App Clip Card Image Size and Rules

I read Apple's App Store Connect help pages on App Clip experiences on October 18, 2026. Then I checked the Human Interface Guidelines for its advice on the card itself.

Here's what goes on the card, where you set it up, and how to make the picture work.

An App Clip is a light version of your app. It offers part of the app's features, right when someone needs them, without a full install.

Before an App Clip opens, people see its card. It's the first thing they meet, often right after they scan a code or tap a link.

The card holds four parts: a header image, a title, a subtitle and one action button.

From the card, people can launch the App Clip or visit your App Store page. So the card does two jobs. It explains the task, and it introduces your app.

The header image is required. Apple's default experience guide lists the specs:

1. 1Shape: 3:2.
2. 2Size: 1800 x 1200 pixels.
3. 3Files: .jpg, .jpeg or .png.

Apple's design guidelines add one more rule. The image must have no transparency, so flatten it onto a solid background before you export.

This isn't a range of sizes. Make the file at exactly 1800 x 1200, and you won't have to guess.

Other App Store art uses different numbers. Our guide to creative asset sizes covers the product page header and search results.

Apple's App Clip design guidelines give three tips for the header.

Be informative. The picture should hint at what the App Clip does.

Prefer photography and graphics. A photo of the product, the place or the task suits the card well.

Avoid a screenshot of your interface. People see your screens a moment later, once the App Clip opens. The card is the place for a picture that sets the scene.

Think about where someone stands when the card appears. They may be at a counter, a parking meter or a bike rack. An image that matches that moment tells them they're in the right place.

Apple's guidelines also say to avoid text in the header image. They give three reasons.

1. 1Text in an image isn't localizable, so it can't change with the viewer's language.
2. 2It can be hard to read on a small card.
3. 3It makes the card less pleasing to look at.

Your words belong in the title and subtitle instead. Those are real text fields, so they stay sharp on every screen.

That's a different rule from most store art. Screenshots often carry captions. The App Clip card doesn't need them, because your title and subtitle already sit on the card.

Every card needs a title and a subtitle. Apple sets firm limits:

1. 1Title: up to 30 characters.
2. 2Subtitle: up to 56 characters.

Thirty characters is short. "Order coffee for pickup" uses 23, so you've got room for a word or two, not a sentence.

Use the title to name the task. Use the subtitle to say what happens next, or why it's quick.

Write a draft, then count the characters, spaces included. A line that fits in English may run long once it's translated, so leave some room.

The card shows one button, and you pick its verb from three options:

1. 1View, for media, information or learning content.
2. 2Play, for games.
3. 3Open, for everything else.

Pick the one that matches the task. A museum guide fits View. A quick game fits Play. Ordering, paying and renting fit Open.

Don't overthink it. The button's job is to make the next step obvious, and one clear verb does that.

Every App Clip needs a default experience. It's the basic card and the basic way in.

Apple says people can open it from Safari and Messages. With an App Clip link from Apple, they can also open it from an NFC tag, a QR code or a link in another app. Opening from other apps needs iOS 17 or later.

Apple also offers a default App Clip link. It's optional, and it works on iOS 16.4 and later. App Store Connect creates the link for you, along with a demo URL. Both become active once Apple approves your app version.

You can stop at the default experience if one card fits every way people reach your App Clip.

You can't set up a card for an App Clip that Apple hasn't seen yet.

Start with the build. Upload one that includes the App Clip. Apple says each later version of your app must include it too.

Next, check your role. Apple lists four roles that can set up App Clip experiences: Account Holder, Admin, App Manager and Marketing.

That last one matters. A marketer on your team can work on the card without needing an Admin role.

Also check your audience. App Clips need iOS 14 or later. They aren't available to children under 13, or to anyone with Ask to Buy turned on.

Here's the process from Apple's help page:

1. 1In App Store Connect, open your app and select the iOS app version.
2. 2Scroll down to the App Clip section.
3. 3Add the header image, then type the subtitle.
4. 4Choose the action.
5. 5Click Save.

Apple says this metadata appears on the card when people open your App Clip from Safari or Messages.

Have your 1800 x 1200 image ready before you start. Then you can fill the whole section in one sitting.

One card may not fit every place. A chain with many stores might want a different card for each one.

That's what advanced experiences are for. In App Store Connect, find Advanced App Clip Experiences and click Edit Advanced Experiences. Then:

1. 1Enter the invocation URL, the link that opens this experience.
2. 2Fill in the card's Default Display Title and Default Subtitle.
3. 3Use Add Additional Titles for other languages.
4. 4Choose a call to action, or a Maps action for a place.
5. 5Answer what the experience promotes, then send it to Apple.

Translated titles help here. Our guide to localizing App Store listings explains which markets to translate first.

An advanced experience can also be tied to a place. That's optional, but you need it for the App Clip to show up in Maps.

Apple adds that linking a place doesn't guarantee it'll appear there.

There's an ownership rule too. The business owner must claim the place through Apple Business Connect, or the creator must be an authorized partner. The exception is the official app for that business.

So if you build App Clips for clients, settle who owns each place before you submit. A missing claim is easier to fix early than after review.

App Clip Codes are Apple's round codes that open an App Clip. Apple's guidelines set minimum sizes:

1. 1Printed: at least 3/4 inch, or 1.9 cm, across.
2. 2Digital: at least 256 x 256 pixels, as PNG or SVG.
3. 3With NFC: at least 1.37 inches, or 3.48 cm, because it holds a Type 5 NFC tag of at least 35 mm.

Distance matters too. Apple says the ratio of scan distance to code size should be no more than 20:1, and ideally 10:1.

Its example is simple. A code people scan from 40 inches away should be at least 4 inches wide. Measure where your customer will stand before you print.

Where you put the code matters as much as its size.

Leave clear space around it. Apple sets that space equal to the gap between the center glyph and the circular code.

Use flat or cylindrical surfaces only. On a cylinder, such as a cup, keep the code no wider than one sixth of the circumference.

And leave the code alone. Don't rotate it, animate it, dim it or cover it with anything.

Apple offers two kinds: one for scanning only, and one with NFC built in. Each comes with or without the App Clip logo.

A few more rules apply before you ship.

You can give App Review up to three App Clip URLs. They go in the App Clip URLs section of App Review Information.

Apple's guidelines also say not to use an App Clip only for marketing. Don't show ads in it either.

Notifications have a time limit. An App Clip can send them for up to 8 hours after someone launches it.

So plan a real task for the App Clip first. The card then describes that task, not a sales pitch.

The card's second job is to bring people to your app.

Apple says the system shows an app banner the first time an App Clip launches. And people can visit your App Store page straight from the card.

That page is where your screenshots take over. Someone who taps through from the card lands there, and your screenshots help them decide whether to install.

Our free screenshot maker puts your app screens in device frames for the store, with no signup. Build your set once, and every App Clip visitor who taps through will see your app at its best.