On 5 October Apple shipped something App Store marketers have wanted for years: a place in the listing that is entirely yours. A wide image or video at the top of the product page, a dedicated image or video inside the search result itself, a library to manage them, and a tool to preview the result before it goes live.
We read Apple’s own documentation rather than the summaries, because the summaries are already disagreeing with each other. Below is what is confirmed, what is still “coming soon” for Apple Ads, and what we would do this week.
What actually shipped
- Product page header. A wide image or video above the app icon and name, the first visual element on the page.
- Search result asset. A dedicated image or video shown in the search result instead of the default screenshots and previews. If you add none, your in-app events, app previews and screenshots show as before.
- Asset Library. One place in App Store Connect for screenshots, app previews and the new creative assets. You can submit assets for review on their own, without an app version, and reuse approved ones in custom product pages, product page optimization tests and In-App Events.
- Preview tool. Shows the product page and the search result on iPhone and iPad, in different orientations, languages and Dark Mode, before you submit.
Two things to know before you plan around it. The header and search result assets apply to iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 and later, and they are optional: nothing in your listing breaks if you skip them. Apple also says the search result asset reaches people in the Apple Games app, not only the App Store. Managing the library needs the Account Holder, Admin, App Manager or Marketing role. (Apple: manage your App Store assets, What’s New in the App Store)
The specifications
These come from Apple’s creative assets specifications, read on the page itself:
- Header image: 21:9 at 3840 x 1646 px (.jpeg, .jpg, .png), or 16:9 at 5244 x 2950 px (.png only).
- Search result image: 3:2 from 1920 x 1280 to 3840 x 2560 px (.jpeg, .jpg, .png), or 16:9 at 5244 x 2950 px (.png only). No alpha channels or transparency in any of them.
- Video: 5 to 30 seconds, 30 or 60 fps, .mov, .m4v or .mp4. It loops. In search results it is muted and cannot be unmuted. On the product page it starts muted and people can unmute it.
One practical note from the Asset Library page: a standalone creative asset is reviewed against your app’s latest version, and assets attached to a version, custom product page or test are reviewed together with that item and cannot be submitted separately.
What is not open yet: your own creative in Apple Ads
This is where most of the early write-ups run ahead of Apple. The App Store Connect side is live. The Apple Ads side is not. Apple Ads Help says creative assets are coming soon to Apple Ads: you can upload them now, and they “will be available to use in Today tab and search results ads at a later date.” There is no date on the page. (Apple Ads Help: design your own ads with creative assets)
What is already documented for ads, so you can prepare the files:
- Images for Today tab and search results ads are 3:2, from 1920 x 1280 to 3840 x 2560 px. Video is for search results ads only, 5 to 30 seconds, and its audio will not play.
- Text can be part of the image and localized by country or region, but it has to match the default language of the storefront the campaign runs in.
- No pricing, offers, incentivized promotions, app rankings, award claims or in-app purchase promotion. The Today tab adds its own restrictions.
- Two reviews: the asset is approved in App Store Connect, then Apple Ads reviews each ad creative separately. Apple warns that review times can grow when volume is high.
The ad rules are stricter than the organic ones. Build one asset that passes the stricter set and you will not have to make two.
The other placement news: ads further down the search results
Apple Ads also changed where search ads can appear. Apple now says an ad can show “either at the top of their search results or further down the page,” that you cannot select or bid for a particular position, and that where you land depends on your app’s relevance to the query and your keyword bid. An app that is not relevant is not shown whatever it bids. (Apple Ads Help: search results)
Apple does not say how many positions there are or when each market got them, and the March 2026 date that circulates comes from vendor write-ups, not from Apple, so we do not treat it as fact. What it means in practice: compare impression share for all positions, not only the first, and do not read a flat first-position share next to rising spend as lost ground. You may simply be winning lower positions.
What we would do this week
- Check your account. Confirm the Asset Library and the Header and Search Results tab exist in your own App Store Connect, and that the right people have the right role.
- Pick one idea for the header. Apple’s guidance is a single clear idea for a first-time visitor. Design it for the centre of the frame, because it is cropped differently on different devices.
- Show the real product in the search result asset. Interface, content or gameplay, not a slogan. Apple does not publish what this does to conversion or ranking, so treat it as a test: use product page optimization to compare it with your current screenshots.
- Pre-approve your seasonal sets. This is the part that changes planning. Approval no longer has to sit on the critical path of a holiday campaign.
- Make one 3:2 master. It is the shape of the search result asset and of the Apple Ads image, so one file can serve both. Check the 21:9 header crop separately.
- Keep your custom product page ad variations. Apple describes the new assets as an addition. Nothing on the Apple Ads page says to retire them.
Leave out prices, discounts, offers, website URLs, unverifiable claims and Apple’s own recognitions such as Editor’s Choice or App of the Day. Apple lists these in its asset best practices and they are exactly what the ad review will also look for.
What we do not know yet
Apple has not said whether a header or search result asset changes ranking, and we would not assume it does. It has not given a launch date for ads, and the first weeks of a launch are rarely settled, so sizes and review rules can still move. We re-check Apple’s pages before we rely on any of this, and the knowledge base we work from is updated with every change, with the date each claim was last verified.
Not sure which of your screenshots and previews should become the header and the search asset? We cover creative as part of every ASO audit. Send us your store link →