Getting your Google Play store listing rejected over image dimensions is a frustrating way to lose a launch day. The rules are not complicated, but they are scattered across several pages of documentation — so here they are in one place.
The rules that apply to every screenshot
Four constraints govern every screenshot you upload:
- Each side must be at least 320 px and at most 3840 px
- The longest side cannot be more than twice the shortest — which keeps everything between 16:9 and 9:16
- The file must be JPEG or 24-bit PNG with no alpha channel
- Maximum 8 MB per file
That third rule causes more rejections than the others combined, and we will come back to it.
Recommended sizes by device
Google Play is more flexible than the App Store: you work within a range rather than hitting exact pixel values. But some sizes are safer than others because they render cleanly on the widest set of devices.
- Phone: 1080 x 1920 (portrait, 9:16) — the safe default
- 7-inch tablet: 1200 x 1920
- 10-inch tablet: 1600 x 2560
If your app has a genuine large-screen layout, do not simply upload enlarged phone screenshots. Show the tablet interface as it actually looks — the denser layout, the split view, whatever the extra space buys the user.
The feature graphic: 1024 x 500
This is a separate asset from your screenshots, and it trips people up because it looks like it should follow the same rules. It does not.
The feature graphic is exactly 1024 x 500 pixels. Note that this is slightly wider than a 2:1 ratio, which would break the screenshot rule — but the feature graphic is exempt because it is a different asset type. It appears at the top of your listing and in promotional placements, so it should carry your app name or core promise, not fine detail that disappears when scaled down.
How many screenshots do you need
You can upload up to 8 screenshots per device tier — phone, 7-inch tablet, 10-inch tablet, and others if your app supports them. Providing at least four gives Google enough material for the various store surfaces and improves your chances of promotional placement.
The alpha channel trap
Here is the detail that catches most developers, especially anyone exporting from a browser-based tool.
Play Console accepts PNG only as 24-bit with no alpha channel. But when a web app exports a PNG from an HTML canvas, the browser always writes an RGBA file — an alpha channel is included even when every pixel is fully opaque. Upload that and Play Console can reject it.
The simple fix: export as JPEG. JPEG has no alpha channel by definition, it is explicitly accepted, and at quality 90 it stays comfortably under the 8 MB limit for any of the sizes above. Only use PNG if you know for certain your file carries no alpha.
Design details that matter
Keep text away from the edges. Some store surfaces crop or resize your images, and a caption pinned to the border is the first thing to disappear.
Localize more than the caption. If you publish in another language, the interface inside the screenshot should be in that language too. Translated captions over an English UI look like an afterthought.
Lead with your strongest screen. The first one or two images carry most of the conversion weight, because many users never scroll the gallery.
Stay honest. Screenshots must reflect what the app actually does. Games in particular are expected to show real gameplay.
Generate them free, without uploading anything
Photopik's generator composes your raw screenshot onto a background with an optional generic device frame and a caption, then exports at every size above — including the 1024 x 500 feature graphic. It runs entirely in your browser, so your unreleased app screens never leave your machine, and it defaults to JPEG so the alpha-channel problem never comes up.
Open the Play Store screenshot generator
One last note: Google occasionally revises these specifications. The figures here were checked in July 2026 — if you are preparing a launch, it is worth confirming against Play Console before you upload.