The iPhone on Play Store problem
If you've ever browsed the Google Play Store carefully, you've probably seen it: an app listing with screenshots wrapped in an iPhone bezel. The Dynamic Island, the rounded corners, the whole thing. Clearly an iPhone 15 or 16 frame, sitting right there on an Android store.
It happens more than you'd think. And it's not because the developer doesn't care. It's because the tools made it easy to go down that path.
Most screenshot mockup tools default to iPhone frames. They're prominent in the UI, they look polished, and when you're a solo developer trying to ship an update at midnight, you grab the first thing that looks good. You export, upload to both stores, and move on.
The problem is subtle but real. An Android user sees an iPhone frame and, consciously or not, registers that something is off. It signals "this app wasn't really built for me." And in a store where users spend roughly seven seconds on your page before deciding, that kind of friction matters.
The bezel treadmill
Even if you pick the right device for the right store, there's another issue. Device frames expire.
Apple and Samsung release new hardware every year. If your screenshots still show an iPhone 13 notch when the world has moved to Dynamic Island, your app looks abandoned. Users associate outdated frames with outdated software.
This creates a maintenance burden that has nothing to do with your actual product. Your app could be excellent, actively updated, five stars. But a two year old bezel makes it look neglected.
Some developers solve this by updating frames every cycle. That's fine if you have a design team. If you're an indie developer or a small team, spending a day re-exporting screenshots every September is time you'd rather spend building features.
What if the frame wasn't tied to any device?
This was the question that led us to build what we call the universal frame in Echo Designs.
The idea was simple. Instead of wrapping your screenshot in a realistic iPhone or Pixel bezel, what if we drew a clean, modern border that doesn't belong to any specific device?
We took inspiration from Google's Material Design 3 language. The emphasis on rounded geometry, generous radius values, and shapes that feel contemporary without being tied to specific hardware. The result is a thick, minimal border with carefully tuned corner radii that reads as "modern phone" without screaming "iPhone" or "Galaxy."
It looks intentional. It looks designed. And it works everywhere.
One screenshot set, both stores
The practical benefit is immediate. You create one set of screenshots and upload them to both the App Store and Google Play without anything looking out of place.
No iPhone bezels on the Play Store. No scrambling to find a matching Pixel frame. No maintaining two separate sets of mockups.
This also sidesteps a lesser known issue with Google Play. Google's current screenshot guidelines actually discourage device frames altogether. They want the focus on your actual app experience. A universal frame threads the needle: it provides the visual structure and polish of a device mockup without the platform specific baggage that Google flags.
For the App Store, where device frames are more accepted and even expected, the universal frame still works because it reads as clean and premium. Apple's own marketing has been trending toward minimalism for years. A well designed generic frame fits right in.
When to use it (and when not to)
The universal frame isn't meant to replace realistic bezels entirely. There are situations where showing an actual iPhone 16 Pro or Pixel 9 frame makes sense, especially if your app has deep platform specific integrations or if your marketing targets a particular device.
Where the universal frame shines:
- Cross-platform apps where you want visual consistency across both stores
- Frequent updaters who are tired of refreshing bezels every hardware cycle
- Clean, minimal brands where a generic frame matches the overall aesthetic better than a busy realistic bezel
- Google Play listings where device frames are discouraged but you still want some visual structure around your screenshots
In Echo Designs, you can switch between realistic device frames and the universal frame with a single click. Same screenshot, same background, same text. Just a different border treatment. So there's no commitment. Try both, see what fits your brand.
The details that make it work
A generic frame sounds easy to build. Draw a rounded rectangle, done. But getting it to actually look good, to look designed rather than lazy, required some attention.
The corner radius had to be large enough to feel modern but not so large that it distorted the screenshot's own corners. We landed on a radius that echoes Material Design 3's "extra large" shape category. Generous, warm, but structurally sound.
The border width needed to be thick enough to establish presence (otherwise it just looks like a subtle outline, which defeats the purpose) but not so thick that it eats into the screenshot. We tested with real app screenshots across different color palettes to make sure the frame held its ground against both light and dark UIs.
The color defaults to a neutral dark that works on most backgrounds, but it's fully customizable. Match it to your brand, go white for a light theme, or use it as an accent.
Looking forward
The broader trend in app store marketing is moving toward simplicity. The days of cramming five features, three callouts, and a device frame into a single screenshot are fading. The apps that convert best tend to use clean layouts, big typography, and let the UI speak for itself.
A universal frame fits that trajectory. It gives your screenshots structure and polish without competing with the content for attention.
We built it because we needed it ourselves. Turns out a lot of other developers did too.