iOS App Store Screenshots and Compliance: The Gotchas After Your Build Succeeds

This article was originally published on Jo4 Blog.

Your EAS build succeeded. The IPA uploaded to App Store Connect. Time to submit for review, right?

Click. "Unable to Add for Review."

The Problem

App Store Connect has requirements that have nothing to do with your code. Screenshots need exact dimensions. Export compliance needs declarations for every country. Privacy questionnaires want to know about every SDK you use.

Here's everything that blocked my submission and how I fixed it.

Part 1: Screenshot Dimensions

I ran the simulator, took screenshots, uploaded them. Error:

Screenshots must be 1284 x 2778 pixels
Uploaded: 1320 x 2868 pixels

iPhone 16 Pro Max uses different dimensions than what App Store Connect expects for the "6.5-inch display" category.

The fix:

# Resize all iPhone screenshots to App Store requirements
for f in ./assets/appstore/iphone/*.png; do
  sips -z 2778 1284 "$f"
done

sips is macOS's built-in image processing tool. The -z flag resizes to exact dimensions.

Part 2: iPad Screenshots - The Stretching Disaster

"Easy," I thought. "Just resize the phone screenshots for iPad."

# DON'T DO THIS
sips -z 2732 2048 phone-screenshot.png --out ipad-screenshot.png

The result looked like someone grabbed my UI and pulled it sideways. Buttons were ovals. Text was bloated. Everything was wrong.

The actual fix:

Boot an actual iPad simulator and take native screenshots:

# Start the iPad simulator
xcrun simctl boot "iPad Pro 13-inch (M4)"

# Build and run on iPad
npx expo run:ios --device "iPad Pro 13-inch (M4)"

# Take screenshots at native resolution
xcrun simctl io booted screenshot ./assets/appstore/ipad/screenshot01.png

Phone and tablet are different form factors. The UI adapts. Resizing just stretches.

Part 3: The Screenshot Content Problem

Now I had the right dimensions. But my app requires login. Screenshots of a login screen aren't compelling.

The solution: Onboarding carousel with demo data.

I created a branch (ft/screenshots) with:

An OnboardingCarousel component showing app features
Hardcoded demo data (fake URLs, fake analytics)
A flag to show this instead of the login screen

// Check if we're in "demo mode" for screenshots
if (isDemoMode) {
  return <OnboardingCarousel />;
}

The carousel showed:

"Shorten Any URL" with a mock input and result
"Track Every Click" with demo analytics charts
"Share From Anywhere" showing the iOS share sheet integration
"Generate QR Codes" with a sample QR code

Took screenshots of each carousel page. Stashed the changes. Real users never see it.

Part 4: Export Compliance - The France Question

Uploaded screenshots. Hit submit. New blocker:

Missing Compliance: Export Compliance Information Required

The form asks about encryption. My app uses HTTPS. Does that count?

Then it asks specifically about France:

"Does your app qualify for any exemptions provided under category 5 part 2?"

The options mention DES, triple-DES, RC4... algorithms I'm not using.

The correct answer: "None of the algorithms mentioned above"

If your app only uses HTTPS (TLS) through iOS's built-in networking, you select that it uses encryption, but then confirm you're only using standard iOS APIs. No custom cryptographic implementations = no export restrictions beyond what Apple already handles.

Part 5: Privacy Declarations

App Store Connect wants to know every piece of data your app collects. For each data type, you specify:

Is it linked to the user's identity?
Is it used for tracking?

My app uses Auth0 and Sentry. Here's what I declared:

Auth0:

Email Address: Linked to identity, not for tracking
Name: Linked to identity, not for tracking
User ID: Linked to identity, not for tracking

Sentry (crash reporting):

Crash Data: Not linked to identity, not for tracking
Performance Data: Not linked to identity, not for tracking

The gotcha: If you use analytics, you need to declare it. If you use third-party login, you're collecting identity data. Be honest - Apple reviews this.

The Complete Screenshot Workflow

For anyone doing this in the future:

Step 1: Capture iPhone Screenshots

# Boot iPhone 15 Pro Max (or similar 6.5" device)
xcrun simctl boot "iPhone 15 Pro Max"

# Run your app
npx expo run:ios --device "iPhone 15 Pro Max"

# Navigate to each screen and capture
xcrun simctl io booted screenshot ./assets/appstore/iphone/screenshot01.png

Step 2: Resize to App Store Dimensions

# iPhone 6.5" requires 1284 x 2778
for f in ./assets/appstore/iphone/*.png; do
  sips -z 2778 1284 "$f"
done

Step 3: Capture iPad Screenshots Separately

# Boot iPad Pro 13"
xcrun simctl boot "iPad Pro 13-inch (M4)"

# Run your app on iPad
npx expo run:ios --device "iPad Pro 13-inch (M4)"

# Capture at native resolution (2048 x 2732)
xcrun simctl io booted screenshot ./assets/appstore/ipad/screenshot01.png

Step 4: Compliance Declarations

Export Compliance: Standard iOS HTTPS = no additional export requirements
Privacy: Declare Auth0 data as identity-linked, crash reporting as not linked

Lessons Learned

Don't resize across form factors. Phone screenshots stretched to iPad dimensions look terrible. Capture natively on each device type.
Create demo content for screenshots. Login screens don't sell apps. Build an onboarding flow or demo mode, capture screenshots, then remove it.
Export compliance isn't scary. If you're using standard iOS networking (URLSession, Alamofire, etc.), you're just using Apple's TLS implementation. Select the exemption options.
Privacy declarations require honesty. List every SDK that touches user data. Auth0, Sentry, analytics - all of it.
sips is your friend. Built into macOS, handles resizing without installing ImageMagick or Photoshop.

Submitting your first iOS app? What unexpected blockers did you hit? Drop them in the comments.

Building jo4.io - URL shortener with a mobile app that survived App Store review.

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