| name | ios-screenshot-taker |
| description | Use when capturing deterministic iOS simulator screenshots for App Store, TestFlight, QA, launch pages, or marketing decks. Covers xcodebuild build, simulator boot/install/launch, seeded demo states, xcrun simctl screenshots, required App Store device classes, public-safe output handling, and slash commands such as /ios-shot and /ios-screens. |
iOS Screenshot Taker
Principle
Capture real app states, not imagined UI. The screenshot set should be
repeatable from a clean simulator and should map each image to a named product
state, device class, locale, and store-listing purpose.
Workflow
- Identify the Xcode project or workspace, scheme, bundle ID, simulator device,
app version, build number, and target screenshot states.
- Confirm the app can launch with deterministic demo data or safe seeded state.
- Run
scripts/take_ios_screenshots.sh from this repository when available, or
follow the same xcodebuild and xcrun simctl sequence manually.
- Capture one named PNG per app state and keep filenames sortable.
- Hand the raw captures to
ios-aso-launch or the app-store screenshot editor
for marketing framing, captions, and required export sizes.
Read references/screenshot-runbook.md before doing non-trivial capture work.
State Contract
Prefer launch arguments that the app can recognize, for example:
--ui-testing --screenshot-state home
--ui-testing --screenshot-state detail
--ui-testing --screenshot-state paywall
If the app has no screenshot-state router, use the safest available path:
seed local demo data, launch the app, navigate manually once, then document any
manual steps in the output.
Public-Safe Defaults
- Do not capture private user accounts, unreleased customer data, tokens, API
keys, internal dashboards, private App Store Connect screens, or support
contact details.
- Do not commit oversized raw screenshot folders unless the repository is meant
to store release assets.
- Downscale README/showcase images and keep the original store-resolution files
in the app release folder.
- Do not claim App Store approval from screenshot files alone; verify live Apple
lookup or App Store Connect state separately.
Required Output
Report:
- capture command used,
- simulator device and iOS runtime,
- app path or bundle ID,
- output directory,
- screenshot files produced,
- missing states or manual steps,
- whether the captures are raw QA screenshots or framed store assets.
