisite: the current version status has to be Ready for Distribution. You then click the add button next to the platform in the sidebar, enter an incremental App Store version number and click Create. Metadata from the current version is automatically transferred, so your existing screenshots come across and you replace only the ones you want to change.
Then comes the part that surprises anyone expecting a metadata edit. Apple's steps say to upload your new build to App Store Connect, incrementing the build string in Xcode first, then add that build to your latest version and submit the app to App Review. A screenshot swap on the default product page rides along with a build.
So unless the artwork is actively wrong, hold the change and ship it with the next release you had already planned: the version, the build and the review are the same work either way. There is also no undo, because Apple states that it is not possible to revert to a previous version on the App Store.
Two routes that skip the app update
Apple documents two ways to put different screenshots in front of people without shipping an app version. Neither changes the default page every visitor sees.
Custom product pages let you publish up to 70 additional versions of your product page for iPhone and iPad, each varying the screenshots, promotional text and app previews, and each with a unique URL to share. Apple says any metadata included in them must be submitted for review, which you can do independent of an app update. You can also assign keywords so a custom page appears in search results for them.
Product page optimization tests up to three treatments against your original page, shown to randomly selected people on iOS and iPadOS 15 or later. A test runs for 90 days or until you stop it, you can run one at a time, and it cannot be changed once started. New metadata in a treatment must be approved by App Review, and Apple says tests that do not include alternate app icons can be submitted for review independent of a new app version. Alternate icons are the exception: every variant has to be in the binary of your published app.
You can apply a winning treatment so it displays to everyone, which ends the test, but Apple's pages do not describe that as a replacement for the new version rule, and if the treatment includes an alternate app icon Apple tells you to include that icon when you submit a new app version. Treat applying a treatment as a change to your live page, not as a way around a version.
| Route | What it changes | Does it need a new app version |
|---|---|---|
| Default page, before approval | The page everyone sees | No, the version is still editable |
| Default page, after approval | The page everyone sees | Yes: incremental version, a build, App Review |
| Custom product page | One of up to 70 alternate pages, own URL | No, reviewed independent of an app update |
| Product page optimization | Up to three treatments shown to some visitors | No, for a test with no alternate app icon |
| Google Play main store listing | The listing everyone sees | No, it is a store listing change of its own |
How Google Play handles a listing change
On Google Play the assets live under Grow users, Store presence, Main store listing, in the Graphics section, as Google's preview asset guidance describes. Editing them creates a change, and updates to your store listings appear on the Publishing overview page alongside country targeting and app content changes.
Nothing leaves your account until you click Send for review. Once reviewed and approved, changes publish automatically unless managed publishing is turned on, which holds store listing changes, including changes made to custom store listings and live store listing experiments, until you publish them yourself. Google says processing can take a few hours or up to seven days, or longer in exceptional cases, and recommends a buffer of at least a week between submitting and going live. One trap: if an update was rejected and you have since fixed it, the changes are not sent for review automatically, so return to Publishing overview and click Send for review.
Check the files before any of that. Google requires a minimum of two screenshots across different device types to publish a listing, takes up to 8 per device type, and accepts JPEG or 24-bit PNG with no alpha, with a minimum dimension of 320px, a maximum of 3840px, and a maximum dimension no more than twice the minimum. Read the pixel size of your export: a raw capture from a 20:9 phone at 1080 × 2400 fails that ratio test, because 2400 is more than twice 1080. Fix it by exporting at 1080 × 1920, the shape the Android screenshot sizes page covers. Upload Play screenshots unframed, since Google's guidance lists device imagery among the image elements to avoid.
Re-exporting the set for free in appdesigns
When a listing change does go out, the slow part is rebuilding the images. The App Store screenshot generator in appdesigns is free, needs no account to create or export, adds no watermark, allows unlimited exports and renders in your browser as PNG files. Canvas presets cover sizes both stores accept, including 1320 × 2868 for the 6.9 inch iPhone and 1080 × 1920 for Android.
A project holds multiple screens that all use the same kind of device, so you can reopen the set you shipped last time, change the headline text or switch to a different iPhone frame, and export the whole run again instead of rebuilding each image. Frames cover current iPhone, iPad, MacBook and Apple Watch models, plus Pixel 11 Pro and Galaxy S26 Ultra for websites, ads and press kits. It does not upload anything to App Store Connect or Play Console, so the steps above are still yours to run.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I change App Store screenshots without submitting a new build?
Not for the default product page once the app has been approved. Apple says you must create a new version to update the screenshots, and its steps include uploading a build and submitting to App Review. A custom product page or a product page optimization test is the documented way to show different screenshots without an app update.
Why can I not edit the screenshot wells in App Store Connect?
Uploads are accepted only while the version is in Prepare for Submission, Invalid Binary, Rejected, Metadata Rejected or Developer Rejected. A version that has been approved and released sits in Ready for Distribution, which is not on that list. Create a new version to get an editable set again.
Do I have to re-upload screenshots for every device size?
No. Apple says that if your interface is the same across device sizes and localizations, you should provide only the highest resolution screenshots required, and they scale down to smaller sizes automatically. Add a specific size only when you want it to differ.
How long does a Google Play store listing change take to go live?
Google says processing can take a few hours or up to seven days, and longer in exceptional cases, because it depends on the review your app is subject to. It recommends a buffer of at least a week between submitting and going live. With managed publishing turned on, an approved change waits for you.
Does my existing metadata carry over to a new version?
Yes. Apple says metadata from the current version is automatically transferred, so your existing screenshots come with it. You replace only the images you want to change, within the limit of one to ten per set.