App Icon Sizes for iOS and Android (2026)

2026-08-21

Here is the answer most people searching for app icon sizes want first. On iOS you need a single 1024 x 1024 px square, and the Google Play store icon is a 512 x 512 px 32-bit PNG. In both cases you do not round the corners yourself, because each platform applies its own mask. The part that trips people up on Android is that the icon you upload to the store and the icon that actually appears on a phone's home screen (the adaptive icon) are two different files. This post keeps only what I could confirm directly in Apple's and Google's official documentation, and covers sizes, formats, a practical workflow, and documented rejection reasons in one place.

Summary at a Glance

Remembering those three rows avoids most upload errors. The rest of this post unpacks each of them.

iOS App Icon

Start from one 1024 px image

Apple's Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) give the layout size for iOS, iPadOS and macOS icons as a 1024 x 1024 px square. The system then crops that square into a rounded rectangle for display, so the file itself should contain square, unrounded layers. The HIG explains that pre-applied masking hurts the specular highlight effects and makes the edges look jagged.

The Xcode side is simple. If you set the app icon set in the asset catalog to "Single Size", Xcode generates the remaining sizes and variants for iOS, iPadOS and watchOS from that one 1024 px image. macOS and tvOS, by contrast, need each size supplied individually. The icon shown on the App Store also comes from the "iOS 1,024pt" image well in that asset catalog and is uploaded with your build. There is no separate icon upload field on the App Store Connect app information page.

Dark, tinted and other appearances

iOS and iPadOS icons can appear in several appearances: default, dark, clear (light and dark), and tinted (light and dark). Apple points to Icon Composer in Xcode as the tool for building layered icons, and states that you may still provide a single flattened image. If you supply appearance variants yourself, the Xcode documentation gives two conditions: the dark variant should have a transparent background, and the tinted variant must be grayscale. These variants are optional. If you do not provide them, the system handles it automatically. The HIG changelog notes that Apple refined its Liquid Glass guidance on June 8, 2026, so it is worth skimming before you design a new icon.

Color spaces and other platform sizes

The color spaces the HIG lists are sRGB, Gray Gamma 2.2 (for grayscale), and Display P3 on iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS and watchOS. So the claim that "only RGB is allowed" is not accurate. If you are unsure, exporting in sRGB is the safe default. For other platforms, the layout sizes are 1088 x 1088 px for watchOS, 1024 x 1024 px for visionOS (circular mask), and 800 x 480 px for tvOS (layered).

What about the alpha channel?

A widely repeated claim is that a 1024 px icon must not contain any transparency. There are plenty of developer reports of an "Invalid large app icon" style error after uploading a large icon with transparent pixels. However, I could not find that rule stated as a spec sentence on the HIG, the App Store Connect help pages, or the Xcode documentation. So this post does not present it as an official rule. In practice, the safest move is to fill the background with an opaque color, which works in every case. The one exception is the dark variant mentioned above, where the documentation explicitly calls for a transparent background.

Changing the icon after release

The icon is part of your app build, so changing it after release means creating a new app version and going through review again. It is not something you can fix instantly the way you can edit store page text or screenshots. If you plan icon tests or seasonal icons, build the review time into your schedule.

Android and Google Play Icons

The 512 px store icon

You must have an app icon to publish on Google Play. The spec is 512 x 512 px, 32-bit PNG (alpha allowed), sRGB color space, maximum file size 1024 KB, and the artwork should fill the full square. Google states clearly that this store icon does not replace your app's launcher icon. In other words, the 512 px file you upload in Play Console is separate from the launcher icon packaged inside your APK or AAB.

The same goes for corners and shadows. Play dynamically applies a rounded mask with a radius of 30% of the icon size, plus a drop shadow, so you should not round the corners or add a shadow to the asset. Alpha is allowed, but transparent areas show Play's UI background through them. That is why Google recommends a non-transparent brand color background.

Adaptive icons

Since Android 8.0 (API 26), launcher icons are built as adaptive icons. You make two layers, a foreground and a background, and the manufacturer or launcher puts a mask such as a circle or rounded square on top. These are the key numbers from the official documentation.

Keep anything that must not be cut off, such as a logo or a character's face, inside the central 66 dp. Fill the background layer with color or pattern all the way to the edges so no gaps show when the mask shape changes.

Themed icons (monochrome layer)

On Android 13 (API 33) and later, you can optionally add a single monochrome layer to support themed icons. The documentation also says that from Android 16 QPR 2, the system automatically themes icons that lack a monochrome layer. If the automatic result does not look right, it is better to draw the monochrome layer yourself.

iOS vs. Android Compared

A Practical Workflow

1. Work on a square canvas. In your design tool (Figma, Sketch and so on), create a 1024 x 1024 px frame with no corner rounding.
2. Keep the important graphics in the center. Considering both Android's 66 dp adaptive safe zone and Play's rounded mask, keeping your logo inside roughly the central 60% is a safe habit on both platforms. That 60% is my own margin, not an official number.
3. Export the iOS version as a 1024 px PNG. Set the app icon set in your Xcode asset catalog to Single Size and drag the image in, and the rest is generated automatically. Add dark and tinted variants only if you need them.
4. For Play, shrink the same source to a 512 x 512 px PNG and check that the file is 1024 KB or less. Fill the background with an opaque brand color.
5. Rebuild the launcher icon as separate foreground and background layers. Android Studio has an Image Asset tool that helps with this: you provide the foreground image and it sets up the layer structure.
6. Check the exported files for real. On macOS, sips -g pixelWidth -g pixelHeight -g hasAlpha icon.png shows width, height and whether there is an alpha channel in one go.
7. Shrink it down. If you cannot tell what the icon is at home screen size, that is a sign to cut detail. For how to build recognizable shapes for game icons, see the separate hyper-casual icon design post.

Common Mistakes and Documented Rejection or Policy Reasons

• Rounding the corners yourself. Apple advises against pre-masked images, and Google says Play applies a 30% radius mask, so you should not cut corners yourself. Doing so gives you a double mask and awkward corners.
• Assuming the store icon and launcher icon are the same file. Uploading the 512 px file to the console does not change the icon shown on a phone.
• Filling the logo out to the edges. On an adaptive icon, anything outside the 66 dp area may be clipped depending on the launcher.
• Putting ranking or price text on the icon. Play prohibits badges and text implying ranking, price, categories, deals, or Play programs. The Play Metadata policy also blocks misleading symbols such as a fake notification dot or a download symbol. Violations can lead to removal or suspension of the app.
• App Review Guideline 2.3.8. Icons and images must be appropriate for a 4+ age rating, and the app icon and any alternate icons should be similar so users are not confused.
• Guidelines 2.3.9 and 2.3.10. You must own the rights to all materials used in your icon, and you must not include the names or icons of other platforms or marketplaces in your metadata.
• Guideline 2.3.7. This guideline limits pricing information in metadata. Avoid putting text like "Free" on the icon as well.

Frequently Asked Questions

What size is an iOS app icon?

The layout size is 1024 x 1024 px. With Xcode's Single Size setting, the other sizes are generated automatically from that one image.

What about Android (Google Play) icons?

512 x 512 px, 32-bit PNG, sRGB, maximum 1024 KB.

Do I need to round the corners before uploading?

No. Apple takes square layers and applies the mask, and Google Play dynamically applies a 30% radius mask and a shadow.

Is the Play store icon the icon shown on the phone?

No. The store icon does not replace the launcher icon. The icon shown on the phone is the adaptive icon for API 26 and above.

What is the adaptive icon safe zone?

Layers are 108 x 108 dp, and the logo should stay within the central 66 x 66 dp. 18 dp on each side is reserved for masking and effects.

Can I change my iOS icon without an update?

No. You have to submit a new app version and get it through review.

Do I need dark or tinted iOS icons?

They are optional. If you do not provide them, the system handles it automatically. If you make them yourself, dark needs a transparent background and tinted must be grayscale.

Can I put "#1" or "Free" on the icon?

No. Play prohibits ranking, price and promotional text, and Apple's guideline 2.3.7 restricts pricing information in metadata.

Related Reading

Once your icon is done, the next steps are screenshots and the feature graphic. For size-by-size breakdowns, see App Store screenshot sizes and the Google Play feature graphic guide. The pre-submission checks are collected in the app and game launch checklist, and the overall store page layout is in the store page checklist. To export screenshots at the right size for many devices, StoreShot can cut down the manual work.

Sources

Last verified: 2026-09-26. Store policies and specs can change, so re-check the original pages before you submit.

• Apple HIG: App icons
• Apple Xcode: Configuring your app icon
• App Store Connect Help: Add an app icon
• App Review Guidelines (2.3.7 - 2.3.10)
• Play Console Help: Add preview assets
• Android Developers: Google Play icon design specifications
• Android Developers: Adaptive icons
• Play Console Help: Metadata policy