Preparing App Store screenshots for iPhone Duo

iPhone Duo screenshots come in two sizes, one for each display: 1398 x 2034 pixels for the outer display and 2007 x 2853 pixels for the inner display, each also accepted in landscape (2034 x 1398 and 2853 x 2007). They are optional today. Apple's October 5, 2026 announcement says that when you submit iPhone Duo screenshots, your product page shows a badge telling people the app is optimized for iPhone Duo, and that starting April 2027 apps submitted will need to include them. You do not need the device to make them: captures from an 11-inch iPad simulator are within about 2 percent of both aspect ratios, so a resize and a small crop gets you there, as long as your app uses the same layout on Duo as on iPad. Here is what Apple has said, how to produce the files and what to check before you upload.

What Apple has announced so far

• September 9, 2026: "Get ready for iPhone Duo", with videos, group labs and forum Q&As.
• September 18, 2026: Xcode 27.1 beta, plus Figma and Sketch design kits for iPhone Duo in the Apple Design Resources.
• October 5, 2026: "Prepare and submit your apps for iPhone Duo". iPhone Duo goes on sale October 23, 2026. Apple says to recompile with Xcode 27.1 and use Device Hub to see how your app behaves on iPhone Duo across all poses and orientations. Updated screenshot and app preview specifications are available, App Store Connect has a new preview tool for product pages on iPhone Duo, and you can submit iPhone Duo optimized apps now.
• April 2027: the screenshot requirement starts. The news post says any apps or games submitted will need iPhone Duo screenshots. The Screenshot specifications page words it as screenshots being required for any app using the iOS 27.1 SDK or later. If you build with the latest SDK, both readings land in the same place.

The sizes

From App Store Connect Help, Screenshot specifications:

Apple's page lists each pair without labeling the orientation, so portrait and landscape here are simply the taller and the wider of the two.

The general rules on the same page apply: JPEG or PNG, no alpha channel or transparency, at least one and up to 10 screenshots per device size, and every screenshot must follow the App Review Guidelines.

Compare the shapes with what you already make. The large iPhone size, 1320 x 2868, has a ratio of 0.460, so an iPhone screenshot is far too tall to reuse. The 13-inch iPad at 2064 x 2752 is 0.750. The 11-inch iPad sizes are the close match, which is the basis for the method below.

Can you upload them yet?

Apple's October 5 post says you can submit iPhone Duo optimized apps in App Store Connect today and describes the badge you get when you submit iPhone Duo screenshots. Before that announcement, in September, an Apple DTS engineer answered a Developer Forums question by saying that support for uploading iPhone Duo assets in App Store Connect would be available later this year, and a later reply in another thread reported the upload option appearing. In the September thread, a developer also pointed out that the App Store Connect API's screenshot display types had no iPhone Duo value.

What that means in practice:

1. Look for iPhone Duo under Previews and Screenshots on your version page, or under View All Sizes in Media Manager.
2. If it isn't there for your account yet, prepare the files now and check the Screenshot specifications page for updates.
3. If you upload through the App Store Connect API or a tool built on it, confirm that a display type for iPhone Duo exists in the current API documentation before you plan around it.

How to make iPhone Duo screenshots without the device

First, check which layout your app uses

Use Device Hub in Xcode 27.1 to see your app on both displays, in every pose and orientation. This tells you whether each display shows your iPad style layout, your iPhone style layout or something you built just for Duo. A screenshot must show the app as people will actually see it, so this decides your source material.

If the layout matches iPad: resize 11-inch iPad captures

The App Store Connect accepted sizes for the 11-inch iPad display include 1668 x 2420, 1668 x 2388 and 1640 x 2360. Scaled to fill each Duo size, the amount you have to crop away is small:

Use an 11-inch simulator, not the 13-inch one. A 6 to 8 percent crop starts cutting into navigation bars and edge content.

A workflow that works:

1. Boot an 11-inch iPad simulator and set a clean status bar: xcrun simctl status_bar booted override --time 9:41 --batteryState charged --batteryLevel 100
2. Load the same demo data you use for your other screenshots.
3. Capture each screen: xcrun simctl io booted screenshot home.png
4. Check the pixel size of what you got: sips -g pixelWidth -g pixelHeight home.png
5. Resize to fill and crop from the center. With ImageMagick, for the inner display: magick home.png -resize 2007x2853^ -gravity center -extent 2007x2853 -alpha off duo-inner-01.png
6. For the outer display, the same with 1398x2034.

Going from 1668 pixels wide to 2007 is an upscale of about 20 percent, which softens small text a little. Add your captions and frames after resizing, at the final pixel size, so the marketing text stays sharp even if the capture underneath is slightly soft.

If the layout does not match iPad

Do not stretch an iPad capture to stand in for a different layout. Instead, build the screenshot in a design tool using Apple's iPhone Duo design kits, place real captures of the screens your app actually shows, and export at the exact size. This is also the route for landscape inner display screenshots if your app has a dedicated landscape layout.

Screenshot practices that carry over

Everything Apple already asks of screenshots applies on the new displays.

• Most screenshots must show the app in use. Apple's App Review help for guideline 2.3.3 says it approves only submissions where more than half of the screenshots for each device show the app in use. With three screenshots, two must be the app in use. With four, three must.
• The first ones carry the most weight. Apple's product page guidance says the first one to three images appear in search results when there is no app preview, depending on orientation. Put your strongest screen first.
• One idea per screenshot. Apple suggests focusing each screenshot after the first on one main benefit or feature.
• Show Dark Mode if you support it. Apple suggests including at least one Dark Mode screenshot.
• Keep them current. Apple's App Review help asks you to update screenshots with each version so they match the interface.
• Don't let overlays crowd out the app. Text and image overlays are allowed, but the app should stay the subject.
• No prices. Guideline 2.3.7 says metadata such as screenshots should not include prices.

For the inner display, a short caption at the top and a full screen capture below usually reads better than squeezing in two devices. The shape is much closer to an iPad than to an iPhone, so caption layouts made for tall iPhone screenshots tend to leave too little room for the app itself.

Creative assets and guideline 2.3.14

Also on October 5, Apple announced new creative assets: image and video assets for your product page header and for search results, managed in a new Asset Library in App Store Connect and previewed with the new preview tool, which supports Dark Mode, different devices and orientations. The October 16 guideline update added 2.3.14 to cover them. Creative assets must relate to your app's content, functionality or overall brand, follow the standard metadata rules and be appropriate for all audiences. They should not include references to other apps meant to mislead, unverifiable product claims, or specific or discounted pricing.

Creative assets are separate from screenshots, but the same habits keep both out of trouble: no "number one" claims you cannot back up, no prices, nothing that promises a feature the app does not have. If you are writing captions in several languages, keep the claim identical in each, and see our guide to the subtitle and keyword field for keeping the words on your product page consistent.

Checklist

• Device Hub checked: you know which layout each Duo display shows
• Outer display set at 1398 x 2034 (or 2034 x 1398)
• Inner display set at 2007 x 2853 (or 2853 x 2007)
• Source captures from an 11-inch iPad simulator, or composed from Apple's design kits
• Clean status bar and realistic demo data
• Captions added after resizing, at final size
• JPEG or PNG, alpha channel removed
• More than half of each set shows the app in use
• Strongest screenshot first, at least one Dark Mode screenshot if supported
• No prices or unverifiable claims
• Previewed in App Store Connect's preview tool
• Notes for Review mention any Duo specific features (see Notes for Review that pass)

Where asopilot helps

asopilot's Screenshot studio builds iPhone Duo sets for both displays from the captures you already have, preferring iPad captures where the shapes match, and adds your captions at full resolution. If App Store Connect does not take the upload for your app yet, you get the files as a download instead. Want to know how your current screenshots score first? Run the free App Store audit.