Uploading screenshots

When your screens are ready in the screenshot studio, Slipway renders each one as a PNG at Apple's exact pixel size and uploads it to the selected version on App Store Connect. You don't need to export anything or drag files into a browser.

What you need#

• At least one screen in the studio, ideally with a capture for each size.
• A localization on App Store Connect for every locale you upload to. If a locale only exists on your Mac, push it from the Metadata tab first.
• An editable version selected in the sidebar (Prepare for Submission or Rejected).

Sizes Slipway renders#

Slipway renders only the sizes selected in the studio's size strip, and only for families that have at least one screen. New studios start with iPhone 6.9″, iPhone 6.5″, iPad 13″ and Mac, limited to the families the version's platform supports.

Every PNG is written opaque and non-interlaced, because App Store Connect rejects screenshots with an alpha channel and interlaced PNGs. You don't have to flatten anything yourself.

Upload#

1. On the Screenshots tab, click Upload to App Store Connect in the inspector.
2. Read the summary. It lists the screens per size, the number of locales and the total number of PNGs.
3. Leave Replace existing screenshots in each set on to swap out what's there now, or turn it off to add the new screenshots after the existing ones.
4. Click Render & Upload.

Slipway works through one row per locale and size. Each row goes from Queued to Rendering, then Uploading 2/5, then Uploaded. A progress bar tracks the whole run. If you don't want to wait, click Run in Background and keep working. When the run is finished, click Done and Slipway reloads the version's screenshot counts. Precheck and the size strip update to match.

If a row fails, it shows the reason and a Retry link. Retrying runs only that row.

Free and Pro#

On the Free plan, Slipway uploads the studio's source locale (English (U.S.)) at every selected size. If your studio has more locales, the sheet says Free plan uploads one locale.

Pro — Uploading to every locale in one run needs Slipway Pro. During the beta the paywall unlocks locally.

What happens behind the scenes#

Slipway uses App Store Connect's Asset Library:

1. Each PNG is uploaded to the app's asset library. The upload is reserved, sent in parts, and then confirmed with a checksum. If a part fails with a temporary error, Slipway retries it up to four times.
2. The image is placed on the version localization, in the screenshot group for that device size.
3. The group is put in the same order as the screens in your studio.

With Replace existing screenshots in each set on, the old screenshots are taken off that size first. The images themselves stay in the Asset Library. If your account's API doesn't offer the Asset Library yet, Slipway uses Apple's older screenshot-set upload instead. The result on the store is the same.

The rendered PNGs are kept on your Mac in ~/Library/Application Support/Slipway/<app id>/renders/<locale>/<size>/, with names like 01_screen-1.png.

Troubleshooting#

• "No de-DE localization — push metadata first": the locale exists only in Slipway. Push it from the Metadata tab, then retry the row.
• "N screens have no capture.": those screens render with a placeholder. Drop a capture on the canvas for each of them before you upload.
• "Apple rejected 01_….png: …": Apple processed the file and refused it. The text after the colon is Apple's reason, usually the dimensions.
• "App Store Connect has no screenshot group for …": Apple didn't return a screenshot group for that size. Remove the size from the size strip and use another size in the same family.
• "HTTP 429" or rate-limit messages: App Store Connect is throttling your key. Wait a minute and retry the failed rows. See Troubleshooting.

Asset Library#

The Assets item, in the Marketing section of the workspace sidebar, opens the Asset Library. It's Apple's per-app store of images and videos. You upload a file once, and it can then be placed on version screenshots, custom product pages, in-app events and experiment treatments. Screenshots uploaded from the studio show up here too.

Header and search results#

The Product Page card at the top of the page is App Store Connect's Header and Search Results: a banner across the top of the product page, and an image or video beside your app in App Store search. Each is one creative asset per locale on the selected version. Pick the locale in the card's menu. A file dropped on a slot goes straight in.

• Choose from Library lists the creative assets in the library that fit the slot. Apple decides what fits when it processes an upload, so a file that was just uploaded appears once Apple is done with it.
• Upload… takes a PNG, JPG, MP4 or MOV, sends it to the library as a creative asset, waits for Apple to check it, and places it. If Apple refuses the file, the reason shows in a toast and the file stays in the library.
• Remove takes the asset off the slot. It stays in the library.

The sizes Apple accepts are listed under each slot, straight from Apple. At the time of writing, the header takes a 3840×1646 PNG or a 21:9 video, search results take a 3:2 image or video between 1920 and 3840 pixels wide, and a 5244×2950 PNG works in both. No alpha channel. Choosing a new asset replaces the old one. Like screenshots, the change goes live with the version's next approval.

Browse. Filter by All, Images or Videos, by category (Screenshots & previews or Creative assets) and by state, or search by name. Creative assets carry a small CREATIVE badge on their thumbnail. Click Refresh to reload.

Assets is an app page, so the version tabs show nothing selected while you're on it. The ‹ Screenshots button at the top left of the content (or ⌘[) takes you back to the tab you came from.

Upload. Click Upload… or drop PNG, JPG, MP4 or MOV files onto the grid. Before you upload, you can give each file a Reference name and pick a category. The panel's WHAT APPLE ACCEPTS section lists Apple's current specs for that category. Click Upload. Apple processes the files after the upload finishes. Uploading here doesn't place a file anywhere.

Inspect. Select an asset to see:

• Placed on: every place the asset is used.
• Reference name: the asset's name, with a Rename button.
• Open in Browser: opens the full-size file.
• Delete…: removes the asset from the library permanently. You can only delete an asset that isn't placed anywhere. Remove its placements first.

If Apple rejected an asset or couldn't process it, the inspector shows Apple's reason.