How To Design Icons For Ios Apps
App Icon
Every app needs a beautiful and memorable icon that attracts attention in the App Store and stands out on the Home screen. Your icon is the first opportunity to communicate, at a glance, your app's purpose. It also appears throughout the system, such as in Settings and search results.
Embrace simplicity. Find a single element that captures the essence of your app and express that element in a simple, unique shape. Add details cautiously. If an icon's content or shape is overly complex, the details can be hard to discern, especially at smaller sizes.
Provide a single focus point. Design an icon with a single, centered point that immediately captures attention and clearly identifies your app.
Design a recognizable icon. People shouldn't have to analyze the icon to figure out what it represents. For example, the Mail app icon uses an envelope, which is universally associated with mail. Take time to design a beautiful and engaging abstract icon that artistically represents your app's purpose.
Keep the background simple and avoid transparency. Make sure your icon is opaque, and don't clutter the background. Give it a simple background so it doesn't overpower other app icons nearby. You don't need to fill the entire icon with content.
Use words only when they're essential or part of a logo. An app's name appears below its icon on the Home screen. Don't include nonessential words that repeat the name or tell people what to do with your app, like "Watch" or "Play." If your design includes any text, emphasize words that relate to the actual content your app offers.
Don't include photos, screenshots, or interface elements. Photographic details can be very hard to see at small sizes. Screenshots are too complex for an app icon and don't generally help communicate your app's purpose. Interface elements in an icon are misleading and confusing.
Don't use replicas of Apple hardware products. Apple products are copyrighted and can't be reproduced in your icons or images. In general, avoid displaying replicas of devices, because hardware designs tend to change frequently and can make your icon look dated.
Don't place your app icon throughout the interface. It can be confusing to see an icon used for different purposes throughout an app. Instead, consider incorporating your icon's color scheme. See Color.
Test your icon against different wallpapers. You can't predict which wallpaper people will choose for their Home screen, so don't just test your app against a light or dark color. See how it looks over different photos. Try it on an actual device with a dynamic background that changes perspective as the device moves.
Keep icon corners square. The system applies a mask that rounds icon corners automatically.
App Icon Attributes
All app icons should adhere to the following specifications.
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Format | PNG |
| Color space | Display P3 (wide-gamut color), sRGB (color), or Gray Gamma 2.2 (grayscale). See Color Management. |
| Layers | Flattened with no transparency |
| Resolution | Varies. See Image Size and Resolution. |
| Shape | Square with no rounded corners |
App Icon Sizes
Every app must supply small icons for display on the Home screen and throughout the system when your app is installed, as well as a larger icon for display in the App Store.
| Device or context | Icon size |
|---|---|
| iPhone | 60x60 pt (180x180 px @3x) |
| 60x60 pt (120x120 px @2x) | |
| iPad Pro | 83.5x83.5 pt (167x167 px @2x) |
| iPad, iPad mini | 76x76 pt (152x152 px @2x) |
| App Store | 1024x1024 pt (1024x1024 px @1x) |
Provide different sized icons for different devices. Make sure that your app icon looks great on all the devices you support.
Mimic your small icon with your App Store icon. Although the App Store icon is used differently than the small one, it's still your app icon. It should generally match the smaller version in appearance, although it can be subtly richer and more detailed because there are no visual effects applied to it.
Spotlight, Settings, and Notification Icons
Every app should also provide a small icon that iOS can display when the app name matches a term in a Spotlight search. Additionally, apps with settings should provide a small icon to display in the built-in Settings app, and apps that support notifications should provide a small icon to display in notifications. All icons should clearly identify your app — ideally, they should match your app icon. If you don't provide these icons, iOS might shrink your primary app icon for display in these locations.
| Device | Spotlight icon size |
|---|---|
| iPhone | 40x40 pt (120x120 px @3x) |
| 40x40 pt (80x80 px @2x) | |
| iPad Pro, iPad, iPad mini | 40x40 pt (80x80 px @2x) |
| Device | Settings icon size |
|---|---|
| iPhone | 29x29 pt (87x87 px @3x) |
| 29x29 pt (58x58 px @2x) | |
| iPad Pro, iPad, iPad mini | 29x29 pt (58x58 px @2x) |
| Device | Notification icon size |
|---|---|
| iPhone | 20x20 pt (60x60 px @3x) |
| 20x20 pt (40x40 px @2x) | |
| iPad Pro, iPad, iPad mini | 20x20 pt (40x40 px @2x) |
Don't add an overlay or border to your Settings icon. iOS automatically adds a 1-pixel stroke to all icons so that they look good on the white background of Settings.
TIP If your app creates custom documents, you don't need to design document icons because iOS uses your app icon to create document icons automatically.
User-Selectable App Icons
For some apps, customization is a feature that evokes a personal connection and enhances the user experience. If it provides value in your app, you can let people select an alternate app icon from a set of predefined icons that are embedded within your app. For example, a sports app might offer icons for different teams or an app with light and dark modes might offer corresponding light and dark icons. Only users can choose one of the alternate app icons you supply, and the system always provides confirmation when people make this change.
Provide visually consistent alternate icons in all necessary sizes. Like your primary app icon, you deliver each alternate app icon as a collection of related images that vary in size. When people choose an alternate icon, the system replaces your primary app icon with the appropriately sized alternate icon on the Home screen, in Spotlight, and elsewhere in the system. To ensure that alternate icons appear consistently throughout the system, provide them in the same sizes you use for your primary app icon.
For developer guidance, see the setAlternateIconName method of UIApplication.
How To Design Icons For Ios Apps
Source: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/ios/icons-and-images/app-icon/
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