How to Generate App Store Screenshots with Cursor: A Step-by-Step Guide

If you’re one of the many devs who has moved parts of your workflow into Cursor — the AI coding assistant/hacker’s editor that’s eating up Twitter’s indie scene — you probably have your code, your commits, and your testing all running in that window. But shipping an app means more than just code. At some point, you need high-conversion screenshots for the App Store or Google Play, and those throw the brakes on your momentum in a way no docstring ever could.

Here’s how I build a set of store-ready screenshots for iOS and Android right from my Mac—mostly in Cursor, with a brief detour into the browser for generation and export. This is a rapid, iterative workflow. If you want to hand off to a designer and have them fuss in Figma, you’re on the wrong page. If you hate losing a day to exporting simulator PNGs and rebuilding the same layout ten times, keep reading.

Step 1: Capture Your Simulator Screenshots

Run your app in Xcode’s Simulator or on a connected device. For App Store Connect, you’ll need images in several sizes. For iOS, you absolutely want shots from the 6.7" (iPhone 14/15 Pro Max, 1284x2778) and 6.5" (iPhone 12/13 Pro Max, 1242x2688). For Android, Google Play lists every device size under the sun, but 1080x1920 is the median for phone shots. Apple’s docs spell out required dimensions, but be aware they routinely deprecate devices, so check App Store Connect requirements before you waste time.

To snap a screenshot in Simulator, Command+S dumps a PNG on your desktop. (If you’re in the iOS 17 era and that shortcut fails, try File > Save Screen Shot.) For Android, run your app in Android Studio’s emulator and hit the camera button or Control+S. Sync these into your project’s /screenshots folder if you want to keep everything versioned—Cursor makes toggling folders trivial, so there’s no reason not to.

Step 2: Select the Screens to Use

Don’t dump every screen into the app listing. You want 5 max, showing off the most polished flows: onboarding, core feature, paywall, and (if your app is B2B or workflow-heavy) any screen that signals value fast. If the screenshots require user data, use realistic demo content — sparsely populated states kill conversion. I look at the order of screens on top-ranking apps in your category (e.g. Duolingo, Sudoku.com) for reference. Avoid long empty place-holders or anything that could feel like a bug.

Step 3: Check Store Guidelines and Text Limits

Apple reviews and rejects for text overflows, copyright logos, and UI artifacts. Google cares less about polish, but still wants screenshots that represent actual app functionality. If you intend to overlay text, keep callouts to single sentences (20–30 characters works for headline, or roughly half an iPhone screen width at 14pt). If you want to localize, plan for longer phrases in German or Russian versus English.

I’ve seen niche productivity apps blow weeks adding translations. Unless you’re already ranking top 100 in your home country, skip translations for launch and revisit later when you have actual traffic from abroad.

Step 4: Generate Store-Ready Shots with ScreenshotWhale

Here’s where the workflow leaves Cursor for a couple minutes. Raw simulator screenshots look developer-y: blank bars, harsh backgrounds, and bad cropping. For conversion, to look like the folks behind Headspace or Calm, you need on-brand frames, device bezels, and concise text overlays. Figma templates do the job (sort of), but for speed and consistency, I generate mine with ScreenshotWhale. They’ve got ready-to-edit templates for modern device frames and App Store/Google Play sizes. Upload your PNGs, slot screenshots into templates, write your captions, and select color accents. Everything exports in the exact pixel dimensions each store demands. You can even run minor edits (like cropping or device type) right in browser, which beats firing up Sketch or Affinity Designer for every small change.

If you have a brand color, apply it to backgrounds before exporting. (There’s always some founder out there rocking pastel gradients as if it’s 2021. Avoid washed-out text over bright backgrounds — legibility always wins.) If your app’s UI is dark mode, match the template style for best continuity; don’t force a white phone frame on a mostly-black UI.

Step 5: Export and Organize Final Sets

Export individual sizes each store needs (App Store Connect: 6.7", 6.5"; Google Play: 1080x1920 or whatever the listing form requires for tablets or phones). Some devs skip older iPhones or iPads at launch—Apple will scale down 6.7" shots, but check your app’s layout on those screens or you’ll end up with cropped-out UI and a support headache. Save your outputs with clear names: 01-onboarding-iphone15pro.png instead of IMG_8432.png. I keep a version history of screenshot rounds in the repo, especially for apps that iterate weekly or A/B test visual copy.

Bonus: Automating Screenshot Rounds

If you’re scripting builds or aiming for a Markdown-driven release process in Cursor, you can wire together shell scripts (Simulator command line tools, adb for Android) to output screenshots on build. Pipe the raw images to a cloud folder, then import into ScreenshotWhale to generate visuals. I haven’t linked this step fully to store upload APIs yet, but I know testers running automated end-to-end screenshot pipelines. The more releases you ship, the more valuable your time gets — don’t spend it on tedium.

What About AI-Generated UI?

If your app is AI-powered or UI-driven (think Arc, Lensa AI, or any photo editor), your screenshots need to show both the product and the magic. Cursor’s chat completions or code snippets aren’t much help here. You need visuals that create desire, not just document functionality. Sometimes, I’ll use Midjourney or DALL-E to create an aspirational background, but I’ve found for 99% of apps, overlays on real UI beat fantasy renders. Too much fake polish will get you flagged by reviewers if your app doesn’t actually deliver those visuals.

Submitting and Updating

Once you have screenshots, upload them directly in App Store Connect or Play Console. Double check uploads on both light and dark backgrounds; App Store especially will show your visuals against white, while Play will use black for some listings. A minor misalign here tanks your conversion rate, fast. If you spot rendering bugs in store preview, regenerate and export again — don’t settle, because reviewers won’t.

I test-final listings on actual devices using the TestFlight public beta flow or internal Google Play tracks — tap into user DMs or Tweet out a call for fresh eyes. Most bugs and bad crops get caught here, not in the editor.

Final Pass: Speed Over Perfection

Cursor is built for dev speed, not design. Lean into quick, repeatable screenshot rounds rather than pixel-perfect one-offs. Most indies over-invest in their first screenshot set and end up replacing it after launch anyway. Ship something clean and focused, update as you get feedback, and save your cycles for shipping features, not fussing over screenshot pixels for days.