Read the rules.

App Icon design specifications.

Official App Icon Guidelines

Last updated

  • iOS
  • Android
  • Design

Designing a great app icon is the easy part. Meeting Apple's and Google's exact formatting rules is where most submissions get stuck. This page collects the official specifications for each platform in one place.

Apple and Google take very different approaches. Apple wants a single flat square and applies its own mask, while Google splits the icon into layers so every launcher can shape it differently. The sections below explain what each platform expects and why.

iOS & iPadOS

Apple's approach is highly standardized. You must provide a perfectly square image, and their system handles the squircle masking, drop shadows, and gloss effects (though gloss is mostly a relic of the past).

  • Format: PNG (no transparency or alpha channels allowed). If you include transparency, it will render as black on the device.

    ✕ Transparent

    ✓ Opaque Base

    Avoid transparency

    iOS turns transparent areas into black rectangles.

  • Shape: Square (do not round corners yourself; Apple automatically applies their mathematical squircle mask).
  • App Store Size: 1024x1024 pixels.
  • Design: Keep the background simple and avoid using text when possible. Ensure the central icon is visually balanced.

Android (Google Play)

Google introduced Adaptive Icons in Android 8.0, which completely changed how Android icons are built. Instead of a single flat image, icons are separated into two layers: a foreground and a background. This allows different Android manufacturers to mask the icon into circles, squircles, or teardrops dynamically.

  • Format: PNG (transparency allowed) or WebP.
  • Adaptive Layers: Both the foreground and background layers must be exactly 108x108 dp.
  • Google Play Size: 512x512 pixels for the flat store listing. Maximum file size is 1024KB.
  • Safe Zone: Ensure important elements are kept within the inner 72x72 dp safe zone. The system will mask and crop the outer 18dp edges depending on the device's icon shape preference.

If you have a project ready to go, try the free app icon generator to create perfectly sized icons for both platforms instantly. You can also use the favicon generator if you need icons for a website instead.