App Store icon requirements and guidelines (2026)
App Store icon requirements come down to one master image: a 1024 × 1024 px square for iPhone, iPad and Mac that you add in Xcode, not in App Store Connect. Leave the corners square, because the system applies the rounded mask itself, and make sure the App Store icon has no transparency or alpha channel.
On top of that, icons are now layered Liquid Glass objects with dark, clear and tinted appearances, and App Review has its own rules about what an icon may show. This guide covers the sizes for every Apple platform, the design and review rules, Google Play’s 512 × 512 icon specification, and how to export every size from one image.
App Store icon sizes for every Apple platform
Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines define one master size per platform. You supply a square (a rectangle for Apple TV) and the system masks it into the final shape.
For iPhone and iPad, Xcode can generate every smaller icon variation from a single 1024 × 1024 image, and that is the default for new projects. The long list of small point sizes only matters if your project still uses a hand-filled asset catalog.
| Platform | Canvas size (px) | What you supply | Final shape |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone, iPad, Mac | 1024 × 1024 | Square, layered | Rounded rectangle |
| Apple Watch | 1088 × 1088 | Square, layered | Circle |
| Apple Vision Pro | 1024 × 1024 | Square, layered (3D) | Circle |
| Apple TV | 800 × 480 | Rectangle, 2–5 layers | Rounded rectangle |
| Google Play store icon | 512 × 512 | Full square, 32-bit PNG | Rounded corners (30% radius) |
Where the App Store icon comes from
There is no icon upload field in App Store Connect. You create the icon in Icon Composer or add it to an asset catalog in your Xcode project, and it reaches App Store Connect inside the build you upload.
The practical consequence: changing the icon after release means creating a new app version, uploading a new build and submitting it for review. Screenshots work differently, because they are metadata — our guide to rejected App Store screenshots covers how those are replaced.
Liquid Glass: icon layers and six appearances
Since iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26 and watchOS 26, home screen icons are built from layers of Liquid Glass. An icon is a background layer plus one or more foreground layers, and the system adds specular highlights, refraction and translucency on top.
Apple’s tool for this is Icon Composer, which requires macOS Tahoe 26.4 or later. You draw the foreground layers in your usual design tool, import them, set a solid or gradient background, preview the result across appearances and export the icon for Xcode.
On iPhone, iPad and Mac an icon has six appearances: default, dark, clear light, clear dark, tinted light and tinted dark. The system generates any variant you don’t provide. If you do provide a dark icon, give it a transparent background so the system background shows through, and keep the core shape the same in every appearance — swapping elements between variants makes the app harder to find when someone changes their Home Screen look.
Design rules from Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines
Most of Apple’s icon guidance is about what to leave out, because the system now draws the effects:
- Supply square, unmasked layers. Pre-rounded corners or a baked-in circle weaken the specular highlights and make edges look jagged.
- Don’t add your own highlights, drop shadows, bevels, blurs or glows; the system applies dynamic versions of all of them.
- Keep the main subject centered so masking doesn’t cut it off, especially in the circular Apple Watch and Vision Pro icons.
- Prefer vector layers (SVG or PDF) with text converted to outlines, and PNG for raster art. Supported color spaces are sRGB, Gray Gamma 2.2 and Display P3.
- Use text only when it is essential to the brand. Apple specifically discourages words like “Watch”, “Play” or “New”, and the app name already appears under the icon.
- Prefer illustrations to photos, don’t replicate UI components, and never use replicas of Apple hardware.
App Review rules and upload errors that affect icons
The most common technical failure happens before anyone reviews the app: the build is refused with an error saying the App Store icon in the asset catalog can’t be transparent nor contain an alpha channel. The fix is to re-export the 1024 × 1024 file with the alpha channel turned off and an opaque background behind every pixel.
After that, App Review applies the guidelines. There is no dedicated icon section, but these rules name icons directly:
- Guideline 2.3.8 — icons, like screenshots and previews, must suit a 4+ age rating even if the app is rated higher, and the small, large, Apple Watch and alternate icons should look similar.
- Guideline 4.1(c) — you can’t use another developer’s icon, brand or product name in your icon without their approval.
- Guideline 2.3.10 — no names, icons or imagery of other mobile platforms or alternative app marketplaces.
Google Play icon requirements
Google Play’s store icon specification is short: 512 × 512 px, a 32-bit PNG in the sRGB color space, no larger than 1024 KB. Upload it as a full square. Google Play applies the rounded mask (a corner radius of 30% of the icon size) and the shadow itself, so don’t bake in either.
Google also rules out text or graphics that indicate a ranking, promote deals or incentivize installs, signal participation in a Google Play program, or could mislead users. For the larger banner at the top of a listing, see our Google Play feature graphic guide.
The launcher icon inside the app is an adaptive icon: foreground and background layers of 108 × 108 dp, of which only the inner 66 × 66 dp is guaranteed to stay visible after masking. Keep the logo between 48 and 66 dp. Add a monochrome layer to support themed icons on Android 13 and later; from Android 16 QPR 2, the system themes apps that don’t provide one automatically.
Export every icon size from one image
If you maintain a classic asset catalog or still ship Android density buckets, the free Ecranify app icon generator turns one source image into the full set. Crop and zoom the image, pick a solid or gradient background, optionally add a label strip, and download one ZIP.
The ZIP holds 18 iOS files in an AppIcon.appiconset folder, from the 20-point notification icon up to the 1024 × 1024 App Store icon, plus five Android launcher sizes from 48 to 192 px and the 512 × 512 Play Store icon. Every file is a full square with the background filled edge to edge, and everything is generated in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
What it doesn’t do is build layered Icon Composer files. For Liquid Glass appearances you still import separate layers into Icon Composer. If Xcode reports an alpha channel in the 1024 × 1024 file, re-save it with alpha turned off before uploading.
Icon checklist before you submit
Run through this list before any release that changes the icon:
- A 1024 × 1024 master (1088 × 1088 for Apple Watch) with square, unmasked corners.
- No alpha channel in the App Store icon; transparency only in the dark variant’s background.
- Default, dark and tinted looks previewed in Icon Composer, with the same core shape in each.
- Google Play: 512 × 512 32-bit PNG under 1024 KB, square, no shadow, no ranking or promo badges.
- Adaptive launcher icon with the logo inside the 66 dp safe zone, plus a monochrome layer.
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