iOS App Icon Requirements: 1024 px, No Alpha, Layers and Variants

Quick answer: An iOS app icon must be a 1024 × 1024 px square image in your Xcode asset catalog, flattened without transparency or an alpha channel, and without rounded corners baked in, because iOS applies its own mask. Xcode generates the smaller sizes from it. Dark and tinted variants are optional, Icon Composer adds a layered format, and the artwork must follow App Review's content rules.

That last row surprises many first-time developers: you do not upload the App Store icon in App Store Connect. It comes from the build you submit, which is why changing your icon always means shipping a new version. For the full list of sizes Xcode derives from the master, see the App Icon Size Guide.

1. Open your project's asset catalog (usually Assets.xcassets) and select AppIcon.
2. Open the Attributes inspector and set the iOS option to Single Size.
3. Drag your 1024 × 1024 px PNG into the image well.
4. Optionally, set Appearance to Any, Dark, Tinted and add the dark and tinted variants (more on these below).
5. Confirm the Primary App Icon Set Name build setting points to the set you edited, especially if you renamed it.
6. Archive the app and run Validate App in the Organizer before uploading. Validation catches most icon problems before App Review sees them.

If you want to hand-tune small sizes, you can switch to All Sizes and drop in each image yourself. Every one of them must follow the same rules: opaque, square and flattened. If you ship on Android too, the free app icon generator builds the Xcode AppIcon set and the Android files from the same 1024 px image.

Since iOS 18, people can choose dark or tinted Home Screen icons. Apple's Human Interface Guidelines now describe default, dark, clear and tinted appearances for iOS, iPadOS and macOS, and the system automatically generates any variant you do not provide.

For the asset catalog route, Apple's Xcode documentation is specific:

• Dark icon: provide it with a transparent background so the system-provided dark background shows through. This is the one case where transparency is expected, and it applies only to that variant, not the primary icon.
• Tinted icon: provide a grayscale image. The system applies the tint color the person chooses.
• Skipping both is allowed. The system applies its own automatic treatment.

Apple also asks you to keep the icon's core features consistent across appearances, so people can still find your app after switching, and notes that alternate app icons need their own dark, clear and tinted variants. For design advice on each variant, see iOS Dark and Tinted App Icons.

With iOS 26, Apple introduced the Liquid Glass design language and Icon Composer, a tool for creating layered icons from one design for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. According to Apple, you can annotate how the icon looks in default, dark and mono modes, add the resulting icon file directly to Xcode, and export a flattened version for marketing use.

Apple's current guidance for layered icons includes:

• Provide square, unmasked layers. Pre-masked layers interfere with the system's specular highlights and can look jagged.
• Prefer vector layers such as SVG or PDF, and PNG for raster artwork or mesh gradients.
• Keep an imported background layer full-bleed and opaque, or use Icon Composer's built-in solid colors and gradients.
• Skip your own effects. The system adds highlights, shadows and blur dynamically, so baked-in versions tend to clash.

You can still provide a nonlayered bitmap. In that case, Apple says the system tries to separate the foreground from the background itself, and it may not apply glass effects to small details such as text or thin lines. Because this area has changed with each major release, check the Human Interface Guidelines before you start a redesign.

Size and format problems are caught by validation. Content problems are caught by App Review.

• Age rating: Guideline 2.3.8 requires icons, screenshots and previews to be appropriate for a 4+ audience even if your app is rated higher.
• Apple hardware: the HIG says not to use replicas of Apple hardware products in your icon.
• Other brands: do not use trademarks, logos or characters you have no rights to, and do not imitate another app's icon closely enough to cause confusion.
• Nonessential text: Apple advises including text only when it is essential to your brand. Words like "New" or "Play" become outdated and are hard to read at small sizes.
• Screenshots in the icon: Apple recommends against replicating standard UI components or using app screenshots as your icon.

For craft advice that keeps you well inside these rules, see App Icon Design: 12 Tips for an Icon People Tap.

If you run into the alpha problem with screenshots too, the same fix applies. How to Remove the Alpha Channel from Screenshots and Icons walks through Preview, sips and design tool export settings.