App Store Creative Assets: Header and Search Sizes

I read Apple's creative assets specifications and its help page on managing them on October 18, 2026. Then I checked the App Review Guidelines for the new rule that covers them.

Here's every size, where each asset shows up, and how you add one to your page.

Creative assets are images and videos that sell your brand, not your screens.

Apple's help page calls them rich images or videos that showcase your app's overall value, brand or excitement. That's the big change. Your screenshots and app previews must show the app in use. Creative assets don't have to.

So you can show a seasonal offer, a new level, or just your brand's look.

They're also optional. Apple says they're separate from your screenshots, app previews, In-App Purchase images and any artwork its editors ask for. Skip them, and nothing on your page breaks.

Apple announced them in June. On October 5, 2026, its developer news invited you to start using them.

Apple's spec page lists three placements:

1. 1The product page header, a wide banner at the very top of your page.
2. 2Search results, where people meet your app before they tap on it.
3. 3In-App Event cards, plus the details page each card opens.

Apple's June announcement adds two more spots. Search assets can also appear in the Apple Games app, and you can use them in Apple Ads campaigns.

There's one limit you'll want to know. Creative assets show only on iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 or later. People on older versions see your page the old way, with your screenshots and previews up front.

The header is the widest asset you'll make. Apple's creative assets specifications give two options:

1. 1A 21:9 image at 3840 x 1646 pixels, as JPEG or PNG.
2. 2Or a 16:9 image at 5244 x 2950 pixels, as PNG only.

Neither may include an alpha channel or any transparency. Flatten your file before you export it, so a solid background fills every pixel.

Notice how wide 21:9 is. It's much wider than a phone held upright. Your design has to read on a wide banner, and the same file has to work across phones, tablets and both orientations.

Search results use a shorter shape.

The main option is 3:2. Your image can be as small as 1920 x 1280 pixels or as large as 3840 x 2560, as JPEG or PNG.

There's a second option too: 16:9 at 5244 x 2950 pixels, PNG only.

Look closely and you'll spot something. That 16:9 size is the same one the header accepts. It's the only size the two placements share.

The no transparency rule applies here as well. If your design tool exports PNGs with an alpha channel by default, check that setting before you upload, or you'll waste a round trip.

You don't always need two designs.

Apple's help page says a universal creative asset can serve both your header and your search results. When you add a header, a checkbox called Use header asset in search results reuses it.

That checkbox works only with universal assets. Otherwise, you pick a separate asset for search.

Apple's best practices page likes the idea. It says one asset for both spots can strengthen brand recognition.

Still, the two spots do different jobs. Your header greets someone who already chose to look at your app. Your search asset competes with the apps around it. One design can struggle to do both well.

Both placements accept video as well as images. Here's what Apple's spec table asks for:

1. 1Shape: 21:9 at 3840 x 1646 for the header, and 3:2 for search.
2. 2Frame rate: 30 or 60 frames per second.
3. 3Length: from 5 seconds to 30 seconds.
4. 4Files: .mov, .m4v or .mp4.

Sound works differently in each spot. In search results, videos play muted, and people can't unmute them yet. On your product page, videos also start muted, but people can turn the sound on.

Both spots loop your video without stopping. Pick the first frame with care too. Our guide to choosing a poster frame explains why it matters.

Apple's asset best practices page gives clear advice for video.

Start strong. Lead with your main benefit or your best feature.

Keep it silent first. Audio is muted by default in most cases, so your video must work with no sound at all. When you do add sound, Apple suggests a short music loop rather than heavy sound effects.

Loop cleanly. Videos autoplay and repeat, so people may watch the loop several times. A visible jump at the end looks cheap.

Slow down. Apple warns against quick cuts and fast motion, which are hard to follow and may not be accessible for everyone.

In-App Events get creative assets too, in two shapes.

The event card is landscape, at 16:9. It runs from 1920 x 1080 pixels up to 3840 x 2160, as JPEG or PNG, with a 500 MB limit.

The event details page is portrait, at 9:16. It runs from 1080 x 1920 up to 2160 x 3840.

Event videos follow the same shapes, at 30 or 60 fps. They're longer than header videos, though, at 15 to 30 seconds.

Apple adds one design tip. Each event carries a badge, such as Challenge, Premiere or New Season. Design your media to suit that badge, not repeat it. Our post on In-App Events and promotional content covers events in full.

Your header is the first thing someone sees on your product page. Apple's advice for it is short.

Focus on one clear idea. A busy, cluttered banner weakens the message.

Design for a first time visitor. Ask what would grab someone who has never heard of your app.

Keep the important parts in the middle. The header appears across different devices and orientations, so Apple says to keep key art inside the safe area of its templates. Put your focal point near the center, so nothing important gets clipped.

If you add text, keep it to a short phrase. And translate it for every language your app supports.

Search is a different moment. People typed something specific, and they're scanning fast.

Apple's advice here is to state the obvious. Make your app's purpose clear at a glance.

It also suggests you show the firsthand experience. That means your interface, your content or your gameplay, so people can decide quickly whether to download.

That's close to what good screenshots already do. So if your first three screenshots work well in search today, think twice before you swap them for a brand image.

Apple notes that without a search asset, your In-App Events, app previews and screenshots appear there instead.

On October 16, 2026, Apple added a guideline just for creative assets.

The App Review Guidelines now say, in rule 2.3.14, that creative assets must relate to your app's content, features or overall brand. They must follow the other metadata rules and suit all audiences.

The rule then lists what you can't include. That's inappropriate content, misleading references to other apps, product claims that can't be verified, and specific or discounted prices.

The best practices page goes further. It says to leave out website URLs, copyright symbols, and logos of other platforms. Don't show Apple awards like Editor's Choice either. Assets must also meet a 4+ age rating, even if your app is rated higher.

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

1. 1Open your app, then pick the app version in the sidebar.
2. 2Under Product Page Information, click the Header and Search Results tab.
3. 3Choose Header or Search Results.
4. 4Drag your file into the well, or click Browse Assets to reuse one from your Asset Library.
5. 5Select the asset, then click Save.

Before you submit, click Preview. You'll see how the asset looks on iPhone and iPad, in both orientations and in each language.

Then submit the version for review as usual. Once it's approved and released, your header and search asset go live with it.

You don't need a new app version to change a header later.

If your current version is already live, open it and go to the same Header and Search Results tab. Click Browse Assets, choose an approved asset, then click Next and Publish. Your product page updates with the new asset.

That asset has to be approved first. You can get that done ahead of time through the Asset Library, which takes standalone submissions. Apple reviews those against your app's latest version.

Removing an asset is just as simple. It comes off its placement, but it stays in your Asset Library, so you can bring it back for next season.

You don't have to start from a blank canvas.

Apple offers ready made templates for its new assets, for Figma, Photoshop, Pixelmator and Sketch. Each one marks the safe area, which shows where your key art stays visible on every device.

The preview tool in App Store Connect is worth a few minutes too. It shows your header and search asset in Dark Mode, on different devices, and in both orientations. Apple says it also works for iPhone Duo.

There's a testing angle as well. You can use creative assets on custom product pages, and Apple says you can test them with product page optimization.

Creative assets sit on top of your screenshots. They don't replace them.

You still need screenshots for each required device size, and those must still show your app in use. Apple's best practices page says that, depending on orientation, up to three of them can appear in search results.

So if your time is short, get the screenshots right first. They show on every iOS version, not just iOS 27.

Our free screenshot maker puts your app screens in device frames for the store, with no signup. Once those are done, add a header when you have a strong brand image worth showing.