Guideline 2.3.3 screenshots, in plain English
“Screenshots should show the app in use, and not merely the title art”
Guideline 2.3.3 says your App Store screenshots must mainly show the app being used, not only its title art, sign-in page or splash screen. Apple approves a set only when more than half of the screenshots for each device show the app in use; the rest can be marketing. Text and image overlays are fine as long as the app stays visible.
Checked against Apple’s guidelines on (Apple’s version of ). Apple’s reviewers make the final call.
What Guideline 2.3.3 means
Apple's App Review Help explains the counting. For each device type, the majority of screenshots must show the app in use: two of three, three of four, and so on. One screenshot for a device is enough if it shows the app in use, and the number can differ from device to device.
Apple encourages showing the main features, updating screenshots with each version so they match the current interface, and showing the app in other configurations such as Dark Mode. Splash screens and marketing text are allowed alongside, as long as most screenshots still show the app.
Overlays are welcome when they help: Apple mentions an animated touch point or Apple Pencil to show how input works, and extended features shown on device. What it rejects is overlays or marketing visuals that crowd out the app, hardware with no app on it, and screenshots that misrepresent the real interface.
Two more rules touch screenshots: they must suit a 4+ audience even if the app is rated higher (2.3.8), and a status bar or image that references another platform is judged under Guideline 2.3.10.
Why apps are turned down under Guideline 2.3.3
The screenshots don't show the app in use
Most of the set is the logo, the sign-in screen, the splash screen or marketing slides with no real screen of the app.
The screenshots don't match the app
They show an old design, features that were cut, or a mock-up that the real app doesn't look like.
The screenshots show another platform or device
An Android phone frame, another platform's status bar or icons, which Guideline 2.3.10 doesn't allow.
How to fix it and resubmit
- For each device size you submit, count the screenshots that show a real screen of the app in use; make sure that's more than half.
- Take them from the current build, on the screens that show the main features, with sample content that looks real but belongs to no real person.
- Keep captions short and around the screen rather than over it; drop any image of hardware without the app on it.
- Remove anything from another platform: frames, status bars, store badges, icons.
- Upload the new set in App Store Connect, reply to App Review and resubmit; screenshots are metadata, so the same build can stay.
How Borel helps
When a release goes out for iPhone and iPad and App Store Connect is missing the screenshots for it, Borel's Mac takes them itself in Apple's Simulator: the 13-inch iPad set, and the 6.9-inch iPhone set if that's missing too, from the app's opening screen and up to two other tabs. Those are real screens of the app in use, the kind Guideline 2.3.3 asks for.
Otherwise you add your own screenshots in the Your app step of Borel's publish flow, which asks for them one screen at a time alongside the name, icon, category and description.
Questions people ask
How many App Store screenshots must show the app in use?
More than half for each device type, according to Apple: two out of three, three out of four. A single screenshot is enough for a device if it shows the app in use.
Can screenshots have text and marketing on them?
Yes, as long as the app's interface stays visible and isn't crowded out, and most screenshots still show the app in use.
Can I show a sign-in screen in my screenshots?
As one of several, yes. A set that shows only generic sign-in pages or splash screens is what Guideline 2.3.3 rules out.
Do screenshots need a new build to change?
No. They're metadata in App Store Connect, though Apple doesn't let you upload or edit them while the version is waiting for review.
Related guidelines
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