App Store Creative Assets: Header & Search Image Sizes

See Apple's official placements in context

The image below comes directly from Apple's developer guidance. It shows the header and search placements together; our editorial cover above is a separate conceptual illustration. These reference screens are not evidence of a live app's availability or performance.

What changed and what stays separate

Apple documents optional creative artwork for product page headers and search results on iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 and later. A header can express a brand or content theme; screenshots still show the actual app experience. Treat them as complementary parts of the same story, not interchangeable files.

A useful production brief names the placement before it names the design. 'Make a launch banner' is ambiguous. 'Introduce our guided hiking experience in a product page header' gives the designer an audience, a job, and a constraint. Keep event artwork tied to a real event, and keep a Google Play feature graphic in its own export set.

App Store header and search image sizes

These are Apple's current image requirements, reviewed October 7, 2026. Images must be opaque. The universal option uses a specific resolution; selecting a generic 16:9 canvas does not produce an equivalent upload.

Choose dedicated or universal artwork

Use dedicated artwork when a wide scene benefits the header but the search card needs a closer view of the result. A hiking app could use a spacious landscape for the header and a tighter trail-and-route composition for search. Keep the palette and subject consistent while deliberately changing the framing.

Use a universal image when one central idea remains understandable in both placements. Build from Apple's universal template, then inspect the preview rather than guessing a safe-area percentage. If the crop hides the thing that makes the app useful, create a dedicated version instead. Universal compatibility saves a handoff; it does not guarantee a good composition.

Our cover is an original conceptual illustration of a coordinated asset set, not a real app, an Apple screenshot, or a studio export. It illustrates shared visual identity rather than an upload-ready template.

When to use a still image or a video

A still image is a good starting point when the core idea is clear in one frame. Try motion when the app's value is a transformation or experience that a still cannot explain. For example, show a route forming or a finished edit appearing, rather than moving decorative shapes around an otherwise static message.

Header videos use 21:9 at 3840 × 1646; search videos use 3:2 at 1920 × 1280 through 3840 × 2560. Apple specifies 30 or 60 fps, 5–30 seconds, and MOV, M4V, or MP4. Search playback cannot currently be unmuted; headers can be. Plan a silent-first loop and a strong poster frame. These are creative-video requirements, not the rules for app previews or event videos.

Build an asset brief before opening the editor

Write a six-line brief: audience, job, promise, visual evidence, placement, and destination. For a route-planning app: first-time hikers; find a suitable nearby trail; choose a route confidently; a real trail map and distance preview; search artwork; the hiking-focused page. This keeps the artwork grounded in a product experience rather than a slogan.

In AppLaunchFlow, bring your screenshots and brand materials into the graphics workflow to develop the composition. Keep the editable design as the source of truth. Choose the required placement preset when available in your studio, and check the exported file against Apple before uploading. The studio prepares the artwork; App Store Connect controls review and publication.

• Choose one focal point and one promise; remove decorative elements that compete with them.
• Use real product evidence and assets you own or have permission to use.
• Review short copy at thumbnail size and allow for translated text.
• Prepare a separate screenshot story that proves the promise after the visitor opens the page.

Preflight the set, then measure the right result

Before submission, check pixel dimensions, file type, alpha, and the final image itself—not just the editor canvas. Preview supported devices, orientations, and localizations in App Store Connect. Save a manifest with the source design, exported file, intended placement, locale, and revision so a later campaign cannot quietly reuse an obsolete asset.

After release, record what changed and when. Compare compatible traffic sources and equal complete windows. A better product-page conversion rate with fewer impressions can mean something very different from a search reach increase with unchanged downloads. Do not call a before-and-after movement a creative win without checking audience, campaign, app version, and seasonality.