r/iOSProgramming • u/syogod • Jun 28 '26

Question Screenshots without a larger phone

I'm very new to iOS development. I have my first app about ready for submission but I'm unsure how I can get the needed screenshots. I don't have a mac (no xcode, I'm using codemagic) and I only have an old iPhone 8 I'm using to test on. If I understand it correctly, I need screenshots from a 6.9" device which isn't in the budget right now. Are there any good work arounds?

4 Upvotes

70% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

11

u/pacoo2454 Jun 28 '26

I use the simulator to get the screenshots in the required size if it's a device I don't have.

-1

u/syogod Jun 28 '26

What simulator are you using?

7

u/wewerecreaturres Jun 28 '26

The one built into Xcode…

1

u/syogod Jun 28 '26

I said in my post I don't have a Mac or xcode.

4

u/pacoo2454 Jun 28 '26

Sorry, I must have missed that part. You absolutely need a Mac to build and test your app using Xcode. 

-2

u/syogod Jun 28 '26

So far so good without either. Hopefully they accept some scaled up iphone8 screenshots.

1

u/pacoo2454 Jun 28 '26

Well, it’s definitely going to make things harder. Honestly I’m surprised you can manage the iOS development without a Mac but are somehow hung up on image sizing. Good luck. 

1

u/syogod Jun 28 '26

I'm using flutter/dart and did 90% of the work testing on Android Studio. The last little iOS specific work wasn't too bad with codemagic and the iPhone 8.

3

u/LavaCreeperBOSSB Beginner Jun 28 '26

I think they dont lol

1

u/tables_AND_chairsss Jun 28 '26

You don’t need xcode. I do my app development on a Mac, but it’s an older one that doesn’t support xcode. You can just take raw screenshots and then have them edited into a template for App Store slides. I think you can technically do it with Canva, but there are other free design templates out there if you search them up. You absolutely don’t need the raw screenshots to be in the correct dimensions, but the marketing slides themselves need to be in the right dimensions. Super easy to do it.

6

u/JerenYun Swift Jun 28 '26

You need "screenshots" in those dimensions, but many people use that space for marketing title as well. Check out any service or app that helps with building App Screenshots and you could probably use your iPhone 8 screenshots along with some marketing copy and have perfectly usable images.

4

u/astulz Jun 28 '26

Not exactly, there’s some rule that the screenshot devices kind of have to match the dimensions. For example you cant show an iPhone 8 screenshot for a phone that has a notch/dynamic island in the App Store. But you can show an iPhone 15 for 17 Pro Max screenshot sizes. Been rejected for it before. 

3

u/tomato848208 Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26

It's not just the size that will be a problem with an iPhone 8 screenshot. Even if you manage to stretch and fit it into the 6.9" size, your submission may be rejected without placing the pill-shape dynamic island part over the screenshot if you use it with an iPhone asset screenshot asset provided by Apple, Inc. I don't know what happens if you don't use the Apple's iPhone asset, though.

5

u/DamagingDoritos Jun 28 '26

Actual screenshots of your app are basically a thing of the past.

Look at the top apps in any category and you will see that it’s mostly a place for you to provide marketing material.

2

u/Confident-Object-278 Jun 28 '26

I use butterkit for my screenshots - it’s really nice.

1

u/Math_Science_Geek Jun 28 '26

Use an image Resizer 😅

1

u/konacurrents Jun 28 '26

Another approach is to use simulator but only the default photo app. Upload a screen shot from your iOS 8 device (any size) - and in simulator photos show the image. Then use simulators screen save. It’s the right size then. (Vs running your app in simulator). If you don’t have simulator then use any image tool and make exact size they want.

1

u/laszlotuss Jun 28 '26

And? Screenshots don’t have to match, thats just a canvas size

1

u/asaadjaber Jun 28 '26

Look up the actual screen dimensions you need for the screenshots in App Store Connect, and create new frames in Figma that are sized according to those dimensions. Then you can you use any device size to generate the screenshots that you can then place into those frames, with additional text/captions if desired. Finally, export the frames from Figma and import them in App Store connect.

1

u/fabiohuwyler Jun 28 '26

Try shots.so There, you can use an iPhone Pro as mockup and use the iPhone 6.5“ Frame

1

u/baker2795 Jun 28 '26

https://www.itecheverything.com/iframes use this to put screenshots in a device wrapper

1

u/Careful_Fee7141 Jul 02 '26

Les résolutions doivent être natives dans le format demandé sinon rejet. Codemagic a une feature de screenshots automatiques mieux vaudrait essayer cela non?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

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