I Localized My App Store Screenshots by Hand (Never Again)

If you've ever localized app store screenshots by hand, you know the pain. Opening your design tool, duplicating artboards for every language, swapping text, resizing for each device, exporting one by one — and then doing it all again when you update a single headline.

One developer on Reddit put it plainly: “I localised my app store screenshots by hand” — and the thread that followed was full of developers sharing the same frustration.

The Math Is Devastating

Let's say your app has 10 screenshots and you want to support 15 languages. Apple requires screenshots for 3 device sizes(iPhone 6.9", iPhone 6.7", iPad 13"). That's:

10 × 15 × 3 = 450 individual images

Every time you change a headline, that's 450 images to regenerate

For Android, add another 2 sizes (phone + tablet). Now you're at 750 images. Support 35 locales like ScreenCraft does? That's 1,050+ images per release.

What Developers Are Saying

Across Reddit's r/iOSProgramming, r/FlutterDev, and r/gamedev, the same complaints appear again and again:

“Our app is localized in 20 languages. Every time we make an update and want to submit it to the app store, we have to go through every language manually, upload screenshots, change the what's new section etc.”

“Getting tired of working around fastlane/frameit.”

“Inaccurate metadata — because my iPad screenshots show an iPhone image that has been modified to appear to be an iPad image.”

“Fastlane Snapshot taking forever with multiple languages even for one device, spanning over multiple days just to complete 6 out of 30 languages.”

Why Fastlane Isn't the Answer

Fastlane Snapshot automates screenshot capture via Xcode UI tests. It works, but the developer experience is rough:

Ruby dependency hell — fastlane requires a specific Ruby version, bundler, and gem management that breaks regularly.
Xcode scheme configuration — you must set up a dedicated UI test target and scheme for every language and device.
Multi-day runs — for 30 languages, Snapshot can take multiple days to complete across all device simulators.
Limited design flexibility — FrameIt adds device frames but offers minimal customization for text, backgrounds, and layouts.
No visual editor — you're editing Ruby config files and HTML templates, not seeing your screenshots.

As one developer put it: “If it weren't for FrameIt, I would just manually create the screenshots.”

The Rejection Problem

A particularly painful story from r/iOSProgramming: a developer using a popular screenshot tool got rejected for “inaccurate metadata”because their iPad screenshots were just scaled-up iPhone images. Apple's review process specifically checks that screenshots match the declared device size — if your 6.7" iPhone screenshot is being shown for a 13" iPad, that's a rejection.

This happens with manual workflows too. When you're generating hundreds of images by hand, it's easy to accidentally use the wrong resolution for a device size, or to simply scale an image up and hope Apple doesn't notice. They do.

The “Save a New File for Each Language” Problem

Another common workaround is using Figma or Photoshop to create one version, then manually duplicating and translating text for each locale. This means:

Saving a new file for each language (35+ files per screenshot)
Manually copying and pasting translated text — error-prone and tedious
No way to propagate a single headline change across all locales
A/B testing across locales means duplicating the entire project again

When a developer on r/gamedev asked about tools for screenshot localization, the response was clear: there was no good solution that handled design and automation.

How ScreenCraft Solves This

ScreenCraft was built specifically to eliminate every pain point above:

✓ One project, 35+ locales

Design your screenshots once. Add auto-translated text per locale with a single click. Change a headline in English, and it propagates to all 35+ languages.

✓ All device sizes, spec-compliant

Each size is rendered at exact pixel dimensions — 1320×2868 for iPhone 6.9", 1290×2796 for 6.7", 2064×2752 for iPad 13", 1080×1920 for Android phone, etc. No scaled-up iPhone images on iPad. No “inaccurate metadata” rejections.

✓ Batch export in minutes

Export 1,050+ images across all locales and device sizes in a single ZIP. Not days, not hours — minutes. Server-side rendering handles the heavy lifting.

✓ Visual drag-and-drop editor

No Ruby scripts, no xcode schemes, no command line. Design your screenshots visually, see every locale side-by-side, and export when you're happy.

✓ iOS + Android from one project

Stop designing App Store screenshots and Play Store screenshots separately. One template exports for every required size and every locale — both stores.

The Bottom Line

If you're localizing App Store screenshots by hand, you're spending days on something that should take minutes. If you're using fastlane, you're trading one kind of pain for another. If you're using generic screenshot tools, you risk rejection for inaccurate sizing.

ScreenCraft is purpose-built to solve exactly this problem. Design once, localize to 35+ languages, export spec-compliant files for every device — iOS and Android — in a single ZIP. $4.99/month for unlimited everything. Start free, no credit card required.