Change App Store screenshots without a new version: official paths vs Google Play

Three slots people collapse into one sentence

The search is usually blunt: change App Store screenshots without a new version. The screenshot well on the live version looks locked, while posts talk about Asset Library, Product Page Optimization, and “just edit the listing” as if they were the same door.

Apple’s Manage your App Store assets page, fetched on 12 November 2026, describes three different jobs. App previews and screenshots on the default product page are uploaded on the version page or in Asset Library, then submitted when the version is in one of five editable statuses. Creative assets for the product page header and search results are optional, and they are not the screenshot well — for a version already on the App Store, Apple says you can update those placements with approved assets without submitting a new version. Promotional text, in the platform version information reference, is a 170-character field that can mention current features without requiring an updated submission. It sits above the description and does not replace a screenshot.

Asset Library can hold screenshots, reuse them on a Custom Product Page, and submit creative assets for review on their own. It does not make the live version’s screenshot well freely editable. This is a routing guide, not another PPO test walkthrough — that flow is in the PPO screenshot testing guide. AppShot Maker only builds the files in your browser; it cannot submit to App Store Connect or Play Console.

Official route comparison (checked 12 November 2026)

Keep the table honest: “creative assets” is not a synonym for “screenshots.” They use different tabs — App Previews and Screenshots versus Header and Search Results.

Route A: Put the new set on the next version

If you are already shipping a binary, or you also need to change the description, keywords, or What’s New text, attach the new screenshots to the next version. In App Store Connect, open the platform version you can edit. Under Product Page Information, open App Previews and Screenshots, or choose View All Sizes in Media Manager. Switch languages from the menu at the top right. You can drag in new files or choose Browse Assets to reuse an approved, compatible image from Asset Library.

The screenshot specifications checked today still allow one to ten screenshots per device size and localization, in .jpeg, .jpg, or .png, with no alpha. The required iPhone well is Dynamic Island (medium display): 1179×2556 or 1206×2622 (swap sides for landscape). The 6.9-inch large-display sizes (1260×2736, 1290×2796, 1320×2868) are optional, not required. If the app runs on iPadOS, add a 13-inch iPad shot: 2064×2752 or 2048×2732. iPhone Duo sizes (outer 1398×2034, inner 2007×2853) are listed, but they become required in April 2027 for apps using the iOS 27.1 SDK or later — not today.

Removing a screenshot also removes it from every display size that used a scaled copy. If the drop areas are missing, check the sidebar status before you blame the file: Ready for Distribution is not one of the five statuses above. If you were going to submit a version anyway, put the screenshots there; if you only want new product-page screenshots, use Route B.

Route B: Product Page Optimization, then apply the treatment

This is the official way to change App Store screenshots without a new version. Apple’s configure-treatments page says the metadata in a treatment must be approved before a test can start, and that “you can submit this metadata without submitting a new version of your app.” New screenshots still go through App Review. The documented exception is narrow: if you are only changing the order of screenshots or previews already on the App Store, or only changing the app icon, that metadata is already approved and you do not need to resubmit.

A running test can show the new set to a share of visitors. If everyone should see the new screenshots, apply the treatment to the original product page (and to versions in Ready for Distribution or Prepare for Submission). Official limits: one treatment per test, and the action cannot be undone; only the app previews and screenshots from the treatment will be applied. An alternate icon does not become the default icon when you apply the treatment — set it as the default in your next app version, and it must already exist in the binary currently on the App Store. Custom Product Pages have their own URLs and do not replace the default page; see the custom product pages guide.

Route C: Header and search results can go live without a new version — they are still not screenshots

If what you actually want to refresh is the large header or the search-results creative, stay on the Header and Search Results tab. For a version already on the store, open that live version, choose Header or Search Results, click Browse Assets, pick an approved asset, then click Publish. You can also submit creative assets from Asset Library on their own; Apple reviews those against the app’s latest version. These optional assets are for iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 or later. See the header and search results size guide and the product page header video tutorial. Neither replaces the default screenshot set.

Google Play: no new bundle, but not “save and it is live”

Play listing screenshots and the Feature Graphic live under Graphics on the main store listing. They are not tied to a production bundle the way App Store screenshots are tied to a version record. That is the useful contrast — and where people over-promise.

The preview assets page checked today still requires JPEG or 24-bit PNG (no alpha) for phone screenshots, with each side between 320 and 3840 pixels, and the long side no more than twice the short side. You need at least two screenshots across device types to publish, and you can add up to eight per type. The Feature Graphic remains 1024×500, same formats, no alpha.

Publishing overview lists store-listing updates among changes that can be sent for review. They sit in Changes not yet sent for review until you click Send for review. If managed publishing is on, an approved change can wait until you publish it. Google says processing can take a few hours or up to seven days, and it recommends at least a week of buffer. Do not write that Play updates go live instantly.

Make the files, then pick a door

The files still have to match the wells and format rules. Build the required set in the screenshot editor — for iPhone, start with 1206×2622 or 1179×2556, and do not treat the optional 1320×2868 well as required. For a Play phone set, 1080×1920 is a common legal size that also satisfies the 2× aspect rule. Run the files through the screenshot checker; it reads width, height, format, and file size in the browser, but it does not know whether a live version will accept a replacement. For the same layout in more languages, use screenshot localization (it does not translate). Look up wells in the screenshot size chart. The store listing preview is an unofficial mock, not a substitute for the consoles.

Export the PNG or JPEG, then go back to the official console — this site cannot start a Product Page Optimization test or send a listing change for review. Before you submit, name the slot, put default App Store screenshots on an editable next version or submit them as Product Page Optimization metadata, use today’s required wells with no transparency, confirm a Play change was sent for review, and give App Store metadata changes up to 24 hours to appear.