iMessage App Screenshots, Icons and Sticker Sizes

I read Apple's iMessage developer page and its design guidelines for iMessage apps and stickers on October 18, 2026. Then I checked the App Store Connect help pages and its API list of screenshot types.

Here's what each asset needs, and where the iMessage listing differs from your main one.

Apple offers two ways to ship an iMessage app or sticker pack.

A standalone app lives only inside Messages. Apple's help page says it's accessible only within iMessage.

An extension sits inside a containing iOS app. Your iOS app does its own job, and the extension brings part of it into Messages.

Both can do a lot. Apple's iMessage developer page says an iMessage app can include stickers, text, video and audio. With code, it can add Apple Pay and in-app purchases.

A sticker pack needs no code at all. You drag your images into Xcode.

Changing type later can mean starting a new app record.

Apple's help page splits the changes in two. You can rebuild a standalone iMessage app as a standalone sticker pack, and back again. The same goes for an iMessage extension and a sticker pack extension. Those ship as version updates to the same app record.

Moving between standalone and extension is different. To rebuild a standalone app as an extension of an iOS app, or the other way round, you must create a new app. That's a fresh start.

A new app means a new listing. So choose the type before your first release, not after.

Apple says iMessage apps are available on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iMessage.

How they're listed depends on the type. An extension is listed in the same category, and with the same description, as your iOS app. A standalone app gets its own listing, so you choose its category.

Apple also says iMessage apps run on iOS 10 or later. The content they create can still be sent to, and viewed on, macOS and watchOS devices.

There's a bonus for extensions. People who download your iOS app see its sticker pack in iMessage automatically.

Your iMessage screenshots don't come from your main app's set. They're extra work. You upload them on their own.

Apple's asset page says so plainly. To upload the required screenshots for iMessage apps, you select View All Sizes in Media Manager.

Apple's App Store Connect API agrees. Its list of screenshot types has separate iMessage entries for iPhone displays from 4 inches to 6.7 inches, and for several iPad sizes.

So don't assume your iPhone set covers Messages. Our guide to the Asset Library explains how Media Manager fits with the rest of App Store Connect.

Apple's iMessage help page gives this process:

1. 1In Apps, select your app.
2. 2In the sidebar, click the version under the platform you want to edit.
3. 3Scroll down to the iMessage App section. If you need to, click the disclosure triangle to open the well.
4. 4Drag your screenshots into the well.

Four roles can do this: Account Holder, Admin, App Manager and Marketing.

That means your marketer can handle the iMessage set without a developer's help.

Here, Apple's pages don't agree, so check before you plan a long set.

Apple's iMessage developer page says you can upload up to five screenshots per localization.

Its screenshot specifications page says you can upload up to 10 screenshots per device size, with at least one. That page covers screenshots in general and doesn't single out iMessage.

So plan five strong images first. Five is safe. If App Store Connect accepts more, add the rest later.

Either way, put your best screen first. A short set leaves no room for a weak opener.

Apple asks you to showcase the iMessage experience. So show your app inside a conversation, not on its own.

Two rules apply to those conversations. The information and accounts you show must not be real. And don't display phone numbers.

Apple's guidelines describe two views. The compact view sits below the message transcript, and people can expand it to fill most of the window. Your screenshots can show both, so people see the quick use and the full one.

Our free screenshot maker puts your screens in device frames for the store, with no signup.

App previews follow their own rules here.

Apple says previews show on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. They don't show on the App Store for iMessage.

If your iOS app has an iMessage or sticker extension, your preview can show both the iOS app and the iMessage experience.

Apple sets two limits. Don't show the Home screen, and don't show the switch from the app to the extension.

So treat your screenshots as the main pitch inside Messages. People browsing there won't see a video.

The iMessage icon isn't square like a normal app icon. Its Messages sizes are wider than they are tall.

Apple's design guidelines list these sizes for Messages and notifications:

1. 1One wide size at 148 x 110 pixels, @2x only.
2. 2Another at 143 x 100 pixels, also @2x only.
3. 3A pair at 120 x 90 for @2x and 180 x 135 for @3x.
4. 4Smaller ones at 64 x 48 for @2x and 96 x 72 for @3x.
5. 5The smallest at 54 x 40 for @2x and 81 x 60 for @3x.

Settings uses 58 x 58 and 87 x 87, and the App Store uses 1024 x 1024.

You supply square cornered icons. The system applies a mask that rounds the corners for you.

After install, your icon also shows in the app drawer in Messages. That's where people find it again.

Apple's developer page asks for two sizes of your icon. One is for the App Store for iMessage, and one is for the App Store for iPhone and iPad.

Apple offers design templates for these sizes in its Human Interface Guidelines resources.

Design at the large size. Then shrink it. A detail that reads at 1024 pixels can vanish at 54 x 40. Our app icon size guide covers the main App Store icon and what survives at small sizes.

Messages supports three sticker sizes. Apple gives each one at @3x:

1. 1Small: 300 x 300 pixels.
2. 2Regular: 408 x 408 pixels.
3. 3Large: 618 x 618 pixels.

Pick one size and use it for every sticker in the pack. Apple says not to mix sizes within a single pack. Messages shows stickers in a grid, and the grid changes with the size.

You only need the @3x files. If necessary, the system makes the @2x and @1x versions by scaling yours down.

Each sticker file must be 500 KB or smaller. Your format decides what else it can do:

1. 1PNG supports 8 bit transparency, but no animation.
2. 2APNG supports 8 bit transparency and animation.
3. 3GIF supports animation, with single color transparency only.
4. 4JPEG supports neither.

For still stickers, PNG is the safe choice. Pick APNG when you want motion and soft edges together.

GIF can only make one color fully clear. So a soft shadow or a smooth curve may look rough against a dark bubble.

Apple's guidelines ask for stickers that are expressive, inclusive and versatile.

Test each sticker against many backgrounds. People place stickers on bubbles, photos and other stickers, and Apple's developer page says they can resize them too.

Check it when rotated and scaled. A thin outline that works at full size may disappear when someone shrinks it.

Use transparency to help each sticker blend with text, photos and other stickers.

Give each one a localized alternative description. VoiceOver speaks that description, so people who can't see the sticker still know what it shows.

Apple lets you use the words iMessage and Stickers in your app name, subtitle or description.

There's a catch. If you use those words there, don't repeat them in your keywords, and the reverse applies too. Keywords are limited to 100 characters, separated by commas with no spaces.

Category depends on type. The Stickers category sits at the top of the list on the App Store for iMessage. It's open only to standalone sticker packs and iMessage apps. You can choose Stickers as the primary category and pick one Stickers subcategory.

Extensions can't choose Stickers. They take their category from the iOS app.

Once you're approved, send people to the right store.

Add ?app=messages to the end of your App Store URL. That link opens your page on the App Store for iMessage. If the URL already has a campaign link or another parameter, add &app=messages instead.

Without it, the link opens your page on the App Store for iPhone and iPad.

Selling a sticker pack? You'll need tax and banking details in App Store Connect, plus the Paid Applications agreement. Free packs don't need them.

Since previews don't show in the iMessage store, your screenshots carry the page there.